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A Rare JAzz Vinyl Quartet

January 21, 2016 Al 15 comments

Here’s a nice 10-inch Blue Note you don’t see very often: Tal Farlow Quartet, Blue Note 5042. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The seller describes the record as being in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The pictures of the record look horrendous. I assume that is just the flash, but as a seller, you’ve got to be more careful when posting pictures. This has a start price of $99 and there are no bidders. Not sure if that is a function of the start price being too high or the poor quality of the pictures. I’d like this record, but not sure I’d be willing to take the chance.

Here’s another one that appeals to me: Elmo Hope, Meditations, Prestige 7010. This is one of the few early Prestiges I don’t own. The record and cover are both in Ex condition, which translates to VG+ in my lingo. It’s an original New York yellow label. There’s shrink wrap and a price label, and I don’t quite know what to make of that because they weren’t using shrink wrap when the record first came out. Probably doesn’t mean anything. There are 10 bids, but it’s still only in the $100 range, which would be quite a bargain for this record. Of course, the price will go up, but by how much? We’ll see tomorrow.

Back to Reality (Sort of)

January 20, 2016 Al 7 comments

I see that everyone is quite focused on the Dr. Herb Wong collection from the seller funkyousounds, so please feel free to continue the discussion on the previous post. For me it’s time to move on to some other records on eBay, starting with a batch from the seller vinyl.unlimited. You may recall that this seller had a bunch of very nice jazz vinyl, seemingly from the top of my want list, but the bidding wasn’t reaching the reserve prices. Well, that changed as the auctions closed and most of the records did wind up selling, and fetching top prices as you might expect. A couple of examples: Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This was an original pressing that was described as VG++ for both the record and the cover, although, IMHO, the dirt on the back of the cover and the labels precluded this record from being VG++. Hopefully the seller was more scrupulous with the vinyl. This one sold for $1,275. Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was an original purple label pressing with a promo stamp. The record was listed as M- and the cover was VG++. The final price was $3,284.56.

Shock and Awe!!!!!!

January 18, 2016 Al 39 comments

Readers continue to express shock and awe at the prices on the funkyousounds auction of the Dr. Herb Wong collection. One missive comes in from Dylan concerning this record: Duke Pearson, The Right Touch, Blue Note 84267. This is a Liberty pressing. An original Liberty, but a Liberty nonetheless. And it is a stereo pressing. This one had a promo stamp. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $560. And then there was Gerry Mulligan, Night Lights, Phillips 600-108. This is the one we mentioned the other day. Stereo pressing, promo stamp, VG++ condition. We were surprised when the bidding had reached $60. The final price was $434. If anyone has a viable explanation for this one, I’d love to hear it: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, Blues Summit Verve 8822. This is a reissue — the type that is very hard to sell on eBay for even $10 or $15. This was a sealed copy and it sold for $349.67. Or this one: Miles Davis, Milestones, Columbia 40837. This is just a plain old reissue. I remember seeing these all the time in $2 or $5 bins. This one sold for $278. I’m going to do a few more, just because I’m sitting here absolutely stunned as I go through the list:

Lovely Jazz Vinyl . . . But at What Price?

January 13, 2016 Al 9 comments

I’m watching a lot of rare jazz records on ebay now that have reserve prices. As a seller, I used to occasionally use reserves, but as a buyer I find them annoying. I’d much rather place a bid and know that, if it is the top bid, then I will get the record. Even though I rarely buy on eBay these days, there is a record I’m watching closely, as we are getting close to my birthday once again. I probably shouldn’t mention it here because that will only heighten the interest, but it’s doubtful I’ll actually bid for it so here goes: Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG+ condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. The bidding closes in four days and is in the $150 range, but it has not yet reached the seller’s reserve price.

The seller vinyl.unlimited has a great batch of records on eBay now, but they mostly seem to have reserve prices as well, and many have not yet reached those prices. Some of the listings are:

Charles Mingus: Sacre Bleu!

January 8, 2016 Al 23 comments

The funkyousounds auction from the Dr. Herb Wong collection seems to have been brought out the Charles Mingus fans. Here’s Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um, Columbia 8171. This is an original stereo pressing with the six eyes. The record and cover are both in M- condition and there is some shrink wrap, which for some reason seems to be an enticement to some collectors, although I cannot fathom the reason. This one has more than a day left on the auction and the bidding is now over $400. I resisted the urge to put an exclamation point after the $400, but only barely. The old newspaper editor in me, I guess. Here’s another one worthy of an exclamation point, from the same auction: Charles Mingus, Blues and Roots, Atlantic 1305. This is also a stereo pressing, but not a first press. It is also in M- condition for the record and the cover, and it also has shrink wrap. This one is in the $300 range! BTW, did I ever mention the time I was writing about Mingus here and I left out the “G” and wrote it as “Charles Minus.” I did that and one of our French-speaking readers chastised me with the term “Sacre Bleu!,” which is one you don’t hear very often these days, but was certainly well deserved in this particular instance, don’t you think?

Blue Note

No Clowning Around: What’s Going On?

January 5, 2016 Al 16 comments

I’ve been perusing eBay this morning and a few items caught my eye, including Art Blakey, Blue Note 4003. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing and it looks to be in very nice condition. Based on the seller’s description, probably VG++ for both the record and the cover. There is a start price of $200 and so far there are no bidders, even though the auction closes in just one day. Just last week a copy of the same record, probably a little bit cleaner, sold for more than $1,000. What gives?

This one also startled me: Charles Mingus, The Clown, Atlantic 1260. The record is in M- condition and the cover is in M- condition and there is some torn shrink wrap. The bidding is now at $455. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention — it’s not an original pressing. It’s a later pressing with the purple and orange label. What gives here? You’ll notice that it’s part of the sale of the collection from the late Dr. Herb Wong, but surely that can’t be enough to vault a second (or third) pressing into a new stratosphere, can it? It can’t be the shrink wrap, can it? Help me out here: $455 (and counting) with five more days to go?

A Jazz Potpourri for the New Year

January 3, 2016 Al 31 comments

Here’s a jazz potpourri to start the new year. This one came in from CeeDee under the subject “another for the $1k club” and it was John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an early (second?) pressing with the West 63rd Street able, deep grooves, RVG, ear, etc. An original original would have the New York 23 label on one side, which would make it a potential $2,000 record. This one was in M- condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $1,000.01. It’s not a first pressing but, in that condition and given the state of the Blue Note market, the inclusion into the $1,000 club is, for me, not a big surprise. CeeDee also sent me this one, which is a surprise: Earl “Fatha” Hines, Here Comes, Contact CM-6. This was an original pressing with the gatefold cover. It was part of the Dr. Herb Wong collection being sold by Funkyousounds. The record was listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $192.50. I really can’t recall any Fatha Hines records attracting collectible prices, or even collector interest, so this is a surprise. It does have Richard Davis and Elvin Jones and a pretty cool cover, so perhaps that drove the interest. Any other thoughts?

High Prices (What Else is New?) & Happy New Year

December 31, 2015 Al 20 comments

I’ve been getting a lot of email and there have been a lot of comments about prices going through the roof, particularly on some of the records from the late Dr. Herb Wong. Here are some of the ones that have been sent to me, and a few of my own observations, starting with Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing from the Wong collection and it was in just VG condition for the record and VG- for the cover. Despite the condition it sold for $555.99. Then there was this one, which I had mentioned in an earlier post: Johnny Griffin, The Kerry Dancers, Riverside 420. This was an original white label promo copy. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. When we first noticed this record it was in the $300 range. It ended up selling for $915.

All I Want for Christmas

December 24, 2015 Al 6 comments

Actually, I don’t even celebrate Christmas, but that’s quite beside the point, isn’t it? I spent a couple of hours today just looking at my records and going through the shelves, one by one. It’s a pretty damn good collection, I must say. Although it is not complete. Not even close. So, when I do look at the collection, what’s missing. Or, more to the point, if I were to make a Christmas Wish List, what would I put on it? Here we go, all original pressings, of course.

1. Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. Yes, I’ve been searching for this record for years, and yes, I could just pay the price and buy a copy on eBay. But that takes out all of the fun. Now, if The Lovely Mrs. JC would be interested in a gift for my upcoming birthday, I wouldn’t complain about that at all, no matter what the price.

2. Lou Donaldson, Quartet, Quintet, Sextet, Blue Note 1537. No the list will not be all Blue Notes, but it could be if I wanted to go there. This happens to be another favorite. I’ve owned a Japanese pressing for years. Two, in fact. But an original on my shelf would be quite appealing.

3. Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. No I don’t have it. If I did, whenever someone would ask me what’s the most valuable record in your collection, I could point to that. Right now, when someone asks, I don’t know exactly what to say. The music is pretty good too, no?

Clearing the Dex in an LA Dumpster

December 19, 2015 Al 14 comments

And now we have a very interesting item in the Jazz Collector in-box. A few days ago we received an email with the intriguing subject line: “Dexter Gordon record found dumpster diving in LA.” It’s not something you see very often. And here were the contents of the note: “Hello, I was dumpster diving in LA today outside a house they cleaned out. The bottom on the dumpster was thousands of jazz records of someone’s collection. The owner of the house was old and I think the just threw out all his stuff. It was a shame it was such a huge collection. I grab two crates that I could get to. One record that made me think was a Dexter Gordon record, looks like maybe a tear press as it was just hand written on. I have a pic. Is this something that might be worth something?” I asked him to send me a picture, and he did, as follows:

Now immediately recognized the two tracks as coming from the Dexter Gordon album, Doin’ All Right, Blue Note 4077. But on the original album these two songs are on different sides. Read more

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