Category: Jazz Vinyl

Summer Slowdown in Jazz LP Prices?

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I keep waiting for signs of a summer slowdown in pricing and keep getting mixed signals. The other day there was the Thelonious Monk record that sold for more than $3,000 and, a couple of days later, the heavy prices on the two Horace Silver LPs. No slowdown there. But yesterday, there were some signs that things are not as hot as usual. For instance, here are several albums from Atomic_records that failed to even meet the reserve prices:

 Benny Golson, Gone with Golson, New Jazz 8235. Top bid of $67.

 Sonny Stitt, Stitt’s Bits, Prestige 7133. Top bid of $89.99

 Jimmy Raney, A, Prestige 7089. Top bid of $51.

 Art Farmer Septet, Prestige 7031. Top bid of $62.5

 My advice, if you’re a buyer, is to look up earlier pricing on our Price Guides and underbid on some items – particularly if you use sniping software. This might be a time to find some eBay bargains. 

Sterling Silver?

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A couple of months ago we wrote a brief note about a copy of Horace Silver’s Song For My Father selling for $334. The note started a discussion about changes in the jazz collectibles market wrought by eBay. Well, yesterday we were watching another copy of Song For My Father because we noticed that the bidding had gone over $150. The record eventually sold for $198. Not outrageous, but still pretty high. The one that surprised us this time came from the same seller. It was a copy of Silver’s Blowin’ the Blues Away. This one sold for $229.50 — bit it was a Stereo pressing, not a mono. Is there any explanation for this? If you have one, please send us a note or comment on the site.

Another Day, Another Price Barrier To Break

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I was sitting at work yesterday, taking a little break and browsing on eBay, when my friend Dan Axelrod called.

“Are you watching eBay?”

I told him I was.

“Did you see the Monk record?”

I did a quick search and there it was: A copy of Monk’s Music, Riverside 242, by Thelonious Monk. It was an original white label pressing in near mint condition being sold by Atomic Records. What was unusual about the listing was not the record itself, but the bidding. When Dan called the bidding had passed $2,000. When the record finally sold, the price was $3,061.50. It looked like a bidding war among four buyers.

Dan and I weren’t the only ones intrigued – amazed – by the bidding: This record was viewed 1,215 times, which is more than I recall for any other jazz record.

“I didn’t even realize this was one of the heavy hitters,” Dan said.

Neither did I.

I did a quick search of the price guide at Jazzcollector.com. We had one copy listed with the white label. It was in VG++/VG+ condition and sold for $366 in March. Inflation? Rising prices? Condition? Is there any rational reason why this record would sell for more than $3,000?

If you have an explanation, send a note to us.  We’ll explore this one in greater detail next week when we send out our next newsletter.

 

Miles, Ben Webster and, Surprise, Nat Cole

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We’re not watching eBay as closely as usual. From the prices we’re seeing, we’re not aware if things are slowing down this summer, as they often do. Here are a couple of high-ticket items that would seem to indicate there’s not a slowdown. What about you out there: Are you noticing any changes in the market?

Miles Davis, Walkin’, Prestige 7076. This was an original New York pressing in near ming condition. Price: $261

Ben Webster, Music With Feeling, Norgran 1035. This was an original pressing with a beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. Price: $285

I don’t normally watch Nat Cole LPs because they don’t really fetch collectible prices. So I was surprised, while skimming through eBay, to see this LP with a high price tag: Nat Cole, The Very Thought of You. Price: $113.50. Turns out this was not an original, but an audiophile reissue on the DCC label. This was a sealed copy.

Jackie McLean, Street Singer, Hits Top Price

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You don’t see too many Japanese pressings selling for more than $100, but this one did: Jackie McLean, Street Singer, Blue Note GXK 8161. Price: $117.50. The music is made up of a session that took place on Sept. 1, 1960, under the leadership of McLean and Tina Brooks. McLean led four of the tracks, three of which were issued on Jackie’s Bag while the fourth was issued on this LP for the first time. Brooks was the leader on the other two tracks, including the title cut, which were issued for the first time on this LP.  I don’t know exactly when this LP was issued, but I think I recall purchasing my copy in the early 1980s.

 You also don’t see too many Commodore LPs selling for more than $100. Here’s one: Billie Holiday, Commodore 30,008. Price: $102.50. This one has a real nice cover, which was used as a blow-up by Billy Crystal in his recent one-man show on Broadway.  Crystal’s uncle, Milt Gabler, was the founder of Commodore.

Finally, here’s one from a friend on Long Island: J. R. Monterose, The Message, Jaro 8004. This was an original pressing in very nice condition. Price: $565

 

 

Art Farmer, Louis Smith, Albert Ayler and More

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I’m entering in the Jazz Collector Price Guide database again and have come across some interesting items. The update will be posted when we send out the next newsletter at the beginning of August. In the meantime, here are some of the items that will be included:

Art Farmer, Art, Argo 678. A few weeks ago a copy in near mint condition sold for more than $120. This copy, in nice condition but not near mint, sold for $24. Is this indicative of a summer slump in prices, or lack of trust in the dealer’s grading?

Louis Smith, Here Comes, Blue Note 1584. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street label in VG+/VG+ condition. Price: $417

Here’s a real rare one that we’ve never seen before: Albert Ayler, Ghosts, Debut 144. This was the original Danish pressing in nice condition, not mint. Price: $317

Here’s a New Jersey pressing of John Coltrane, Soultrane, Prestige 7142. This was originally issued with the New York label, so this one is not original. Price: $138.50

Here’s one that sold for less than expected: I should have bid. Cliff Jordan and Sonny Red, A Story Tale, Jazzland 40. This was in M-/VG+ condition and sold for $46.51

Another Batch From Leon Leavit

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We received a note from Anthony Pearson the other day that he’s running another major auction under his anthonypearson2 account. This is the account he uses for the collection of the late Leon Leavitt, which is being sold on eBay in large increments almost every month. This batch includes about 1,200 records and began closing today and will go through Saturday evening West Coast time.  Pearson is also giving winning bidders a break this summer: “It is OK to wait 3 to 4 weeks to issue payment during the summer months,” he writes. Anyway, here are some of the items on this list. Read more

What’s on eBay for More than $1,000?

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I was away with hardly any access to the Internet and I wasn’t on eBay all of last week. Just for the fun of it, and to see if I missed anything significant, this morning I did a search through completed jazz auctions for all items that sold for more than $1,000. To my surprise, there wasn’t that much. Here’s what I found:

Tina Brooks, Blue Note 4041. This was an original pressing in what looked like very nice condition. Price: $1,703.30

Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story, Clef 1001. This is the complete boxed set, signed and autographed by Astaire. Price: $1,826. It so happens, I also have a copy of this, in comparable condition. If anyone is interested I’d sell it for $1,750. Contact me alperlman@hotmail.com.

 The final $1,000-plus item was this:  The Jacques Pelzer Quartet in Italy, on the Italian Centra label. I had never seen or heard of this record and, according to the dealer, there were only 200 or so copies pressed. This one received a top bid of $1,226, but still failed to meet the seller’s reserve price. Perhaps it will appear again.

 

Grading and Guarantees on eBay

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In our last couple of newsletters we’ve been talking about buying and selling records on eBay. Here’s a response from one of our readers about grading: “As a ‘Dining Room Table’ guy dealing records on eBay, I find grading to be the hardest thing I do. The first issue is that it is very difficult to do anything other than visual grading when you are posting a hundred or so LPs each week. The more critical problem is that condition is in the ear of the beholder. Read more

A Milestone for Milestones

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I can’t pinpoint exactly when this happened, but sometime over the past couple of years it seems the Miles Davis Columbia LPs crossed the $100-barrier for original mono pressings in nice condition. Kind of Blue has gone way beyond that. Here’s a recent copy of Milestones, Columbia 1193. Price: $102.50

 And here’s Round Midnight, Columbia 949. Price: $122.49

 Here’s another we were watching. Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original New York pressing, but it was not in great condition. The seller listed both the record and cover as a cross between VG and VG+. I don’t know this seller, but in most cases, that means closer to VG. Still it went for the hefty sum of $510.

 Here’s one that went for a higher price than usual: Stan Getz Quartets, Prestige 7002. This was in nice condition and was offered by a very reputable dealer. Price: $282

 

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