Category: Prestige

Jazz Vinyl on a Summer’s Day

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Where did I leave off before I was so rudely interrupted by the summer? Oh yeah, Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. Ex-plus record, some questions about the cover, overall consensus that this was not the copy to purchase after waiting for 45-plus years. Reality would have bitten anyway, because the final price was $1,624, which would have exceeded any reasonable price I would have been willing to pay. Of course, what is reasonable to me seems to be pretty far out of whack with what is reasonable in today’s overall market. I think I’ll solace myself with listening to my lovely Japanese pressing this evening. In the end, it’s about the music anyway, isn’t it? Or is it? This is another one on my so-called want list, meaning it is an original pressing I don’t own: Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This one is listed as VG++ for both the record and the cover and it has a start price of about $1,600. There are more than four days left on the auction and so far there are no bidders. Read more

More Adventures . . . Or Just Misadventures?

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Today we have various jazz vinyl that has caught my eye for various reasons, starting with Miles Davis, Miles, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. This looks to be an original New York pressing with the green cover, although it’s hard to tell if it is the frame cover from the picture, but the seller says that it is. The seller also says the cover is VG++, which doesn’t look quite accurate to these eyes. The record is listed in VG+ with “a touch of light surface noise in spots.” The start price is around $280 and there are nearly five days left on the auction. So far there are no bidders. When I started collecting, this was considered a real rarity, John Coltrane’s first recording with Miles. And, indeed, this record has made it into the $1,000 bin several times. I’m wondering if there will be interest in this record. If not, will it be because of the condition or will it be because it is not on Blue Note? I’m sensing it may be a combination of the two. But I could be wrong and the bidding will become heated at the last minute, as it so often does on eBay. Read more

Grails, Holy Grails and Actual Jazz Records

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Nice discussion on the previous post. Here are a bunch of rare jazz records on my eBay watch list as I prepare to take a brief holiday. Let’s start with Donald Byrd, Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill, Transition 17. The seller uses one of our least favorite terms, “Holy Grail,” which wouldn’t apply to this record even if it was suitable language, if you get my drift. Anyway, this looks to be an original pressing with the booklet. The record is listed in Ex condition and the cover looks to be a fairly generous VG. The bidding is in the $1,300 range with more than four days left on the auction, so you could see this in the $2,000 bin when all is said and done. The top price for this record, according to Popsike, has been about $3,840. I was fortunate when I purchased the collection in Baltimore to get a beautiful clean original copy of this record.

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Soul Sisters, Smithvilles and Other Vinyl Rarities

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Since I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to, I find I have a backlog in my watchlist of items I meant to write about, but haven’t had a chance. So let’s go back a few weeks and see what we missed, starting with Horace Silver, Serenade to a Soul Sister, Blue Note 4277. This was an original Liberty Mono pressing and was part of the recent Jazz Record Center auction. I honestly never realized any copy of this record was viewed as highly collectible until I read the JRC’s description of it as “the rare Van Gelder-stamped mono pressing.” Apparently these mono pressings were never sold to the public. I often find I learn something new whenever JRC has an auction. This copy was in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $464. Guess I’ll have to settle for my nice stereo pressing.

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Prestiges, Blue Notes and a Boyd

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Where was I? Oh, yes, I had a watchlist on eBay that I haven’t looked at in two weeks. Let’s see what’s there. Phil Woods et al, Four Altos, Prestige 7116. This was an original New York yellow label pressing that was listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover, although I’d say VG+ for the cover. My feeling about cover gradings is if there is a seam split, then VG++ is a bit too optimistic. But that’s me. Anyway, this was a promotional copy and a pressing from a library, which always gives me pause because who knows how the record was handled all these years. This one sold for $451.99. Now the four alto players on this record are Woods, Gene Quill, Sahib Shihab and Hal Stein. And my question is this, for those of us, like me, who mostly organize records alphabetically by artist: Is there any collector out there who files this record under anyone else besides Phil Woods?

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Aiming High for Rare Jazz Vinyl

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As prices of rare collectible jazz records have continued to rise over the years, I’m noticing that more sellers on eBay seem to be using the strategy of starting their auctions at higher prices, often prices that are higher than what would seem to reflect the prevailing market limits. I’m not sure if this has always been the case, or it is just something that is striking to me because I tend to look at higher priced records in doing the Jazz Collector site. For those of you who’ve been here long enough to recall, I wasn’t always focused just on the higher priced records. However, as I’ve had less time time to devote to the site over the years, and as I stopped selling records myself on eBay, I find it is a bit easier and less time-consuming to search predominantly at the top end of the market. One of these days, when the real works starts drying up, I’ll try to go back to taking a broader perspective. In the meantime, several of these types of auctions have caught my eye this week, starting with: Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the flat edge and frame cover. The record is listed in VG condition with the admonition that it plays with “some noise.” The cover is VG with seam splits, writing on the back and perhaps some staining. Looks more like VG- to me, but I’m not looking to quibble. The start price is about $1,500. So far there are no bidders with more than three days left on the auction.

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Insanely Rare Jazz, and More

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Here are a few odds and ends we’re watching on eBay now, starting with Roland Kirk, Triple Threat, King 539. It must admit, when I saw the listing for this record I had a certain seller in mind because of the all caps JAZZ HOLY GRAIL DG ORIG INSANELY RARE. But it was the normally rational Euclid Records with the listing, so perhaps there is some contagious bobdjukic virus spreading across eBay. In any case, this holy grail is listed as VG- for the record and VG+ for the cover. There are four days left on the auction and the record is getting close to the $400 mark. Read more

Four From The Jazz Collector Want List

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I had my eye on a couple of lesser-condition Blue Notes from my want list, starting with Cliff Jordan, Blue Note 1565. This was an original New York 23 West 63rd Street pressing. The record was VG- and the cover was VG++. I’m always afraid of VG- because it often means I wouldn’t be comfortable putting the record on my turntable. This one sold for $687.54. I still have my 1970s UA copy to listen to. The same seller was offering Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This was also an original New York 23 pressing. The record was also VG- and the cover was VG+. The final price was $408. Thank goodness for those UA pressings. Read more

Top Prices for Jazz Vinyl Rarities

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Back to the real world after a lovely Thanksgiving break, which means it’s time to look at auctions of rare jazz vinyl on eBay, starting with Jerome Richardson, Roamin’ With Richardson, New Jazz 8226. This was an original deep-groove purple label pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,575, in what looked like a bidding war between two buyers who must have really wanted this record. Taking a quick look at Popsike, the previous high price for this record was in the $640 range. I owned a copy  for about two weeks after I purchased a small collection back in 2009, which I wrote about here at Jazz Collector. I wanted to sell a few of the records in order to make my money back quickly, and this was one of the ones I sold, probably for about $250 or so, back when I was still selling records on eBay and trying to get traffic to the Jazz Collector web site. There are very few records with Richardson as the leader, so I guess it has some cachet for that and for the fact that it is an original New Jazz. But nearly $1,600 for a VG+ copy seems like a bit of a stretch.

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Potpourri: Rare Jazz Vinyl, Bill Evans Tributes

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Time to catch up on a few items from our watch list on eBay, starting with John Coltrane, Soultrane, Prestige 7142. This was an original New Jersey yellow label that looked to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. When first first looked at this on Jazz Collector, it had a start price of $200 with no bidders. In the end, it wound up selling for $618, which is pretty near the top price was Soultrane. I was pleased to see Rudolf’s comment on the last post because I wholeheartedly agree that this is my favorite of the Coltrane’s on Prestige. If we watch this space long enough, I’m pretty sure we’ll see the day when a mint copy of Soultrane ends up in the $1,000 bin.

The Sonny Clark record, Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588, which turns out not to have been an original pressing Read more

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