Category: Blue Note

Collectible Jazz Vinyl and Not Vinyl

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Yeah, that Bill Evans New Jazz Conceptions LP with the original cover sold for $1,725, as someone pointed out in comments. With a VG cover and VG record. I guess not even a global pandemic can halt the market for original jazz collectibles. A few more from the same seller: Gil Melle, Patterns in Jazz, Blue Note 1517. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing in VG MINUS condition with a VG cover. Despite the condition it sold for $910. Curtis Fuller, Bone & Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing in VG MINUS condition for the record and VG for the cover. It sold for $706. Read more

Hawes, Hipp, Trane and More

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Some random stuff from eBay and email. I hadn’t particularly though of this record as a collectible: Hampton Hawes, For Real, Contemporary 7589. This was a stereo pressing with the yellow label and I couldn’t tell from the listing if it was a deep groove and/or original. It was in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $113.50, which is not Blue Note pricing, but still in the range of what I would view as a collectible. Just took a look at Popsike and, lo and behold, this record does have a particular cachet, with many copies selling for more than $100 and a top price of more than $300 for a mono pressing. I’m sure it’s a great record, with Harold Land on tenor, and I’m also sure that the presence of Scott La Faro on bass for one of his last albums adds to the interest and thus the value. Not being on eBay all of the time, and not doing any buying or selling myself, it sometimes happens that nice records slip through the cracks of my awareness. Here’s another one to put on my want list because, alas, I no longer have a copy. Read more

For Lady (and Everyone Else)

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Time to get back to eBay, starting with Webster Young, For Lady, Prestige 7106. This is an original New York yellow label pressing listed in Ex condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. I’ve always had a soft spot for this record because it was one of the first yellow label Prestige originals I ever owned and because it was, and is, quite a lovely record. It was, I presume, also my introduction to Webster Young and Paul Quinichette, two very fine, very underrated players, IMHO. Writing this post, I just talked myself into putting this on the turntable next time I have time to listen mindfully. The bidding for this one closes in more than for days from this writing, with a top bid now of about $245. Read more

Autographed Jazz LPs, and Not Autographed Jazz LPs

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We’re watching some rare jazz vinyl on the current auction from The Jazz Record Center, starting with Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, Impulse A-30. This is an original promo mono copy with the white label. The record and the cover both look to be in mint or near mint condition. The start price is $200 and so far there are no bidders with two days left in the auction. Also, Charlie Rouse, Yeah!, Epic 16012. This is an original pressing with the yellow label and also looks to be in mint or near mint condition. The start price for this one is $300 and so far there is one bid. One more: Horace Parlan, Movin’ and Groovin’, Blue Note 4028. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record looks to be M- and the cover maybe a notch below. There are six bids and the current price is in the $275 range. Read more

Catching Up (And We Mean Up!) on Rare Jazz Vinyl

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Here are a couple of nice $1,000 records we were watching on eBay: Dizzy Reece, Progress Report, Tempo TAP 9. This was an original U.K. pressing that was listed in excellent condition for the vinyl and great condition for the cover and, even though those terms are not precisely Goldmine-approved, you get the sense from the description and pictures that the record was in extremely nice condition. This one sold for about $1,025. Also, Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and cover. We said “under normal circumstances” this record could set a new high water mark for the Cooker. What we meant was that we felt the pandemic would perhaps be dampening prices for high-end records. We were wrong. This record did set a new high at $1,625. So much for my theories and hypotheses—so far at least. Read more

Back on eBay: Vintage Blue Notes and a Coltrane Autograph

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I just spent a little time on eBay. There are a lot of nice rare vintage records from the Jazz Collector Era and I’m not noticing much of a drop in demand or prices since the pandemic. Here are some of the items I put into my watch list, starting with a few vintage Blue Notes: Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578. This looks to be an original West 63rdStreet pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The auction closes in three days and there are already 37 bids and 13 bidders. The price is in the $500 range. This record is a regular in the $1,000 bin, with a top price of about $1,600, according to Popsike. Under normal circumstances I would expect to see this record easily top $1,000 and perhaps set a new standard, given the condition of the record and cover. Let’s see what happens. Read more

Another Sides

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Here are a couple more sides I’ve had recently on my turntable, starting with Donald Byrd, Fancy Free. We don’t typically review records here at Jazz Collector, primarily because it is not a personal interest of mine. I started my journalism career reviewing jazz records and concerts, but stopped fairly early on because, as a non-musician, I didn’t feel qualified or comfortable criticizing the work of real musicians. I’m not criticizing other reviewers, just explaining how a personal decision set me on a different, and ultimately more rewarding career path, IMHO. If any of you out there feel like doing reviews, I’d be open to posting them on Jazz Collector; I just don’t like writing them myself. Because of this posture, I rarely get any promotional records, even on re-issues of records from the Jazz Collector Era, and even though I have written some reviews focused on the quality of the reissue and the packaging. Mosaic was kind enough once to send me a promotional copy of The Rosemary Clooney CBS Radio Recordings 1955-61 at my request. I gave it a lukewarm review and Mosaic never replied to another email I sent them. C’est la vie. All of which is to say that the copy of Fancy Free I had on my turntable the other night is, indeed, a reissue and was, indeed, sent to me as a promo by the record company, in this case Vinyl Me, Please, Classics. I don’t closely follow today’s market and was unfamiliar with their work. They reached out to me, asked if I wanted a sample copy and I said “sure.” Read more

What Sides Are On Your Turntables?

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What’s everyone listening to in isolation? I can tell you what I’m doing. First off, I’m listening to my records more frequently than I have in a while. I guess being locked down with nowhere to go can be inspirational in that sense. I frequently go to records that I’ve loved but haven’t listened to in a while, or at least records that I haven’t listened to mindfully. Records, versus CDs or streams or anything digital, have sides. l still put on my “go to” sides for a lot of the records, listen to that side, and then move on to another record. Even with the infamous Shades of Redd my temptation was to just listen to Side One, which was my original preference. But, after all of the hoopla I made through the years about finding that record, I would have felt guilty not listening carefully to both sides and was pleased to have done so. Side Two is awesome, the equal of Side One. Read more

Will There Be A New Normal in Jazz Collecting?

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I haven’t really been on eBay since the pandemic started and I’m wondering: Could this be a seminal event for jazz collecting? With the world economy in collapse, will people still care about whether their copy of Sonny’s Crib has a New York 23 label or not? And, assuming some will care, will enough collectors care enough to keep laying out the big bucks for original copies, thus extending the rising market for certain collectibles that we have witnessed since we started writing this blog back in 2003? The other thing I’m wondering: Will collectors continue to trust shipments from overseas, wherever they live? If you are in England, say, will you have faith that a package from New York won’t be carrying the Covid-19 virus across the Atlantic? It may sound crazy, but crazy things are happening. I go food shopping, come home and The Lovely Mrs. JC wipes down every package with disinfectant and then asks me to strip before I take a step into the house. You’ve seen my picture in the last post: It is not my body she is after. Read more

Shades Of . . . . .

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Well, as you can see, the long and painful (for you) wait has finally ended. Somehow, in the middle of a pandemic, I have been able to procure an original copy of the infamous Shades of Redd, by Freddie Redd, Blue Note 4045. It was no simple twist of fate, but a result of the constant hocking by me on Jazz Collector and a very generous and thoughtful reader who perhaps took pity on me, or perhaps was just sick of my whining, or, simply, was happy to parlay his own two copies of Shades of Redd into one really good copy of Shades of Redd and another vaunted Blue Note gem to satisfy a need from his own want list. Let me tell the story that led to the pictures accompanying this article, taken in my lovely home in The Berkshires by The Lovely Mrs. JC.

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