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Here’s an interesting beauty: Lester Young, Norgran, 1022. This is an original deep groove yellow label pressing, with a “For Demonstration Only Not For Sale” stamp placed prominently on the beautiful David Stone Martin cover and again on both sides of the labels. The record is graded in M- condition and the cover is Ex. The auction closes in a couple of days and the start price is about $775, with no bidders yet. I’ve always found the Norgran/Verve Pres records to be hit and miss, music wise, although the packages are always attractive. I came across a Sonny Rollins interview on YouTube the other day where he was talking with reverence about this stage of Pres’s career, so it is causing me to re-assess. Check out the clip – Sonny talks about Pres playing Three Little Words and how Sonny used to play it every single night. I can vouch for that, because in the early and mid 1970s, I used to go to see Sonny every night at the Vanguard or the Half Note in midtown, and every single night he would play Three Little Words.

In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to at Jazz Collector. 🙂 A few weeks ago in a post called Random Notes from the Jazz Collector Inbox, I posed the question: “What’s the verdict on the current crop of OJC” pressings from Craft recordings. I received a thoughtful reply the other day from reader Alun Severn from the UK. He writes as follows:

“What’s the verdict on the current crop of OJCs? Maybe I’ll pick one up, just to report back to you all. 

Well, it’s a confusing situation, I think. I can see no real logic evident in what gets pressed as a premium Craft OJC at around $35+, and what gets pressed as a bog-standard OJC reissue at around $20 or so. The premium ones I refer to are the Kevin Grey/Stoughton-jacketed ones with the obi strip.

In my experience, the premium obi-stripped ones are superb. I have bought a number and have yet to have a problem of any kind. The bog-standard OJC reissues are another matter entirely. I have returned at least one because it arrived warped and dirty. I can clean dirty records, and do, but I will not accept warped records. I’ve had one or two that certainly sounded no better than a mid-80s Fantasy distributed OJC, and possibly not as good. And I’ve had a couple (Moonbeams and How My Heart Sings come to mind) that to my ears sound excellent.

Conclusion:  I have become very wary of the bog-standard OJC reissues but if here in the UK I can find the premium obi-stripped ones at not too inflated a price then I get them without hesitation knowing that they will be as good and as any of the premium remasters Kevin Gray is currently involved with.

I hope this helps. Regards,   Alun”

Thank you, Alun. Very helpful, indeed. At least to me.

The post A Jazz Vinyl Potpourri: Blue Notes, Pres, OJCs first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]> https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/a-jazz-vinyl-potpourri-blue-notes-pres-ojcs/feed/ 9 9691 https://jazzcollector.com/riverside/another-visit-to-a-record-store-pandemic-edition/ https://jazzcollector.com/riverside/another-visit-to-a-record-store-pandemic-edition/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2020 13:00:18 +0000 https://jazzcollector.com/?p=8601 One of the things I have missed during the pandemic has been going to record stores. I love going to record stores. It’s a life-long [...]

One of the things I have missed during the pandemic has been going to record stores. I love going to record stores. It’s a life-long habit, and pleasure, one which I have never wanted to give up, even in the dark days of the recent past when vinyl was an endangered species and brick-and-mortar record stores seemed to be going the way of the 8-track. Even then, I would regularly visit the surviving stores and always buy something, it seemed, because, fundamentally, I like buying records. Anyway, I couldn’t remember the last time I physically walked into a record store, even though there are several decent, recently opened stores in a reasonable driving distance from my home in The Berkshires, where The Lovely Mrs. JC and I have permanently relocated since the pandemic began. I decided this was an itch that just had to be scratched and the other day I grabbed my son’s dog, Gordon, who is visiting for a few weeks, and got in the car and took a ride over to Catskill, New York, a little more than an hour away, to visit my favorite of the record stores in the area, Spike’s Record Rack, of which I have written several times in the past. Spike and I have gotten to be quite friendly during our brief interactions, so I sent him a heads-up in advance that I would be making a visit.

He has always had a decent stock of  jazz records at fair prices, so I was curious what might strike my eye. I have also recently set my sights on upgrading my Beatles collection. A couple of years ago, I purchased reissues of some of the U.K. Parlophone records, which I did not own growing up in Bayside, NY. Some of the later pressings were issued as “audiophile” issues and they sound fine, but the reissues of the earlier Parlophones sound like crap and I have decided I want to have original pressings. I know I diverge from the theme at Jazz Collector and, for those of you who didn’t realize that I am also an avid Beatles fan, now you know. Also, for the record, James Taylor.

Anyway, Spike and I were both wearing masks, although Gordon, being a canine, was spared. No original Beatles Parlophones in Catskill, NY, but I found a vinyl copy of the Beatles Anthology 3, which I don’t own, so that made the pile. In jazz, I pulled out a VG++ copy of Cannonball Adderley and the Poll Winners to upgrade the condition of my record, but somehow I left it behind. I did take a few jazz records, including an original Buddy Rich on Norgran because the copy was really clean, the personnel was strong including Sonny Criss and Ben Webster, and, frankly, the sight of the yellow label Norgran was just too compelling to pass up for $15. I also grabbed a couple of Riversides, Paul Serrano and Don Friedman, because the condition was strong and the price was right and I don’t own these records and because, fundamentally I like buying records and I want to support stores I like. Will I ever listen to the Buddy Rich, Don Friedman or Paul Serrano records? I am going to make a concerted effort to do so.

I did pass up some decent collectibles, mostly because I already own them and I already have more duplicates than I would like. There was a Gene Ammons on Prestige, as well as one of the early James Moody yellow label Prestiges. There was Jimmy Smith House Party, a couple of nice Monk records, a couple by Roland Kirk. There were more, but they all didn’t register because I didn’t buy them. And, of course, Cannonball Adderley and the Poll Winners, which I expected to see in my pile when I got home but somehow had left behind in the store. I want to blame Gordon the dog, but he insists he had no role and was locked in a traveling bag the whole time. I guess it means I’ll have to make a return appearance to visit Spike in the near future.

The post Another Visit to A Record Store, Pandemic Edition first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]>

From the same seller is Zoot Sims in Paris, United Artists 15013. This is an original sealed copy. So far there is one bid at $100. If you get this record, do you break the seal? I do and then I put the record on my turntable. One more: Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet, Prestige 7029. This is an original New York yellow label that looks to be in M- condition for the record and maybe VG++ for the cover. The bidding is at $300.

Finally we have a question from our friend Daryl, who seeks help in finding the best sounding re-issues of Blue Note, Prestige or other labels from the Jazz Collector era. I will let Daryl have the last words:

“I need your wisdom, first-edition, deep-groove-seeking, BN/Prestige friends. Absent the young ears and high-end equipment to fully display the beauty of those spendy gems, which versions of the jazz lp canon should I pursue? Let me explain…

Let’s suppose that I seek a great sounding copy of Swing, Swang, Swingin’ by Jackie McLean on Blue Note. As I am not pursuing the Holy Grail, I am lost in the wilderness of reissues. Help me find my way out! Discogs, for example, shows 15 lp versions of that recording. Do I pursue a1967 Blue Note re-issue(BST 84024)? How about a 1978 Japanese reissue(GXK 8081, BST 84024)? In 2009, Music Matters issued the “Definitive 45 RPM Reissue” of the record. What is a budget-conscious audiophile (wannabe), hard-bop-lover to do?

This example is the crux of advice that I seek. I ask that you reflect on your collection. Those places that you fill with a non-first-press, what do you hold it with? I’ve been around JC enough to know that while a few of you may have a “VG-“ copy as a placeholder, you cannot play that tripe on your turntable. Which reissue do you listen to when you do not possess the first edition that you seek? Do you go with decades-later Japanese reissues? Do you pay for the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab updated model? How about the third press from the original label? Do I need 180 grams in my vinyl reissue! Direct Metal Mastering (DMM)?

Conclusion: I am giving you homework. I ask you to reflect on the patterns in your collection for those lp’s that are not the first presses you seek. I then ask you to consider the criteria that you use to select what will be the “next best thing” for the listener. Thanks!”

This was another one that seemed like a stretch: Dizzy Gillespie, Afro, Norgran 1003. This was an original yellow label that was listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $182.50, and I’m not accustomed to seeing any Dizzy records selling for collectible prices, with a few exceptions such as Bird and Diz as well as the two on Verve with Sonny Rollins and Sonny State. Back to Popsike, and it turns out that Afro is another Dizzy that has sold for more than $100 in the past, which makes me curious what it is about this particular record that makes it appealing to collectors, versus dozens of others by Dizzy.

Let’s close today’s post with good old reliable Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing, although it is hard to tell from the pictures. The record is listed in VG+ condition and the cover is listed in VG+ condition. However, it is clear from the picture, that the cover is no better than VG, which makes me question the condition of the record as well. No matter. The seller is asking for at least $1,500, which puts it way out of my reach and, I would guess, out of the reach of anyone else, given the condition. We’ll see when the auction closes in four days. I guess if a Jerome Richardson record can sell for nearly $1,600, who’s to guess what an original Blue Note could sell for, even in less-than-pristine condition. Perhaps if the seller can sell this for $1,500 he can afford to purchase a new camera.

Let’s start with the tease on the Blue Note documentary. It is called Blue Note Records: Beyond the Blue Notes. I saw it at a special screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Watching the movie and knowing that I would have to write about it here reminded me why, early in my journalism career, I decided that I didn’t want to be a critic. To be fair, there were some great things about the movie. Nice clips of Monk, the Lion and Wolff story, the artwork (of course) and some great commentary and stories from 91-year-old Lou Donaldson, who lights up the screen every time he appears. Would I recommend the documentary to you, loyal Jazz Collector readers? I don’t need to, do I? You’ll see it no matter what I say, as you should. Within the movie is the story of the music we love as it was recorded and packaged on one of the labels we treasure and collect.

As a fan of the label and the music I was disappointed that the movie didn’t do a better job of capturing the ethos of the Blue Note label and the era in which the classic records were recorded, primarily the hard bop period from the early 1950s to the time the label was sold to Liberty in 1966. The movie is filled with platitudes from a bunch of current artists, plus lots of references to the influence of Blue Note on hip-hip, as opposed to putting many of the classic recordings in the context of their time. There was also a lot of emphasis on artists who did the bulk of their best work on other labels – such as Miles, Monk and Coltrane – as opposed to some of the artists who were more closely affiliated with Blue Note, such as Hank Mobley, Dexter Gordon, Jackie McLean and others. There were times where the movie felt like a public relations vehicle to help with the promotion of current Blue Note artists, which I hope was not the intent. In looking on the site for a picture to accompany this post, the only one that was available from the Jazz Collector era was the one I used from Bud Powell. Didn’t seem right, for our purposes here, not to use a Francis Wolff photo.

I am not a critic and never set out to be one, so I will be interested to hear other opinions here at Jazz Collector once the movie gets a broader release and more of you have an opportunity to see it.

In the meantime, there are records to watch on eBay. Lots of talk about that Tommy Flanagan Overseas record, which sold for $6,250. I tend to agree with Woody and others that the 50-year rule will not apply to the collectible records of the 1950s, because they are considered “art” as opposed to coming from the world of popular artists. I’ve been collecting since the early 1970s, seriously since the early 1980s, and there has rarely been a period where the value of the most collectible records has not gone up. As an American, I’ve always been cognizant of the fact that people around the world seem to have a much greater awareness and appreciation for the music and its creators than we have had here, and I hope and assume that will never go away, not just in terms of the value of the records, but more so in keeping the music alive.

Among others, our friend CeeDee has gotten impatient with our lack of posts and has sent links to some jazz vinyl auctions we missed on eBay, including:

Miles Davis, Cookin’, Prestige 7094. This was an original New York pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $798. This illustrates my earlier point about records only going up in value. Back in the early 1980s, I could buy a copy of this for $100 or less.

The Consummate Artistry of Ben Webster, Norgran 1001. This was an original yellow label pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $363.99.

Overall, it seems to me that prices are a bit lower these days than they have been recently. Does it have to do with the strength of the U.S. dollar? I don’t really keep track of monetary exchange values, but I’ve been surprised at some of the bidding. Not to the point where I’m tempted to jump in, but I would have no problem paying $500 or so for that copy of Flight to Jordan, if I didn’t have a copy of my own in better condition.

Here’s another one that should fetch a higher price than the current bidding would indicate: Doug Watkins, At Large, Transition 20. This is an original pressing with the booklet. The record, cover and booklet all look to be in VG+ or so condition. The auction closes later today and the bidding is in the $370 range. We’ll see where the bidding ends up, but I’d also expect this one to be close to the $1,000 range under normal circumstances, if we can ever use such a phrase to describe the Jazz Collector market.

because I didn’t think it would sell and, by not selling, it would have confirmed my theory that collector interest in Norgran records is dying and collector interest in older artists — pre-bop, pre-modern jazz — is also on the wane. So, I must admit to some level of surprise that this record sold for $294. There were only three bidders and three bids so it’s not like this one was going viral, but it still sold for a respectable collectible price.

I was watching this one from the same seller and I was sure it would sell: Clifford Brown Memorial Album, Prestige 7055. This was an original New York yellow label pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. The start price was about $200 and there were no bids. Shows how much I know.

There was a copy of this record among the 10-inch records I seem to be passing on: The Fabulous Thad Jones, Debut 12. This was an original 10-inch pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. The start price for this one was $200 and there were no bids. I looked in my collection and had forgotten that I have a mint copy of this record, picked up in Baltimore. Ahh, Baltimore. Wonderful memories.

Speaking of artists adored by collectors, there was Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This looked to be an original pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,585, which is quite a bit less than one would typically expect for this record. I wonder why? The seller has good feedback and there don’t seem to be any hidden “gotchas” in the listing. Not that $1,585 is such a low price, but we’ve seen this record sell consistently for more than $3,000 in this condition in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. By the way, I totally understand why the Sonny Clark Blue Notes are so coveted by collectors. They are great records, all of them, and he was such a brilliant pianist. If you want to find some less expensive Sonny Clark records — along with Tal Farlow — check out some of the collaborations with Buddy DeFranco on Norgran and Verve. You can typically get these for much less than the Blue Notes and the music is superb. For many reasons, the record Cooking the Blues is particularly close to my heart.

Dexter Gordon, Getting’ Around, Blue Note 4204. I only did side one with Manha De Carnaval and Who Can I Turn To. Another great choice. This is also a superbly recorded LP, and I can see why its value keeps rising in the collectibles market. From there I went to an old standby, Getz-Gilberto on Verve and closed the set with Paul Desmond and Jim Hall, First Place Again on Warner Brothers. All and all it was a successful play list. I was listening quite intently and was quite pleased. The Lovely Mrs. JC was listening as background music and she was pleased as well. So there it is, a mellow playlist for you all. Anyone have any suggestions for the next time around?

So this one wound up selling, no surprise: Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This was the one that was sitting at around $1,200 and hadn’t reached the seller’s reserve. The record was in M- condition and the cover was ex. The price made it past the seller’s reserve price — and the way up to $2,125. Seems that what used to be the $1,000 bin when we started more than a decade ago is now the $2,000 bin, if you know what I mean.

This one was from The Jazz Record Center: Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This was an original pressing with the first cover, framed cover and yellow label with the New York address. The record and cover both looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $555.55, IMHO a bargain for a great record in great condition. If only it were on Blue Note.