A Trio of Rare (Original?) Blue Notes

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I’m watching three interesting jazz vinyl listings on eBay from the same seller in Germany. They are:

Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’ Blue Note 1588. It’s a very weird listing. It uses a canned picture of the record, no labels, no back cover, nothing. It describes the record as a Lexington Avenue label. Huh? As we here at Jazz Collector know, Cool Struttin’ was issued way after Blue Note moved away from Lexington Avenue and Lexington Avenue labels. The record is listed in M- condition and has a buy-it-now price tag of $2,999. The seller has a lot of feedback so I’m not necessarily questioning his credibility, but I certainly wouldn’t bid on this. Perhaps that’s just me.

From the same seller: Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume 1, Blue Note 1515. This also looks like a canned picture. The record is listed in Ex condition and the price is $1,799. Finally, Walter Davis Jr., Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. This is another one that’s lacking in pictures. It is listed in M- condition. The price is $1,999. Do you think anyone will take a gamble on it? We’ll watch it so see.

Strange (And Not So Strange) Prices on Jazz Vinyl

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Wow. That Ben Webster record I mentioned yesterday — Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274 — sold for a whopping $201.50. Although the seller listed it as an “original” there was a clear picture that showed it was an MGM pressing. What do the MGM’s sell for, generally, $20 or $30, at best. The bidders either weren’t paying attention to the picture or they mistakenly thought it was a bobdjukic auction.

Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This was an original pressing in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $415. These original Blue Notes are so coveted and hard to get that $415 for a VG seems like a reasonable expectation. I bet is sounds nice too. Although this one failed to sell at all: Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. The record was listed in VG condition and the cover VG+. The start price was $400, but there was no action.

 

Finding Jazz Vinyl To Watch on eBay

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Slow time on eBay this week for collectible jazz vinyl. To save time, rather than going through all the listings I’ll often do searches of Blue Notes or high-priced records or other filters to find the items most interesting to the Jazz Collector audience. Using those same filters I always use, hardly anything too exciting or expensive came up for this entire week. Perhaps its a hangover from the bobdjukic auction that seems to have everyone so enthralled. Having said that, there are always items of interest to watch, bid on, envy or all of the above.

Horace Silver, Six Pieces of Silver, Blue Note 1539. This one has the West 63rd Street address which makes it a second pressing, or at least not a first pressing. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is VG. What makes it interesting is that it is signed by Horace Silver. What’s that worth? We’ll see. So far there are no bidders with a start price around $200.

Here’s a reason to read auctions carefully: Ben Webster Soulville, Verve 8274. This is advertised as an original pressing when it clearly is not. This has the MGM label while an original has the trumpeter label. Nonetheless there is a bid of about $80 on this records. The seller has minimal feedback. Not a good way to get started on eBay.

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More Rare Jazz Vinyl, More High Prices

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Here’s an update on some jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with: J.R. Monterose in Action, Studio 4 SS 100. This looked to be an original pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. This auction is saying that there were 250 copies of this record printed, although for some reason I recall an earlier posting with a 500 number. Regardless of 250 copies or 500 copies, there aren’t that many to be had, so this record often winds up in the $2,000 bin these days, as has this copy, logging in at a cool $2,215.

This is one I missed from the bobdjukic auction: Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage, Blue Note 4195. This looked to be an original pressing with the ear, NY USA address and RVG stamp. It was described as “monstrously” rare because it was a mono pressing. Anyway, I’m pointing it out because of the price, which was $821.21, way more than we’ve ever seen for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. In fact, more than double the previous high. And you seem to want me to include these aberrations in the Price Guide? I guess I will, even though I don’t necessarily agree.

Watching Original Jazz Vinyl on eBay

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At some point soon I will be updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. My inclination is to not include some of the recent sales we’ve been watching here, such as Getz/Gilberto and Miles Davis Four and More since they are clearly aberrations and not indicative of the overall market. I think they would tend to give people false expectations as to real market value. What do you think?

In the meanwhile, here are some other jazz vinyl auctions we are watching on eBay.

Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. This is an original yellow-label pressing with the New York address. The record and cover are both listed in M- condition. The price is $165.50 and there are more than two days left in the auction. Tempting, although I have a feeling the bidding will definitely surpass the $600-$700 range and perhaps slide into the $1,000 bin. All of which would put it out of reach for me.

Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This is also an original pressing. The cover

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Setting Some New Highs For Jazz Vinyl Prices

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Many of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay have ended, so here’s a bit of a summary, starting with some of the final prices on the recent auction from the seller bobdjukic:

Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This was an original stereo pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $410. I’m not going to comment on the prices of the records I’m listing here. They tend to speak for themselves, no?

John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was not an original pressing. It was a fairly common mono pressing with the red and purple labels and the white fan logo. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. It sold for $142.50.

Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve 8545. This was an original stereo pressing. The record and cover were probably in M- condition. The price was $361.

John Coltrane, Ballads, Impulse 32. This was an original orange label pressing. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $410. Our previous high price for this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was $205.

Joe Henderson, Mode For Joe, Blue Note 4227. This was a Liberty pressing. Liberty Pressing. It was in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $154.02.

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Grand Stans

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To keep the discussion on this a little longer. I was perusing eBay last night and there was another copy of Getz/Gilberto, Verve 8545, also a stereo pressing, also in M- condition. It sold for $37, which is higher than normal. The other one from bobdjukic is at $219 and closing later today. While perusing, I also came upon this nice record: Stan Levey, Grand Stan, Bethelehem 71. It was sitting there at $25 and there were no bidders and I was contemplating placing a bid even though I already own a copy in M- condition. I think the seller missed an opportunity here: This is one of those records where if you know it, and you know the identities of the musicians, it becomes much more interesting. Among the musicians on this record are Sonny Clark and Richie Kamuca and it is, as you’d expect, a terrific record. It’s also not so easy to find, certainly tougher to find than Getz/Gilbert0. This one was in VG+ condition and sold for $27. The highest price we’ve ever seen for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide is $90.

Fairly Common LPs, Uncommon Prices

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Many of you in the Jazz Collector audience complain about the seller bobjdukic, but you have to give the guy credit – whatever he does, he is able to get prices that no one else can dream of. I’m watching several of his auctions now and am pretty amazed at where the bidding is going. He must have regular customers who trust him and are well satisfied with what he delivers. Here are a few cases in point: Stan Getz, Getz. Gilberto, Verve 8545. Was there a more popular, more widely produced jazz album in the 1960s? Could you waltz into any record store now (if you can find one) and find a copy of this record in reasonable condition? This one has 11 bids and is currently priced at $219 with more than a day to go.  Miles Davis, “Four and More,” Columbia 2453. Again, this is a great record, but not all that uncommon. This one has been bid up to more than $100. Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This is a stereo pressing. Again a great record, but not that hard to find, even in nice condition. This one has been bid up to $178.50.

Tracking Autographs: Duke, Miles, Sonny, Trane . . .

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It was interesting watching the recent auctions of autographed vinyl and ephemera from the Jazz Record Center. With autographed items there’s always going to be a question of authenticity but there’s no reason to believe these items weren’t genuine. There are autographs and then there are autographs — I remember a couple of years ago there was an auction of a letter from Bill Evans to John Coltrane that sold for $38,000. There was nothing in this grouping that came close to matching that in either uniqueness or value, but there was some nice prices nonetheless, including:

John Coltrane and Milt Jackson, Bags and Trane, Atlantic 1368. This one, which me mentioned the other day, was signed by Coltrane, Jackson and Hank Jones. It sold for $758. Others: Miles Davis, Early Miles, Prestige 7168. This record is an early reissue, with a yellow label. This also has autographs By Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins. It sold for $377. 89. This is not a record we track often in the Jazz Collector Price Guide because it is not an original but, suffice to say, it would not normally  sell for that amount sans autographs. One more: Duke Ellington, Such Sweet Thunder, Columbia 1033. This was an original pressing signed by Ellington. It sold for $191.38. Under normal circumstances, no autograph, this is really like a $10 or $20 record.

Bashing Jazz Record Collectors

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Just received a note announcing the Annual Jazz Record Collector’s Bash in New Jersey. It will be June 29 and 30 in Iselin, NJ, wherever that is. I’m hoping to attend this year, but it’s my normal time to be in The Berkshires so that may not be possible. This is the 38th annual event and I haven’t been in probably at least a dozen years, although I do have good memories of attending in the past, particularly the one year I was able to score some original Prestige and Swingville records for $5 each. Plus a nice Sonny Criss 10-inch on Clef. Its’ funny how we remember where we scored our records, down to the details of which record, where, when and how much. It’s part of what makes collecting fun, right? Here’s the link for the Jazz Record Collector’s Bash in case you’d like to attend.

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