Prestige | jazzcollector.com

A Matter of Prestige?

September 30, 2016 Al 14 comments

Are we finally starting to see the Prestige records follow the same path as the Blue Notes? I’ve been quite surprised at the price of several Prestiges recently, including the Sonny Stitt record I mentioned last week and this one that sold yesterday on eBay: Bennie Green With Art Farmer, Prestige 7041. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was excellent. Great pictures from the seller are always helpful in achieving high prices. Still, I wouldn’t have pegged this record to sell for $860, which was the final price. Careful readers may recall that I purchased an original copy of this record for 25 cents. It was sitting in the bargain bin at Mr. Cheapo’s record store in Mineola on Long Island. I typically never looked in the 25-cent bin because it was always junk. But this day I was looking to kill time and not go back to work and, voila, there was Bennie Green With Art Farmer. Now the condition was just VG for the record and VG for the cover. But it was literally a quarter, the same as the parking meter outside the store. Still have it. The record, not the quarter. Read more

Stitt and Braith and What is Collectible (and Why?)

September 23, 2016 Al 30 comments

Interesting discussion on the previous post about buying/selling records on eBay and dealing with returns. I haven’t sold on eBay in about six years, ever since my real business took off, but when I did I offered a full return policy and typically also included postage. I had a couple of people take advantage, but most transactions went very smoothly. Like Bill, I tended to under grade the records a bit just to avoid any problems. If I felt anyone was scamming me, or if they were returning records frivolously, I blocked them so they couldn’t bid on any more of my records. Anyway, back to business: Sonny Stitt, Stitt’s Bits, Prestige 7133. This was an original New York yellow label. It was listed in M- condition for the record and the cover, but it’s clear from the photos that the cover is not M-. This record sold for $405. I don’t recall too many of the Stitt records selling for this amount, and not this one. I’m a Stitt fan, but I know he’s never been popular among collectors, so what is the story here?

This one also fetched a relatively hefty price, all things considered: Read more

A Prestige Pair; a Bird Autograph?????!!!!!!!!!

September 12, 2016 Al 16 comments

We’ll start the week with a couple of nice Prestige records on eBay and then move on to a possible autograph (?) by Charlie Parker. First up is the Clifford Brown Memorial Album, Prestige 7055. This is an original New York yellow label pressing that looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding starts at $155 and so far there has been no action. The auction closes in a bit more than two days. This has never been one of the Prestiges overly coveted by collectors, but I would still expect it to sell for a decent price, in the $300 or more range. We’ll see. Clifford is one of the greats, so it has always eluded me why collectors might be willing to pay a higher price for a Moondog Prestige versus a Clifford Brown. I guess it’s supply and demand, but you’d think the demand for a great Clifford record would be higher.

Back to Jazz Vinyl Reality

September 7, 2016 Al 29 comments

Sorry for the long delay between posts. The Lovely Mrs. JC and I took a much-needed vacation and I am just getting settled back in. Didn’t go too far, just to Provincetown on Cape Cod, but it felt like a million miles away. Anyway, I’m going to swing over to eBay now and see what may be of interest to me and, of course, to you loyal readers who keep the site going even whilst I’m away. So, thank you all.

Here’s one from near the top of my want list: Walter Davis Jr., Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in Ex condition for both the record and the cover, which sounds like VG++ to my grading sensibilities and nomenclature. The bidding is in the $470 range with more than a day left, but it has not yet reached the seller’s reserve price. Read more

Tracking a Trio of Jazz Vinyl Gems

August 22, 2016 Al 10 comments

Back to eBay: Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This was an original pressing. The record was listed in VG condition and the cover was listed as VG+. The seller intimated that the record might be closer to VG+ than VG, but the pictures of the cover made it look like the cover was closer to VG than VG+, so if I were bidding I would have stuck with the VG. The final price was $1,390.

Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This was an original purple label deep groove pressing that was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. This record, of course, features John Coltrane as a sideman. This copy sold for $410. This is one of those records that has really increased in value and demand during the time period (eight-plus years) we’ve been doing the Jazz Collector site on a regular basis.

Watching a Pair of Heavy Hitters

August 4, 2016 Al 2 comments

I’m back on eBay and have a couple of heavy hitters on my watch list, starting with Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swinging’, Blue Note 4024. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The seller has a start price of about $700. There are more than three days left on the auction and so far there are no bidders. I’m pretty sure this one will sell and perhaps even break into the $1,000 bin. I love this record. It’s a bit of an aberration for Blue Notes of the era because it is mostly standards and just one original. Not sure what Jackie was thinking at the time because none of his subsequent Blue Notes followed the same pattern. Maybe he just needed the cash? In any case, a great album, and one that I’ve never been able to acquire in this kind of condition. My own copy is kind of VG or VG+ and I’d love to upgrade. Someday, maybe, but not this week.

Prices Down? Methinks Not

July 27, 2016 Al 14 comments

I know this one has already been all over the previous post, but I wanted to get it into a headline and separate post so that it would come up in searches: John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This has the New York 23 label on one side, which makes it an original pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++, with some writing on the back. There were nine bidders, 13 bids and the final price was $4,717.89.

Not sure who said that prices seem down on the previous post, but that’s certainly hasn’t been the case for the records I’ve been watching. Here are a couple of examples: Jackie Mclean, 4, 5 and 6, Prestige 7048. This was an original New York yellow label listed in VG++ condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It sold for $1,144.

And how about this one:

Paying For Pres and Other Jazz Vinyl

July 12, 2016 Al 36 comments

Thanks for all of the suggestions on getting the mildew odor off the covers of the records. I’m going to try a few of these once I have time, probably next week, and I’ll let you know if anything works. In the meantime, I’m not going back for that sterling collection of 10-inch LPs because the price was just too high, all things considered. I’ll write a post when I have more time, also probably next week. This week I am buried in real work, per usual. Despite my workload, I’ve had a chance to look at some items on my eBay watch list and here are a few things to share with the Jazz Collector community, starting with: Lester Young, Pres, Norgran 1072. This was an original yellow label pressing listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ condition for the cover, although there was some writing on the back. I must admit that I started watching this record

Temptation, Thy Name is Newk

July 7, 2016 Al 17 comments

Thanks again to Clifford for stepping in while I took an unexpected extended break. I am back on eBay now and, once again, subject to temptation. For example: Sonny Rollins Quartet and Thelonious Monk, Prestige 190. This is an original 10-inch pressing that looks to be in VG condition for the record and the cover. It’s not a record I own and, of course, I would like to have it, but not in that condition. So perhaps the temptation is not as intense as it may seem just looking at the listing. This one has a start price of about $80 and so far there are no bids. I have been in the midst of another Adventure in Jazz Collecting that I will share with you in the next couple of weeks involving what would normally have been an absolutely sterling collection of 10-inch records. Unfortunately, the records all have a heavy scent of mildew, and I’ve never been able to figure out how to get rid of that odor. Has anyone been able to solve that problem? I wound up passing on the collection because the seller wanted a price that would have been realistic — although still somewhat high– if the records didn’t reek. He claimed to have gotten an offer at that price. Hopefully, the buyer actually saw, and smelled, the records before making that offer. Details to come once I’m sure that I am fully out of contention for these records. Read more

A Post About Ballads

June 29, 2016 Al 42 comments

I go to sleep to music each night. I am still archaic enough to have an iPod and I have created about 50 playlists, all ballads and soft music, and I rotate among them and put them on random play. I find it quite soothing and relaxing and, apparently, so do my usual bedfellows, which would be The Lovely Mrs. JC and the two dogs Marty and Gordon. So last night I was listening and, at random, there came “Who Can I Turn To” by Dexter Gordon and then “Say It (Over and Over Again)” by John Coltrane, and I was listening very closely and both performances were quite lovely and brilliant in their own ways. And, of course, it got me to thinking about who are my favorite ballad players and what are my favorite ballad performances. And, of course, I couldn’t fall asleep because I was mentally going through all of my records and trying to pick out my favorite artists and performances. In the end, before I eventually nodded off, I came up with some thoughts and decided to share them here with you this morning. Read more

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