Adventures in Jazz Collecting: The Auction, Part 2
Sorry to leave you hanging on Part 2 of this story. So I am on the phone listening to the auctioneer in the background. He is describing each lot – Here’s Number 14, Kenny Burrell on Blue Note, do I hear one hundred, a hundred ten, a hundred twenty, a hundred thirty, two hundred, two ten. This is going by in what seems like nanoseconds. For me to get in a bid I have to decide quickly how much, then I have to react quickly and, in the end I have one or two seconds to decide as the auctioneer is getting ready to close the auction. It’s a bit of an adrenaline rush, as you may imagine. Anyway, I lose out on all the Burrell records and I’m feeling a bit guilty about tying up the phone line and the next thing I know I’m bidding on a couple of Wes Montgomery records and the guy on the other end of the phone, who is the brother of the auctioneer, is telling me it looks like I’m going to win these records. And I do. One is Full House, a great Riverside record featuring Johnny Griffin. The other is The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, also on Riverside. I have bid $60 for
Full House and $55 for The Incredible Jazz Guitar. Perhaps these are bargains, perhaps not. The 17 percent surcharge adds to the fee and, to be fair, each of the albums has previously sold for more than $200 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. In any case, I am now a viable, active bidder – a winning bidder — and the old familiar rush of buying records is now flowering in full bloom. I miss out on McLean’s Scene — $240, and I already own two copies — but then I buy three consecutive lots of records: These lots include Art Blakey Free For Al; Roy Haynes We Three; For Musicians Only with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Sonny Stitt; Lem Winchester, Lem’s Beat; a couple of Bird LPs and a couple of more Getz LPs. the bill for these will be about $200. I keep going: A batch of Oliver Nelson Prestige/New Jazz LPs and a few Red Garland Prestiges that I already own. Then I am bidding furiously on an interesting lot. It is a group of John Coltrane LPs and it seems that among them is a black-label copy of Giant Steps. Now, again, I have not seen these LPs and I am at a distinct disadvantage to those in the room, who have had a chance to examine the condition of the records and whether, indeed, they are original pressings. Nonetheless I press on and win this batch for $160. Again, I am rolling with adrenaline. I lose out on a batch of seven Bill Evans LPs that sells for $650, but I buy a batch of 11 Evans LPs for $80. Who knows what is in this lot? I even buy a batch of Gerry Mulligan LPs for $40, just because the price seemed right, not because I needed or wanted any of these records. Finally there were random lots of records, no titles listed, just posted as: Lot of Thirty LPs. What they heck, I figured, I’ll bid on these as well and I ended up winning one of these batches for $50. Who knows what will arrive in the mail. My final purchase was actually the only thing I really wanted in the auction: The Tal Farlow Mosaic CD Boxed Set, which I got for $90, plus 17 percent, plus shipping.
Whew.
It was quite a roll for awhile. Today I got the bill in the mail. More than $1,200, including the surcharge and shipping charge. I guess my Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown will be put on hold for a while. Yet again.
By the way, I am writing this in a deli in Tamarac, Florida, where I am cleaning out my mom’s apartment. I had already taken all of my dad’s records when he passed away, so there were no records left, but my dad did leave behind a bunch of cassette tapes, probably a couple of hundred. I plan on leaving these behind, unless someone here might have an interest, although I’m not sure why. If you do have an interest drop me an email. Also, I won’t be able to post as much, perhaps not at all, during the next few days. What a place. I am the first one in the deli this morning for breakfast at about 7:30 and it’s quite large but the next guy that comes in is about 100 years old and he has to sit directly across from me and he spends the next 45 minutes coughing and hacking phlegm and belching and farting. It has been a warm and lovely experience and, certainly, a breakfast to remember.
Great Site!!! It takes a lot of fortitude and time for you to do this for us “Collectors”.
Thanks
Full House is by far my favourite Wes album. The live auction setting sounds like a lot of fun.
“coughing..hacking phlegm and belching and farting”? C’mon,Al-if that’s not a “come on” I don’t know what one is. I think you may have been out of the game too long.(Besides,who knows what kind of jazz collection he might have had back at his place) A missed opportunity,I’d say!
45 minutes of coughing hacking belching an farting…with the right rhythm section it could be a good side. Add a ballad and a latin number and you’ve got a classic.
The auction sounded fun. I think the Bill Evans albums Al purchased might be a very interesting lot. It sounds like the old guy in Florida was contributing significantly to the greenhouse gas effect.
I just happen to have a Full House up on EBAY. soon to have sellers regret!
To Bethellodge. Bravo! Excellent reply. Now we must come up with a name for the album. Leapin’ and Hackin’; A Phlegm Supreme. It’s late and I’m a little loopy. Someone will come up with something.
“Blowin’ Green.” “Passin’ and Gassin'” “Boogerloo.” Ballad: “S’not What You Think.”
Hmmm…let’s not put all the material out at once. I’d suggest four seperate releases:”COUGHIN'”,”HACKIN'”,”BELCHIN'” and the best of them(in my opinion),”FARTIN'”. Dropping the ‘g’ in the titles is a nice touch,but I’m sure what’s in the grooves will bring listeners back for more. Right now Al is in his workshop working(workin’?) on a “scratch n’ sniff” design for the last one,but perhaps the less said about it at this time the better. Come to think of it,the same might be said for the whole series!
Yes, Ceedee, very Milesian. We can complete the set with Wheezin’
Snortin’ Else
who says Jazz is highbrow?
new one for the $2000 bin:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370352453566&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
strange, that Mobley isn’t regarded as one of the genius’s of the sax, by the critics , but his albums fetch the highest prices…
.
are there lesser albums pressed with mobley on it?
(BN 1568 also)
I think he’s great and especially his early albums for BN have beautifull covers.(BN 1544!!)
1568 seems to fetch the highest prices, followed by 1574 Peckin Time