Still Here, Still Watching That Jazz Vinyl
Whew, it’s been a long time between posts. Sorry about that. All is well, but there’s been a lot going on here. I’m even back in New York City for a bit. Set up a new turntable here and brought some records back to the apartment, mostly duplicates. Haven’t been following eBay closely, but I should be back in regular action, such as it is, starting today. So, let’s look at some of the jazz records and auctions we’ve missed along the way, starting with Hank Mobley Sextet, Blue Note 1560. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep grooves, ear, etc. The record and cover both looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $3,036.23.
Another Blue Note, this one from the seller vinyl-house-uk: Paul Chambers, Bass on Top, Blue Note 1569. This was also an original West 63rd Street pressing, listed in EX condition for the record and EX/EX+ for the cover. The final price was approximately $1,965. From the same seller was Charles Mingus, Pithecanthropus Erectus, Atlantic 1237. This was an original black label pressing listed in EX condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was about $565.
I put this one in my queue because I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it: Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Riverside Stereophonic 1129. This was an Original Jazz Classics pressing, clearly presented as such by the seller. The final price was $135. Have I been so focused on the higher end of the market that I’ve missed a huge increase in demand for OJC pressings, or is this just an aberration?
I know there’s been a run-up on certain pressings from the Muse label, in particular this record: Roy Brooks, the Free Slave, Muse 5003. This was an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. The final price was $210.50.
This is another one that has seen a hike in demand: McCoy Tyner, Today and Tomorrow, Impulse A-63. This was an original orange label pressing with the Van Gelder stamp in the dead wax. The record and cover were listed in M- condition. The final price was $276.
One more for today. How about another Atlantic: Tony Fruscella, Atlantic 1220. This was an original black label pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $810. It seems quite likely that the interest in Tony Fruscella today may be higher than it was at any point during his lifetime.
OJC copies are commanding much higher prices than even 10 years ago. I just bought a nice little collection last week and there are several OJC releases. I was amazed at what their going rates are now! $30-$40 is not at all rare for the more collectible titles!
Yeah, I was gonna say, OJCs go for $50+ now. It’s shocking to me, but a lot of them also sound really good, especially the earlier analog transfers. What’s even weirder are the 80s EMI BN reissues with the little “note” next to the catalog number… I guess all things BN are pricey now, but it’s hard to imagine paying $50-$75 for one of those. Yet here we are!
OJC’s- I always believed the vinyl quality of OJC’s was vastly inferior to the originals. To my ears the difference was much greater than later BN pressings. Yet they were the only way I could find many of those recordings.
When OJC’s first appeared in the 80’s it was at a time when I was always digging in the Boston-Cambridge-Pioneer Valley used record stores with a list a mile long. At that time I was also working in a record store. I wanted to hear all of the Art Pepper, Abbey Lincoln and Hampton Hawes I’d read about but I wasn’t willing to pay the $15.00- $20.00 (horrors) I was seeing for the originals (positioned for the obsessive) on the display wall.
This was after spate of Prestige and Milestone 2-fers that were hit and miss- some filler, not killer.
I purchased OJC’s at wholesale price by the pound both for the music and the cool covers and, of great importance to slightly OCD me, the original liner notes. . Even at that time I appreciated brilliant musicianship and, to a lesser degree though simultaneously, the cheesiest of the cheesy jazz lp covers of the 50’s and 60’s. The 12 x 12 jackets of Curtis Counce’s “You Get More Bounce…” and Bob Cooper’s “Coop!” slayed me as much as any Capitol George Shearing-brandy snifter-evening-dress-bed-décolletage? cover. (The Counce l.p ain’t half bad to boot). OJC is where I first encountered Buddy Colette, Buddy Tate, Barry Harris as a leader, Arnett Cobb and Wardell Gray. Beyond the Monk, Sonny, Trane and Miles there is a relatively reasonably priced goldmine there. The sound isn’t perfect but, thank God, neither is jazz.
The earlier OJC pressings are all analog mastered (GH for George Horn in the dead wax), pressed on super quiet clean vinyl, so it makes a lot of sense to me why they are increasing in price lately. I’d guess the audiophile crowds might have something to do with this….
abrasive_beautiful, that was what what widely thought but the “GH” is apparently for Gary Hobish, see: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/new-info-on-old-ojc-deadwax-thread.951785/
“It seems quite likely that the interest in Tony Fruscella today may be higher than it was at any point in his lifetime.” Is this ment as a joke ? Come on now, this statement covers so many jazz musicians . Not to mention the holy grails of Blue Note’s expensive roster.
In the mid/late 90s, when I was getting into jazz, the Fruscella wasn’t cheap by any means. Of course at that time you could potentially find an affordable copy in corners of the world where the Goldmine price guide was the prevailing resource.
Love Tony Fruscella…there is a live album, by him recorded at the Open Door, with Bill Triglia and Brew Moore. All the tunes on the Tony F. Atlantic session are wonderfully arranged by Phil Sunkel. Its a rare one. Some covers have Kakubuchi, some not. Some discs are flat edged…And you can hear some rare musicians such as Allen Eager, Bill Triglia, Will Bradley. Phil Sunkel was an interesting figure. He plays on The Cool Gabriel, the Aaron Sachs album on Rama. He recorded his own album for abc paramount…Cool music, on this one, nothing unforgettable anyway.
yeah, it is really beautiful. I have a dead quiet Japanese pressing. The originals I’ve handled have not been in good shape. There are also some live CDs released by Fresh Sound (or one of their sub-labels)… have ’em but I believe they are yet to be unpacked from moving boxes.
@aaron that’s very interesting, new info to me! Thanks for sharing.
Gave a spin to Fruscella on Atlantic. Great music, also thanks to Allen Eager. Fruscella made two tracks with Stan Getz on his Cool Sounds album on Verve. The two tracks are compositions by Phil Sunkel.
Rudolf. I would but, alas, I do not have the Fruscella record.
But Getz ‘ Cool Sounds album is readily available, even as a volume in the sleeveless ARS series.
Good to know that for 200 bucks I can buy a near mint copy of this record and for another ten bucks buy a demonstration copy rubber stamp and get a thousand times return on my investment.