Category: $1000 Records

The New Abnormal?

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Interesting article in The New York Times yesterday about how the pandemic has created a spike in the market for collectibles (Here’s How Bored Rich People Are Spending Their Extra Cash). While I think the headline is not quite accurate and designed to attract eyeballs rather than inform (hey, I am still a journalist/editor at heart), the premise of prices going up for collectibles certainly pertains to our jazz vinyl market here at Jazz Collector. Although records are not one of the collectibles mentioned in the article, a lot of our recent posts have been about skyrocketing prices. Perhaps it’s a phenomenon of the pandemic and will wither a bit when the world goes back to some kind of new normal, or maybe it’s indicative of a market that seems to know no ceiling. Whatever it is, it’s becoming more and more tempting to get back in the game and start selling records again. Let’s see why, starting with J. R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in Ex condition for the cover and record. Based on the pictures of the cover that Ex would translate into VG (at best) if I was looking to buy. The final price was $2,650. Read more

The First Blue Note, Anyone?

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Perusing eBay this morning and came upon this listing: “Ridiculously RARE Blue Note Number 1 Meade “Lux” Lewis Pink and Black label.” It stopped me in my browsing tracks because this is a record I have never had the opportunity to own or even to see in person, only as random and rare listings on eBay. It would be nice to own, the first Blue Note release, but the price tag is quite steep. This copy is listed in E+ condition, which is great for a 78. The start price is at $700 and so far there are no bidders, but I’m sure that will change over the course of the next six days until the auction closes. The seller says there were 200 copies pressed with this label. I don’t doubt him, just wondering where the information came from. Just a couple of weeks ago there was this article about this record on Discover Music, The First Blue Note Record is Released: Meade “Lux” Lewis ‘Melancholy Blues.’ Looking on Popsike, the high water mark for this record in the past was about $2,000, and there have been at least four other recorded instances of the record selling for more than $1,000. Pretty cool. Read more

Condition Still Counts (At Least For These Records)

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Normally my eBay watch list is filled with records I am watching to fulfill my mission here at Jazz Collector. There are very few occasions when I actually bid on records and, if you’ve been keeping track, even fewer occasions when my bids are successful. One of the records in my watch list that was for both Jazz Collector and potential purchase purposes was this one: Joe Henderson, Page One, Blue Note 84140. Somehow in more than 50 years of jazz collecting, this record has never made it onto my shelves, and it is a classic, isn’t it, with Blue Bossa and Recorda-Me and Kenny Dorham and Joe Henderson? Anyway, this is an original stereo pressing and, I was thinking, perhaps because it was stereo and not mono, the price might be in line with my sensibilities. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is M- and when I first spotted the record it was in the $200 range. We are now two hours from closing as I write this and the price is close to $600. I expect it to sell for a bit more than that, so I will just keep looking. I still don’t know why I don’t have a copy. I mean, back when I started collecting I probably could have gotten a Liberty pressing for $5 or so at any of the local record stores. Read more

Jazz Vinyl From Europe, U.S., and a Wish List

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Another day, another batch of rare jazz vinyl from eBay. Let’s start in Europe with Barney Wilen, Tilt, Swing LDM 30.058. This looks to be an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record and the cover. The bidding is in the $300 range and there are four days left on the auction. This has been a high-end collectible since I began watching eBay many years ago and has sold for more than $1,000 several times, including a high of $2,700, according to Popsike. I’ve never owned this record, nor have I heard the music. In fact, if it weren’t for eBay, I probably wouldn’t know about it. I’ve always been impressed whenever I’ve listened to Wilen, so I imagine it is collectible not just because it is rare, but because the music is also first rate. Oui? Read more

Collectibles in the Eyes of the Beholders

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Here’s some more jazz vinyl from our watch list, starting with Paul Chambers, Bass on Top, Blue Note 1569. When I first saw this record the bidding was in the $200 range and I thought it might be something worth considering. The copy I have is a Liberty pressing with an original cover. I did some mixing and matching myself on that, don’t remember the circumstances. Anyway, when I looked at the listing for this I was surprised to see that this was a Liberty pressing with a Liberty cover. The record was in just VG condition, and the cover was VG+. I guess anything with a blue and white Blue Note label is in high demand these days, whether Liberty, United Artists or second/third pressings. This one sold for $272.34. Read more

Four for Jazz Vinyl

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Back to the grind of watching rare jazz vinyl on eBay. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Here are items sitting in my current watch list, starting with Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in EX condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding starts at $500 and there is already one bidder with more than two days left on the auction. In the past, this record has made it into the $3,000 bin one time and into the $2,000 bin twice, according to Popsike. In this condition, we wouldn’t expect it to reach those lofty heights. As for my own copy, I just reorganized my records the other day and re-affirmed that I do not have an original pressing of The Opener, but rather a United Artists pressing that I purchased more than 40 years ago and probably haven’t listened to since I first brought it into my home. Perhaps I will listen today or tomorrow, if I have the opportunity. I have been doing that recently, pulling random records out of the collection and putting them on the turntable. I am preparing posts both on the reorganizations efforts as well as these random listening sessions, so stay tuned. Read more

A Dash of Blue Note Mania

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I was away from eBay for a couple of weeks but I had put a bunch of records in my queue. Now that all of the auctions are done, and I’m looking at the queue of records all at once, it’s striking to me how the market value of Blue Note LPs just keeps escalating and escalating with no apparent limits. I think it has been this way for as long as I’ve been watching the market and collecting records, but for whatever reasons there seems to have been another quantum leap forward recently. Or perhaps I just haven’t noticed. Let me do a download of some of the records I’ve been watching, starting with Bud Powell, Bud!, Blue Note 1571. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep groove, ear, etc. The record and the cover both looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $1,230.90. Based on Popsike, this looks to be the highest price this record has sold for on eBay. Granted, the condition was great and the seller is reputable, but the price was outside of what you have considered to be the normal top range for this LP. Read more

A New Year’s Jazz Vinyl Treasure Trove

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Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. It’s been a while. I will spend the next couple of days catching up on eBay, starting today with some items we missed while we were hibernating over the holidays. First up is one of our all-time favorites: John Coltrane, Soultrane, Prestige 7142. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey label. The seller was the Jazz Record Center and the record and cover were both listed in M-, near-new condition. The final price was $902. This was the highest price we’ve ever seen for Soultrane, confirmed by a quick link over to Popsike. Only a matter of time before we see this record in the $1,000 bin. Why not? I mean, it’s Coltrane and, IMHO, the best of all his Prestige records. Read more

True Blue, Peanuts and More

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Today we have some random jazz vinyl from our eBay watch list, starting with a record that has already surpassed $3,000 in bidding, Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and cover. The bidding is at $3,156 with five days left on the auction. So far there are six bidders and 14 bids. In the past few months we’ve seen a copy of True Blue sell for $6,643 and yet another copy sell for $5,779, according to Popsike. Perhaps this one will end up in similar rarified territory. Read more

Thanksgiving Jazz Vinyl

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Time to clear out the old watch list this Thanksgiving holiday weekend here in the States, starting with Mal Waldron, Mal-1, Prestige 7090. This was an original New York yellow label pressing in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $536.69. I get the sense that the Prestiges are starting to get a little more interest from the collectors will to pay top dollar. These are certainly great music and packaging. I put a few of the Prestiges on the turntable the other day – Tenor Madness, Soultrane and When Farmer Met Gryce. Can’t beat it. I don’t own an original pressing of Mal-1, but I’m sure it’s of a similar quality.

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