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Jazz Vinyl and a Touch of the Poet

December 17, 2014 Al 6 comments

Been a while since I did an update from the Jazz Collector inbox and, so we shall do so today and close with a little bit of jazz vinyl poetry, courtesy of our friend CeeDee. This one came in from Michael with a simple note: “Nice one.” And it is: Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,900, with 29 bids. It went from about $1,900 to the final price in the final seconds. Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t sell for a higher price. How many M- copies of True Blue do you think there are left in the world? How many ever come up for sale? Not a lot.

Somebody also sent me this completed listing: Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This was an original pressing with the New York 23 labels. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The seller had a buy-it-now price of $1,250 with the option of accepting the best offer, which he did. So we don’t actually know what it sold for.

As for the jazz vinyl poetry:

Seven for the Jazz Collector Price Guide

December 16, 2014 Al 5 comments

Let’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This one was in just VG condition for the record with what the seller described as “some feelable scratches.” It apparently plays well for the condition, but the condition isn’t so great. The cover was VG+. It was, of course, an original 10-inch LP with a very cool cover. This one sold for $665.

Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was an original pressing with the purple labels and the deep grooves. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was VG-. It sold for $711.07.

Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. I had thought this was an original but in an earlier post Earl corrected me and noted that only one side has the New York 23 cover, so perhaps it is not a first press? It’s definitely an early press. This one was listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,344. As for those other Sonny Clark records we were watching:

Jazz Vinyl To Check Out

December 13, 2014 Al 6 comments

Back on eBay and, of course, there is much jazz vinyl of interest, starting with: Jerome Richardson, Midnight Oil, New Jazz 8205. This looks to be an original purple label pressing. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is Ex+, which I imagine is close to M-. The bidding is in the $130 range with three hours to go and it has yet to reach the seller’s reserve price. I would think this would get a bid of at least $200, being quite a rare record on quite a collectible label, so we’ll keep an eye and see if this sells.

This one is from the same seller and has also not yet met the reserve price: Horace Parlan, Headin’ South, Blue Note 4062. This looks to be an early pressing, but is it an original? I’m not seeing deep grooves in the picture or on the listing, but this is one of those that was issued right at the borderline of whether Blue Note pressings still have deep grooves. I’m sure someone the question will be answered in the comments. The record is listed at M- for the vinyl and Ex for the cover. The bidding is currently in the $190 range with less than three hours to go.

Dial Jazz Collector For Blue Notes

December 5, 2014 Al 34 comments

Yes, that copy of Sonny Clark Cool Struttin’ sold for $2,400, which was the buy-it-now price. Do you think it was a reader of Jazz Collector? I do. This would be a week to fill in those Sonny Clark gaps in your Blue Note collection, if you were inclined to spend a small fortune to do so. Also on eBay: Sonny Clark, Dial S for Sonny, Blue Note 1570. This looks to be an original West 63rd pressing listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. We would, of course, expect this to sell for well more than $1,000, and perhaps entering into the $2,000 bin. Right now the bidding is at $811 with more than four days to go. Also on eBay: Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. This also looks to be an original pressing. It is listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. This will also be a record that will sell in the four figures, I would assume. Right now the bidding is at about $350, but there are five days left on the auction.

While we’re on the subject of Blue Notes, here are:

Blue Note

What’s Going on With Jazz Vinyl Prices?

December 3, 2014 Al 19 comments

I finally got back onto eBay yesterday and I did a search and came up with a bunch of nice Blue Notes, including a nice copy of Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, and it was interesting because none of the Blue Notes had any bidders. They all have several days left, so I’m expecting that the action will pick up. The thing that did surprise me was the one record that was getting a lot of action was this one: Anita O’Day Sings Jazz, Norgran 1049. This has the black label so it’s not even an original pressing. There are already 10 bids and the price is more than $150. The record is in M- condition and the cover looks to be VG++. I can’t quite figure out why the strong interest in this record. Norgrans are not particularly hot, and neither are Anita O’Day records. Any theories?

This one closes in six days, but if someone wants to swoop in and grab it, there is a buy it now price of $2,400: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This looks to be an original pressing listed in Ex condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is $1,400 and so far there are no bidders.

Here’s another nice one with no bids:

Another Adventure, Part 8/Epilogue

November 26, 2014 Al 12 comments

Sorry to leave you all hanging there, but the meat of the story has been told. At the time, because I thought I was writing a chapter for a book that has still to be written, I wrote one more entry, which was this:

It’s time to starting moving the Blue Notes off the temporary shelf and into the collection. What does this entail? Well, first off each record needs to be washed and cleaned on my VPI record cleaner. Then, I’ll look at the inner sleeve and determine if it needs a new one. I’ll try to listen to each record, or at least one side, before it does into the collection. Then, if it’s new to the collection, I’ll put a sticker on the plastic outer sleeve with the name of the artist, the catalogue number, the condition and probably the value. Something like:

Donald Byrd
Blue Note 4048
Original West 63^rd, DG
M-/VG++
$1,200

Why do I do this? Well, not to be morbid about it, I do this so that when I die my family will know what the records are actually worth. I’ve seen too many circumstances where people got ripped off because they had no idea about the value of the records. Heck, I may have done some of the ripping off myself.

Another Adventure, Part 6

November 22, 2014 Al 5 comments

So we are now in late December 2011 and I am going through the box of records that was delivered to my apartment in New York City and I am recording my discovery in real time for posterity. Here goes:

Let’s keep digging.
Another beauty. Donald Byrd, Byrd in Flight, Blue Note 4048. This is another one I’ve never owned, certainly never an original pressing which . . . this is! Sweet again. I just did a post on this record on Jazz Collector, just a week ago. A copy in near mint condition sold for more than $1,700 on eBay. This one is also in near mint condition, at least it is for the record. The cover is at least VG++, perhaps even M-. Perhaps this won’t top the market, but it’s got to be worth at least $1,200 in today’s market. Will I sell it? Will I sell the Griffin? Not a fucking chance. I’ve been waiting more than 40 years to get original copies of these records for my collection. And now . . . finally. They are mine.
There’s more.
Let’s keep digging.
A bunch of Blue Notes all in a row: Read more

Another Adventure, Part 5

November 21, 2014 Al 6 comments

Well, yes. Yes, I would be interested in the records at around the price that we had discussed nearly two months earlier. Now, recall, I had still never seen the records. They were in Toronto and I was in New York. The guy selling them admittedly didn’t know much about them, other than what he had gleaned from the Jazz Collector Web site and the Fred Cohen Blue Note book. He also told me that many of the records were from England and South Africa, which meant that it was still possible they were not original pressings. If it wasn’t a big investment for me, I wouldn’t have cared that much. But we were talking about a hefty hunk of change, a few thousand dollars, for essentially 25 or so records. This was definitely a risk on my part. So I made a suggestion: I would send him one third of the total price and he would send me 25 records, of which there would be at least 10 of the Blue Notes. If the records were as he said—original pressings, nice condition—I would then send him the rest of the money and he would send me the rest of the records. There were some more negotiations. Again, I won’t bore you with the details. Eventually we struck at deal. I took a deep breath, wrote out a check, put in the mail and waited.

Another Adventure, Part 4

November 19, 2014 Al 9 comments

What’s the saying: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing? Unfortunately, I was the inadvertent cause of my own undoing, at least temporarily. By publishing a price guide on Jazz Collector with very specific details on pressings and condition, I was able to provide enough knowledge for my new friend in Toronto to be a little bit dangerous, at least dangerous to the prospect of my ever getting my hands on his records. I will spare you all the grim details, but we went through several weeks of negotiations and couldn’t agree on a price. I still hadn’t seen the records, but I had pulled enough information that I had a good sense that most of the Blue Notes—but not all of them—were original pressings, including Cool Struttin’ and Byrd in Flight, among others. And I was promised that the records and covers were in excellent condition.

Another Adventure, Part 3

November 18, 2014 Al 7 comments

There were several things that struck me about the latest note from my new friend in Toronto, the one with the 25 Blue Notes he was looking to sell among a batch of other jazz records. One was that he had taken the time to do the research and come up with some potential values for the records. Two was that he had taken the time to catalogue them and even listen to a few. And three was that he was asking if I knew a Jazz Collector who might be interested in the collection. I liked that he capitalized Jazz Collector, because that would be me and not just any jazz collector, and he said that his dad would have loved for these records to go to a real collector who would appreciate them. I took all of this as an indication that, all things considered, he would like to sell the records to me.

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