Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This looks to be an original New York 23 pressing. This is another seller with a deep description. From what he describes, I would say VG++ for the record and maybe VG+ for the cover? Previous owner wrote his name on the Side One label, which is never a good selling point. There are six days left on the auction and there is already a bid at the start price of $500. I think this will join the Monterose in the $1,000 bin.

I can usually tell when I’ve been away too long, because there is usually a “miss Al” note from Japhy and a bunch of emails in the queue from CeeDee. Thanks for caring. 🙂

CeeDee indeed sent me several notes regarding the recent auction of Sun Ra records from the seller Carolina Soul, which were also noticed by Jay in a comment on the last post, to the tune of $30,000 in total. These were the links CeeDee sent:

Sun Ra and His Solar Arkestra, Planet Earth, Saturn Records from 1966. This was listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. There were 23 bidders, 53 bids and the final price was $3,437.

Sun Ra and His Outer Space Arkestra, A Fireside Chat With Lucifer, Saturn Records. The record was listed as VG++ and the cover was VG+. This one had 20 bidders, 43 bids and a final price of $1,500.

Sun Ra, Lanquidity, Philly Jazz. This one was in VG+ condition for the recrod and VG for the cover. The final price was $1,350.

Whilst on the subject of Run Ra, I received a note from a reader as follows: “Looking for ‘Live at Slugs’ have exhausted ebay and other channels I know of, even Discogs. Wondering if you had any search ideas or a reader that has a copy they would like to sell for a reasonable price.”

I replied that I don’t have any search ideas, but I would put his inquiry into my next post and see what pops up.

Here’s a note from Bonhams Music Auction, with a link to: A Buescher Alto Saxophone Played by John Coltrane.

“I thought you would be interested to see and share with your readers and incredible piece we have included in our Music auction running online here at Bonhams until October 19 – an alto saxophone played by John Coltrane on a Gene Ammons All Stars recording session for Prestige Records at the Van Gelder studio in NJ in 1958. There is a photograph of Coltrane playing the sax in the studio and the sax has been on exhibition at the Grammy Museum, amongst others. A link to the sax in our auction is below. Of you click through the sale, you will also see we have an incredible collection relating to Billie Holiday.”

The starting bid for the Coltrane Buescher alto is $40,000, with the expected price to be in the $50,000 to $70,000 range. The Billie Holiday ephemera is pretty cool, lots of signed stuff, including contracts and correspondence, more than 20 lots worth of stuff The other thing that caught my eye was this tablecloth, with a sketch by John Lennon and signatures by John as well as the other Beatles. It would definitely be a cool thing to own, but the bidding is already at $65,000 on an item that had been expected to fetch $15,000 to $25,000.  Given the history and provenance of the item, plus the fact that it is a drawing by John, there is no price that would surprise me. We may have to start a million-dollar bin for this one. Here’s an article about the tablecloth from The Washington Post.

One more item: The New Jersey Jazz Records Collectors’ Bash, which had been scheduled for Oct. 27-29, has been cancelled. The note states that there weren’t enough confirmed vendors to make the event financially viable and, to top it off, one of the event organizers fractured his ankle and would have been out of commission. The note expresses the disappointment of the promoters and suggests that the Bash will not go on under their auspices. It ends: “If you, or anyone else you know, is interested in taking over the reins, please let me know.”

Too bad. Although I hadn’t been to a Bash in many years, I always found it enjoyable when I went in the past, and I’m sure many Jazz Collectors and dealers look forward to it. Maybe, someone else will take the reins. Perhaps even someone reading this post, although certainly not the person writing it.

Dan also send me this recently discovered interview with Bird. Apparently this radio host, Leigh Kamman, just called Bird out of the blue one day in 1954, spoke briefly to his daughter Kim, and then got Bird on the phone. They talked music, as you can hear, and Bird was quick to mention a new rising star on the trumpet named Clifford Brown, “a tremendous thing to hear.” Then he mentioned Chet Baker and Frank Morgan and a West Coast drummer named “Brownie,” and we can’t figure out who this Brownie is but I’m sure that someone can figure it out, although Bird wasn’t 100% sure that Brownie was the right name, so maybe not. You can also hear how closely Bird was listening to what he called “semi-classical music” at the time. What a treat – hey, let’s pick up the phone a call Charlie Parker and put the conversation on the radio. Love it.

It is also worth noting that, back in 1994, Christie’s sold Bird’s Grafton plastic alto — which he famously used for the Jazz at Massey Hall Concert in Toronto — to the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City for $140,000, where it remains on display.  It would be nice if this horn also makes its way into the public eye. Maybe Jazz at Lincoln Center would like to have it in their lobby. There should be a statue of Bird there anyway. I’m sure each of us would love to own this piece of history, but few of us have a million bucks to spare, and if we did, we’re probably spend it on records instead.

Other than one or two items, there wasn’t a lot of action on this auction. I know the market for ephemera and other items isn’t nearly as robust as the market for records, so this was not surprising. Some of the items did sell, some didn’t. A few examples:

A 1985 Japanese edition of Swing Journal devoted to Miles Davis. The sold for $30.

A Tommy Dorsey book called “Love In Swing Time.” I never heard of this and couldn’t imagine anything by Tommy Dorsey fetching big bucks, but this one sold for $100.

Jazz Graphics. This is a Japanese book from 1991 focused on the cover art of David Stone Martin. It’s a pretty cool book. I happen to know because I purchased a copy. This one sold for $150.

Esquire Magazine, The Golden Age of Jazz, January 9, 1959. Fred listed this as “the most famous Esquire issue and perhaps one of the most sought-after magazines related to jazz.” Even with that intro, the item did not sell at a start price of $50.

Billie Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues. This was a first edition. I thought there might be a lot of interest in this one, but there wasn’t. Just one bidder at the $50 start price.

Anyway, I just was looking through my storage unit and found a box labeled “Downbeat Doubles,” so apparently i’ve got ephemera on my mind, which sounds like a nice title for a song — or perhaps for a headline.

Here’s some stuff from my email inbox:

This one concerns an auction of big band and jazz memorabilia coming up on January 5. The press release states that the collection consists of show programs, handbills, posters, nightclub souvenirs, autographs and a wide range of other ephemera. Probably not of interest to me, but I know some of our readers here may have an interest. Here’s a link to the website for anyone that may or may not be interested.

Mike sent this link in with a “WOW” because he thought the price was high, but I’m not so sure: Donald Byrd, A New Perspective, Blue Note 84124. This looked to be an original stereo pressing with the New York USA address, ears, Van Gelder. It was listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It sold for $195.30. Mike thought this was a $50 record, but it’s an original Blue Note. I’d pay a couple hundred for it if I didn’t own a copy. Perhaps. Anyway, I’m typing this and I have headphones on just listening to random music off the computer and Cristo Redentor just came on. Pretty freaky, I’d say.

For those of you interested in jazz art work, photography and ephemera, there is an auction coming up next week of works collected by the former Blue Note president Bruce Lundvall. The collection is being auctioned by Doyle New York, and parts of it can be seen here, including this pretty cool picture of Miles at the right. Cool stuff. Not necessarily my thing, but cool. Now, if he were to sell of his vinyl, that would be another story.

Speaking of artwork, I find this to be cool as well: A photographer by the name of Eilon Paz has spent several years photographing record collectors with their collections and has recently published them in a book titled “Dust and Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting.” You can check out the article here and the Web site here. The photographer is in Brooklyn. Surprised he hasn’t found me yet. Perhaps now he will.

CeeDee sends me random notes and listings of records that are typically out of both his price range and mine as well. Here’s a recent one:

Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It sold for $1,400.55. Not sure why this one was particularly more or less painful than all of the other VG+ Blue Notes that are selling for more than $1,000 these days. CeeDee?

Zoot Sims 1958, Cannes