Category: Jazz Vinyl

Getting a Boot, Indeed

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marty paichSo the other day I’m walking my dog Marty in the neighborhood. Regular readers will recognize Marty as my lucky charm companion on the two collections I’ve bought in the past two years, the Irving Kalus collection and the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore. We take our normal route up Broadway and turn down 83rd Street towards West End Avenue. The street is lined with tables of people selling all kinds of wares. Lots of junk from their homes, it seems. I stop at the first booth and ask the woman what’s going on. It’s a block association sale, she says. I look down and see a box of records. The first record is a Woody Herman record on Capital. Well, I have to look of course. So there are these Woody Herman and Benny Goodman records and I’m flipping and it seems pretty clear there’s nothing there for me, when all of a sudden I see the record pictured at the right. An original pressing of Marty Paich,I Get a Boot Out of You. I didn’t have my glasses. I couldn’t see the condition. I couldn’t see the price.

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Sealing the Deal, or Not?

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PepperA reader sent me a link to this record: Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section, Contemporary 3532. This record looks to be an original pressing in its original seal. It’s always hard to tell with a sealed record, but this one has the red ink on the back and it seems to have original promotional materials from Contemporary within the seal. If it is not an original seal, someone went to great measures to pretend that it was. And, if so, there was a nice payoff. The record sold for $718. Still another existential question: What do you do if you are the buyer of this record? Do you break the seal and actually listen to it? Or do you preserve it on your shelf like a museum item, perhaps the world’s only original pressing of this classic jazz record still in it’s original factory seal 56 years after its original release? I know what I would do. What about you?

 

An Early Prestige, A Few from KD

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jonWow, that last post drew quite a compelling discussion. I have yet to listen to that Ted Brown record, but it is definitely on the agenda. In the meantime, there are many interesting records currently for sale on eBay, including:

Jon Eardley Seven with Zoot Sims, Prestige 7033. This is an original New York yellow label pressing. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG++. The start price is in the $300 range and, with nearly three days left in the auction, there are no bidders yet. We would expect this one to sell, but you never know. It is Prestige and not Blue Note, after all.

Kenny Dorham and the Jazz Prophets, ABC Paramount 122. This looks to be an original deep groove pressing. It’s not simple to decipher the condition based on the seller’s description, but I would guess that the record is between VG+ and VG++ and the cover is probably about the same. The start price for this one is $300 and, with less than two days left, there are no bidders.

Speaking of Kenny Dorham:

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Blue Notes, Prestiges, Jazz Collector Price Guide

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Bone & BariSorry. I had promised more updates for the Jazz Collector Price Guide and then got distracted by the lovely holiday weekend up in The Berkshires. So here are a few more that will go into the Price Guide soon:

This is a new high point for this record: Curtis Fuller, Bone & Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street and NY 23 labels. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $1,789. I have an M- copy of this record. Would I sell it for $1,789? Hmmmm.

This one also sold for quite a hefty price: Ray Bryant Trio, Prestige 7098. The record and cover were only in VG+ condition, although the cover certainly looked nicer in the photo. Good lesson to be learned here: Spend some time on the photos if you are going to list on eBay, and make sure they are nice and clear. This record sold for $987.77.

Jerome Richardson, Roamin’ with Richardson, New Jazz 8226. This was an original purple label with the deep grooves and the record and cover both seemed to be in M- condition. This one sold for $374. Frankly, I thought it would fetch a higher price.

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Three Tenors

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Just spent some time rummaging through the high-end bins on eBay and found quite a few interesting items, starting with: Dexter Gordon Quintet, Dial 204. This is an original 10-inch pressing listed in near M- condition for the record and M- condition for the cover. Seller took beautiful clear pictures and the record is quite tempting to this Dexter Gordon and 10-inch LP fan. But the start price is around $350 and, tempting as it may be, it is not tempting enough to entice me at that price. Nobody else is enticed yet, either, but I do have a feeling this one will sell.

This is another nice one that is also lacking bids at the moment: Sonny Rollins, Way Out West, Contemporary 3530. this is an original promo copy in M- condition for both the cover and the record. Looks like a real gem, also with nice pictures from the seller. There is a start price of about $500 and a buy-it-now price of about $700. If any copy of Way Out West would set a new price high, this would seem to be it, an original promo in M- condition. But the start price is up there. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve never recorded a copy of this record selling for more than $300.

One more:

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Moving On: Tracking More Jazz Vinyl Collectibles

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As much as it may pain me to interrupt the scintillating discussion on my previous post, it is time for me to move on and write a new post because, after all, that is what I do. I do think that the previous post set a new high for comments on Jazz Collector — and counting — and we came within 10 page views of our all time high for a single day, set last summer during the midst of my stories about purchasing the record collection of Irving Kalus. In any case, I received a missive from our friends at the Jazz Record Center that they have a new auction on eBay, so I took a look over to see what they had. Here are some of the things I found, starting with: Serge Chaloff, Boston Blow-Up, Capitol 6510. This is an original promo pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and possibly M- or VG++ for the cover. I haven’t seen that many yellow label Capitols through the years, to be honest. This one does not seem to have the same cachet as Blue Serge, perhaps minus the presence of Sonny Clark on piano, so it will be interesting to watch this and see if it fetches a collectible price. The starting bid is $50.

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More Jazz Vinyl For the $1,000 Bin

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Let’s catch up on some of the rare jazz vinyl records we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with: Charlie Parker, Bird Blows the Blues, Dial 1. This is the first 12-inch jazz record ever and it was issued without a cover. It usually fetches a nice price when it lands on eBay, and this one was no exception. It was in VG+ condition and sold for $1,643.49. There were only two bids, which always makes me a bit suspicious when a record sells for this much money. It’s usually a bidding war that drives prices this high.

This is one that’s new to me, but it got a huge price: Rosemary Squires, My Love is a Wanderer, MGM 3597. Looks like this one was in M- condition for the record an the cover, other than a cutout hole on the cover. Rosemary Squires was a British pop star, and I’m not quite sure what makes this record so valuable and so desired by collectors, that they would drive the price all the way up to $1,580.55. I’m sure someone out there will be happy to enlighten me.

Here’s another for the $1,000 bin:

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A Jazz Vinyl Christmas

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Merry Christmas everyone. If any of these items are on you’re wish list, you can buy yourself a present now on eBay:

Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that looks to be in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It closes later today and the bidding is in the low $300 range.

Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This is an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It closes tomorrow and the bidding is still very low, just a little more than $100. It may be difficult to get at a bargain price, however, since the seller has a reserve price on it and the bidding has not yet reached the reserve. The seller is aware of market value for the records. How do I know: He has a link to the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

How about a Transition for the new year: Donald Byrd, Byrd Jazz, Transition TLP 5. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It also has the booklet. The bidding closes tomorrow and is stuck at just a little bit more than $100. This one also fails to meet the seller’s reserve at the price. Perhaps Rudolf is right and this is not the best time to be placing records on eBay?

 

 

 

A Few Non-Blue Notes; A Flat Market?

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Is it just me, or is there a softness in the market these days? To expedite my posting I  sometimes do a search of jazz records for sale filtered through the highest prices first. There are often $1,000 records and many in the $500-plus category. Lately, however, the searches in that range have been coming up short. Are prices relatively flat at this point or is there just less good stuff on eBay now? These things go in cycles so I wouldn’t put any meaning into it either way. In the meantime, here are some of the rare jazz records that came up on my latest search.

Red Rodney, Signal 1206. This is an interesting one because of the condition. There’s a nice clear picture of the cover, which may give the impression that the cover is in nice condition. However if you look closely and read the description, the cover is in only G condition. And the vinyl is only VG. Despite the condition issues, however, the bidding is already more than $400. I guess this LP is in greater demand than I would have realized.

This is another one that’s getting up there in price, somewhat to my surprise: Booker Little, Time 52011. This is an original mono pressing with the deep grooves and gatefold cover. The record is in M- condition and the cover is VG+. The bidding has already topped $250 and the auction closes later today. Perhaps my previous comment about a soft market was premature.

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Tracking Some Lovely, Rare and Expensive LPs

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Here are a few of the more expensive jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching:

Art Pepper Quartet, Modern Art, Intro 606. This one was rated in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. I have to give the seller and/or Photoshop credit — that is a fine looking picture of the cover and it certainly looks a lot more appealing than VG+. I have a feeling some of the bidders felt the same way: This one sold for $1,580 with 20 bids and about half as many bidders. Love the simplicity of the cover of this one. Anyone know who did it? Intro is not a label that gets noticed too often.

J. R. Monterose, The Message, Jaro 5004. This looked to be an original mono pressing in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $888.78.

Beverly Kenney, Like Yesterday, Decca 8994. This was an original deep-groove pressing with the pink promo label. It looked to be in quite gorgeous condition and was graded M- for both the record and the cover. Quite a nice find, which was reflected in the final price, which was $790, the highest we’ve ever seen for this record.

 

 

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