Blue Note | jazzcollector.com

Updating the $2,000/$1,500 Bins

October 14, 2014 Al 8 comments

I step away from eBay for a few days and come back and my watch list looks like it has exploded with records in the $1,000 and even $2,000 bin. First there was this from our friends at Euclid Records: J. R. Monterose, In Action, Studio 4 100. This was an original pressing listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $2,175. We have seen this one sell for more than $2,000 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but this is a new high for us. To me, it’s almost always a surprise when a record sells for more than $2,000. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.

Speaking of $2,000 records, there was also Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This was an original pressing listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ or M- for the cover. In a previous post I admonished the seller for the poor quality of his picture. Turns out the seller is one of our regular readers and, in fact, someone I have had very pleasant dealings with over the years. So I will be a little bit more circumspect in some of my comments. Although, it really was a poor picture. No matter. The record sold for $2,181.

Reserving Some Jazz Vinyl (Or Not)

October 6, 2014 Al 22 comments

How desperate are you for one of the rarer of the Blue Notes, Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590? This looks to be an original pressing with all sorts of issues. The cover is VG and the record has two skips. Hmm. Someone has bid $300 for the record but the seller has a reserve price that has not yet been met. Seems like the seller can’t afford a camera so perhaps that’s why he’s holding out for a higher price.

Here’s another one with camera issues: Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This looks to be an original pressing with the New York 23 labels. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is listed as VG++ or M-, although it would be hard to tell from the cover picture, which seems as if it was taken in a coffin. This bidding has topped $500 for this record, but, alas, it has also not reached the seller’s reserve price.

The same seller put up a fine picture of this record: Donald Byrd, Byrd Jazz, Transition 5. This is an original pressing

eBaying For Blue Notes and Prestiges

October 5, 2014 Al 6 comments

Here’s some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay now, starting with Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This looks like an original pressing to me with the first cover illustration, which means it is probably the original frame cover. The seller admits he doesn’t know much about jazz records, but he has this listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and Ex for the cover and it’s certainly a fine-looking record. The start price is $250 and so far there are no bidders. Am I missing something, or will the bidding just come in late?

Among all kinds of weird stuff, this seller has mixed in a couple of 10-inch jazz gems, including Miles Davis, Young Man with a Horn, Blue Note 5013. This looks to be an original 10-inch pressing. In one place the seller lists it as VG+, and in another he has the vinyl as M-. Quite a difference. The start price for this is about $500 and there is one bid. From the same seller is Miles Davis Volume 2, Blue Note 5022. This one has a similar issue, listed as VG+ in one place and VG++ in another. This one has a start price of around $400 and there is one bid.

Bargain Day at Jazz Collector?

September 30, 2014 Al 15 comments

Let’s update some of the records we were watching on eBay, starting with: Tadd Dameron and John Coltrane, Mating Call, Prestige 7070. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was just a shade below, probably VG++. The record sold for $393. I listened to this recently and had forgotten just how good it is. It was released before Coltrane’s first record as a leader on Prestige, but his playing is much more confident and assured than on the earlier Miles record or even the contemporaneous jam session records such as John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Tenor Conclave, Prestige 7074, which was sold by the same seller in the same lot. This one was in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $420.

Prices Rising, Regardless of Condition, It Seems

September 24, 2014 Al 9 comments

Let’s catch up on some of the jazz records were were watching on eBay before we were so rudely interrupted by life.

Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Study in Brown, Emarcy 36037. This is, of course, one of the classic records of the era. I haven’t noticed it selling for big prices in recent years, but perhaps that’s just me not noticing. Looking in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, I see we have several instances of the record selling for between $400 and $700. This looked to be an original pressing in just VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. I was surprised to see that it sold for $280.55, which is why I was watching it. I thought it would sell for less.

I thought this would sell for less as well: Thelonious Monk Plays, Prestige 189. This was an original 10-inch LP in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $504.99. That seller did well not just with the Monk and Clifford records, but also with the Sun Ra records he had and some of his other 10-inch LPs, including Dexter Gordon Quintet, Dial 204. This was an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $333.

Here’s one for the $1,000 bin:

Keeping Track of 10-Inch LPs

September 18, 2014 Al 20 comments

Here are some of the items we’re watching on eBay now, starting with some 10-inch LPs: Clifford Brown, New Star on the Horizon, Blue Note 5032. This is an original pressing listed in VG condition for the record and VG for the cover. There are three days left on the auction and the bidding is in the $50 range. Lately, we’ve been seeing high prices for original 12-inch Blue Notes, even those in not-such-great condition, like this one. I have a feeling we won’t see the same phenomenon for the 10-inch records, simply because they are a greater risk to begin with. They typically have more surface noise anyway, at least to these ears. Not sure why that is. Readers? Watching the auctions from this seller will give us a sense of the market, since he has a lot of nice 10-inch LPs in similar shape, including Thelonious Monk Plays, Prestige 189. Actually, this one is in better shape, graded at VG+ for both the record and the cover. The bidding, so far, reflects the better condition. This one is now in the $70 range.

I was also watching this one from the same seller, and I was surprised it fetched as high a price as it did:

Shades of Jazz Collector

September 16, 2014 Al 13 comments

Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This was an original West 63rd pressing, listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. I had it on my watch list because I was actually considering a bid for it. As loyal readers know, this one has been my nemesis for years. I forgot to put in a bid because I am still buried in work and also having computer problems, so I let it pass. Wouldn’t have mattered anyway. It sold for $762, which is quite a bit more than I would pay for the record, particularly in VG+ condition. I think there’s something to be said about waiting and waiting for the records you want, and going through the hunt, rather than filling in your gaps by paying a lot of money on eBay. I have enough records if I want to listen, and if I really want to listen to Shades of Redd I have two nice Japanese pressings, one in each home. I can wait, and I can hunt.

A separate “Red” listing from the same seller inspired a note from our friend CeeDee, as follows: “I thought that this one my slip by, but NOOOOOOO. Better luck next time.” The listing in question:

A Rare Bird, Indeed

September 5, 2014 Al 8 comments

Wow — 49 comments and counting on the previous post. Glad you all have been keeping the conversation going while I’ve been out making a living. Been gone so long my own Web site wouldn’t let me back on without having to sign up. So much to catch up on, and I will start with the current auction from The Jazz Record Center.

Charlie Parker in Sweden, Limited Edition, Sonet SLP 27. This is, apparently, a rare limited numbered edition, of which this copy is number 734. Until reading this listing I wasn’t aware that there was a limited edition of this record. I’m pretty sure I have some copy of it, but I will have to look to see if mine is numbered. This one looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. There are about three days left in the auction and the bidding is nearing $200.

Beverly Kenney With Jimmy Jones and the Basie-Ites, Royal Roost, 2218. This is a nice record and I could use a clean copy, which this is, at least for the vinyl, which looks to be M-. The cover looks to be about VG or VG+ depending upon how you feel about tape stains, about which I personally don’t feel to good. This one is in the $60 range.

Here’s an interesting package of Hank Mobley records on Blue Note:

Blue Note

Jazz Vinyl Listings That Raise Questions

August 26, 2014 Al 51 comments

Here’s one I’ve never seen before: Bobby Jaspar All Stars Band, Modern Jazz at Club Saint Germain, Barclay 84023. This looks to be an original French pressing that was apparently owned by Bobby Jaspar who, unfortunately seemed not to take such great care of it. The cover looks pretty beat up, I’d say VG-, but the seller lists the cover as VG+ and also lists the record as VG+, so you’d have to be a little skeptical, I guess. The start price is $300 and so far there are no bidders. I imagine the record is quite rare, in that I’ve never seen in in 40-plus years of scouring record shelves all over the U.S. and other parts of the world.

Someone please explain this one to me: Clifford Brown Memorial Album, Blue Note 1526. This is a New York USA pressing, with a West 61st Street address on the cover. In other words, nothing about this record is close to an original first pressing and, at best, the vinyl was issued, when, in the early 1960s? Not to mention the vinyl is in VG condition. The cover is VG+. Somehow, there have been four bids on this record and the price is close to $200. Explanations please?

Our friends at Euclid Records seem to have made a nice discovery/score:

« 1 … 41 42 43 44 45 … 128 »