Category: Riverside

What’s Happening With Jazz Vinyl?

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So, I lost the auction for The Unique Thelonious Monk. No big deal. The bigger revelation was the prices on some of the other records on the Jazz  Record Center auction. Having been off eBay for a few months dealing with other things in life, I wasn’t prepared for what I considered to be a fairly drastic change in the market. Or perhaps this has been going on for a while and I hadn’t noticed? Or perhaps this is just an aberration based on the reputation of the Jazz Record Center? Or just one or two sellers with lots of money to spend?  Let me share with you some of the biggest surprises that I encountered, starting with The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Riverside 1169. This was an original stereo pressing that looked to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $787.22. Per Popsike, this is the highest price ever recorded for any copy of this record. But a stereo copy? Read more

A New Mini Adventure in Jazz Collecting

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I decided to bid on that Monk record from the Jazz Record Center auction: The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 12-209. The main reason was that I really wanted the record. As you can see from the accompanying photo, the record I own is a blue label and the cover has ugly taped seams both on the top and on the bottom. Plus, the record plays with a lot of surface noise, not anything you would really want to put on your turntable. But that wasn’t the only reason for my interest in bidding. I probably haven’t bought or sold a record on eBay in at least 10 years. I wanted to go through the experience again, see if anything had changed, see if the old adrenaline rush would still be there. I also wanted to write about the experience to share with the dwindling Jazz Collector audience, which is what I am doing now. Read more

A New Case of Vinyl Envy

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OMG, it’s so freaking easy to get hooked again. I went on eBay on Thursday for the first time in months and now I’m checking every few hours, including 5 AM on a Sunday. It’s re-awakening the old, familiar adrenaline rush of just looking at the records, seeing the prices, and feeling that old collector’s feeling of “boy this is fun.” Then there’s the vinyl envy of the records in great condition that I don’t have, The Unique Thelonious Monk as a case in point. I’m pretty sure I’m going to bid on that record. I’ll keep you posted. In the meanwhile, here are a few more records that have tickled that familiar feeling, starting with another Monk record from the Jazz Record  Center auction: Thelonious Monk, Monk’s Music, Riverside 242. This is an original white label pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and at least VG++ for the cover. I have never owned an original white label pressing of this record, and it is John Coltrane (among others) playing with Monk. Bidding is a little bit more than $100, with the auction closing Monday evening.

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More Jazz Records, More Record Prices

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Back to perusing rare jazz vinyl on eBay. Last I looked, I had a bunch of items on my watch list from The Jazz Record Center. They’ve had at least two other auctions of rare jazz vinyl since then, so let’s do a fairly comprehensive overview of some of the more interesting and/or expensive items. We’ll start with Miles, the New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. This was an original New York yellow label with the green cover. The record was listed in “new condition, with a high luster” and the cover was listed in “extraordinary” condition. Sounds like it was as it was sitting on a record store shelf in 1956. This one sold for $2,155. Is that a new high? Let’s head over to Popsike and . . . yes it is, by a lot, nearly $1,000 more than the previous high. Condition counts. See below. Read more

Jazz Vinyl: Where’s the Action?

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Things have been hectic around here, to say the least. My wife, known to many of you as The Lovely Mrs. JC, had a retinal detachment in August and has since been through three surgeries and two laser procedures. We’ve been driving back and forth between New York and The Berkshires almost every week. Fingers crossed that the third surgery was the charm. In the meantime, I’m thankful I’ve been able to continue doing my radio show on WTBR-FM Pittsfield, which are also the podcasts that appear on the Jazz Collector web site. I have never done anything like this before and it’s giving me a lot of enjoyment. Plus it’s getting me back into the music, even more than the records, which, IMHO, is always a good thing. But there are still records out there and, I assume eBay is still in business, so I will swing over there now and do my first search in well over a month. And what do I find? Read more

Jazz Record Centering

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Last week when I was on eBay I was watching an auction from the Jazz Record Center. The auction has since closed, but it’s always fun and enlightening to keep an eye on their results, so here are a few rare jazz vinyl items that sold last week, starting with Harold Vick, Steppin’ Out!, Blue Note 4138. This looked to be an original mono pressing with the New York USA label. Never had this album, nor have I ever heard it. Not in my sweet spot with the organ instead of piano. This is a preview copy that looked to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $521. Read more

Rare Jazz Vinyl On eBay Again

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It’s been a long time between visits to eBay for me due to unforeseen circumstances that have been drain on my time and required me to be in New York for a while. Seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, so hopefully I can do my regular posts more frequently, in addition to keeping up with my radio show and podcasts. I’ve been in these circumstances before and expressed similar hopes so let’s see what happens. In the meantime, I’ve been on eBay this morning and put a bunch of jazz vinyl collectibles into my watch list, so here goes, starting with Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record is listed in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. There are 20 bids and six bidders so far, with the auction closing later today. The current price is $515 and I would say this one is a candidate for the $1,000 bin. Read more

Jazz Collector, Back on eBay

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I’m on the road this week and won’t be able to post as frequently as I would probably like to, given the reality that the records I am selling on consignment with Carolina Soul Records began closing on eBay today and will continue tomorrow. I was paying so little attention to the auctions, I didn’t even realize they were closing today until I logged on around noon and saw that several of the auctions had already ended. All in all, about 300 of my records were on the consignment list today, with another 300 tomorrow. Despite whatever trepidations I may have had about the discrepancies between my grading curve and that of Carolina Soul, I’m very pleased by the results so far. Very pleased, indeed. And surprised. Having done Jazz Collector for about 20 years now, I feel like I’ve been well on top of the market and how it has evolved. But, seeing my own records being sold has been enlightening in a new way. I’m still processing the whole process and want to see how things end up tomorrow before sharing some of my preliminary thoughts. So let me do one of the things I do most frequently here at Jazz Collector, which is to look at the prices of rare jazz records that have been sold on eBay. In this case, every record on the following list was from my personal collection, singles or doubles. Read more

Heavy Hitters: Monk, Duke, Evans, Dorham

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Here are some of the rare Jazz LPs I am currently watching on eBay, starting with Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, Riverside 12-201. This is an original white label pressing with the original cover. The seller doesn’t offer a grade, but it looks like the record is in nice shape and the cover looks really clean. This is a cool record, with the original cover, great music and the first record in the Riverside 200 series, signifying the label’s shift to modern jazz and, in particular, its very fruitful relationship with Monk. I would love to have an original pressing of this record and, unfortunately, I passed up an opportunity to buy one for $100 at the Jazz Record Center in New York about 30 or so years ago. This one has a start price of $940, which is too rich for my sensibilities. I took a look over at Popsike and, to my surprise, this record has sold for more than $1,000 at least two times. Perhaps this will be a third? Read more

Jazz Vinyl Auctions for the Road (And Beyond)

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I’ll be off line for the next week so I won’t be able to post. Not that it will be any different than a normal period between posts, but this time my absence will at least be planned. Everything’s fine. Just enjoying a little holiday. In the meantime, I will leave you with a large batch of records to watch so you can all comment to your heart’s content. Let’s start with one of the records that would still be on my want list, if, indeed, I had a want list: Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This looks to be an original deep groove pressing listed in M- condition for the record and EX+ for the cover. Bidding is in the $200 range with almost three days left on the auction. I have no idea how this record has eluded me all these years, but it has. Read more

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