eBaying: Warhol, Cliff, Horace

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I had never even seen the Cool Gabriels album until a few weeks ago, and now it keeps popping up on eBay and selling for quite high prices. I was tracking two copies this week. This copy, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003, was listed in VG+/VG++ condition for the vinyl and, more importantly, M- for the cover. The reason the cover is more important is because it is the Andy Warhol illustration that is presumably driving the high prices, rather than the music by Conte Candoli, Nick Travis, et al. Don’t want to break Rudolf’s heart, but this one sold for $2,310. The other copy, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003, was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG++ for the cover. This one sold for $1,807. If you want to see a picture of the cover, you can scroll down a few posts on Jazz Collecctor.

Here’s a beauty for the $1,000 bin: Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This was an original West 63rd pressing with the deep grooves and was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,330.

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Seeing Live Jazz: Bird With Strings (Really)

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Do you see a lot of live jazz anymore? I don’t. When people ask why, I kind of laugh it off and tell them that just about everyone I’d want to see is dead. Which, unfortunately, is pretty true, with a very few exceptions. I do still try to see Sonny Rollins whenever possible and perhaps a couple of others, but I no longer go to the Vanguard regularly or any of the other clubs in New York. Perhaps this will change when Mrs. JC and I make our long-awaited move to Manhattan, which is in the works (we hope). In any case, I bring this up because I did recently trek to Rose Hall in New York for the first time to attend a Jazz at Lincoln Center concert. The concert was billed as “Bird With Strings,” featuring Charles McPherson accompanied by a string section and playing the music from the original Charlie Parker Bird With Strings album. I like McPherson, a love Bird With Strings and I figured this would be a good opportunity to see some live jazz and check out the location. So how was it?

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If It’s Monday it Must be Blue Note

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Speaking of Hank Mobley, there’s this: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This is an original pressing and the seller has it in M-condition for the vinyl and excellent for the cover, which typically translate to VG+. There’s only a little more than a day left on the bidding and it’s only $660. I guess a lot of people are lurking in ambush. We’d still expect this to sell for more than $2,000, right?

Here’s a beauty from a seller with zero feedback who is selling his father’s collection, apparently one at a time starting with Kenny Dorham, Afro Cuban, Blue-Note 5065. He describes the record as VG++ and the cover as VG, but his experience is clearly limited so who knows? Pictures look pretty good to me, but the start price is a little rich for my blood: $350. There are no bidders, but I have a feeling it will sell.

And here would be the 12-inch version: Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 1535. This one is M- for the record and VG++ for the cover. It is more than $300 already. Which begs the question: Which would you rather have, the 10-inch LP or the 12-inch LP? Of course, most of you will be inclined to say “both” but what if it were only one?

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Guest Column: Review of Hank Mobley Bio

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Thanks to Mike Falcon for the following excellent book review.

Workout: The Music of Hank Mobley By Derek Ansell

A Review by Mike Falcon

Hank Mobley’s music is well documented.  Hank recorded a wealth of material that fans are still enjoying a half-century later, perhaps more than ever.  But, for a very long time, any fan wanting to know more about Hank’s life had a hard time finding anything.  Searching the Internet yields little.  Searching back issues of jazz periodicals looking for any interviews wouldn’t yield much.  Derek Ansell explains in Workout: The Music of Hank Mobley that Hank only gave one substantial interview throughout his career. The interview occurred in 1973 when his career was in a steep decline.  Other than this, Ansell was forced to piece together a picture of Hank from what little others had to say about him.

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Tracking eBay: The Cats, Blue Notes, Cannonball

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Before we look ahead at the coming week, let’s look at some of the jazz vinyl we were watching last week:

Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This was an original pressing with the purple label and the deep grooves. It features John Coltrane. I haven’t listened to this record in a few years, but my recollection is that it’s not among Trane’s better efforts, but I should go back and check again. Nevertheless it is a New Jazz and it is Trane and Flanagan and it is thus an important collectible. This one was listed in excellent condition by the seller, which I took to mean about VG++. The price was $404.99.

This one was from the same seller and also looked to be in excellent VG++ condition: The Magnificent Thad Jones, Blue Note 1527. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and sold for $869.99.

Speaking of Blue Notes, as we so often do at Jazz Collector, here are a couple of 10-inch Blue Notes we were watching:

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Catching Up: More Warhol Madness

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Time to catch up on some jazz vinyl sales on eBay:

This one made the $1,000 bin with plenty to spare: Conte Candoli, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003. This was an original pressing and, of course, the main feature is the cover illustration by Andy Warhol. The record was VG-, the cover had splits on the top and the bottom, yet it still sold for $1,825. The Warhol market is driving these prices quite high, but this one seems to do even better than the Blue Notes in better condition. It must be harder to find? Or perhaps the Warhol collectors are more enamored with the artwork?

This one was not an original pressing, at least not in the way we think of originals as “first” pressings: Sonny Rollins Volume 1, Blue Note 1542. This one had the West 63rd Street address, plus the deep grooves and ear and all the other markings of an early pressing: But a first pressing would have had the Lexington Avenue address. This one was in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $334. Quick question: I know most collectors prefer Blue Notes over Prestiges in general but, musically, to me the Sonny’s on Prestige are far more preferable and inventive than the Blue Notes. How do other collectibles feel about this?

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Tracking Prices in an Alternate Universe

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Let’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl we were watching last week. Remember that copy of Miles Davis, Steamin’, Prestige 7200, pictured a few items below?   That was the one from bobjdukic and it was in M- condition, an original New Jersey pressing? It sold for $760. Wow! I’ll put it in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but it’s hard to imagine that this will now be the going rate for this record. This guy seems to have a customer base that’s in an alternate universe from the customer base buying jazz vinyl from every other seller on eBay. There are many examples, but look at this one as well: Stan Getz, Imported From Europe, Verve 8331. This isn’t even an original pressing and he was able to get $122.50 for it. It leaves me somewhat speechless, but someone, somewhere, was willing to pay the price.

This is from a different seller and more in line with current market realities: Duke Jordan, Flight To Jordan, Blue Note 4046. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd label, deep grooves, ear, etc. It was listed in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $741.

This is a nice record:

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Ebaying: Horace and a Bit of Miles

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Let’s take a look at some interesting jazz vinyl we’ve been watching here at Jazz Collector:

This is a new high point in the Jazz Collector Price Guide for this one: Miles Davis, Cookin’ Prestige 7094. This was an original New York pressing that was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. In fact, if you look at the seller’s description, it’s almost as if the record were new. It sold for $789.67. It’s funny, when I first started really collecting collectible jazz vinyl, maybe in the early 1980s, these Miles Prestiges were not so hard to come by, and not nearly as pricey as some of the earlier yellow label Prestiges. But times seem to have changed, and the music on the Miles Prestiges is outstanding, no?

This one was from the bobjdukic batch: Horace Silver, Blowin’ the Blues Away, Blue Note 4017. This looked to be an original pressing in VG++ condition, depending upon how much you trust the seller, and it sold for $125.50. This seems to be around market value these days for this great record. I had a friend over the other day who likes jazz but is not really knowledgeable. I had him sit in my listening seat at home and I put on Sister Sadie and we listened together closely. The music was just perfect and the sound on the Blue Notes, on a nice turntable with a nice system, is just so incredible compared to anything else. It was like listening to it for the first time. Tres sweet.

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The Original Original (NOT!!!)

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I was just about to write a post about this item: Miles Davis, The Original Quintet (First Recording), Prestige 7254, but I see that Rudolf beat me to it in one of his comments. The reality, of course, is that this is the first recording of the “new Miles Davis Quintet” as issued and described on Prestige 7014, the original pressing of these wonderful album. Most jazz collectors would know this, but apparently not. The seller — do I really need to say who it is (yes it is bobdjukik) — does a fantastic job of obfuscation without actually lying. He notes that the material was recorded in 1955 and the album — this particular album — was released in 1961. When I was an editor, I used to tell my reporters and writers to be careful: It is possible to have the facts correct, but to get the story wrong. Here, clearly, we have the story wrong. What would you pay for this record in a store, even if you didn’t have the original? Would you pay $15, $20, maybe $30 to fill in the gaps in your yellow Prestige collection? This one is now $127.50 with two days to go. I don’t even want to put the picture of this record on the site, lest someone mistakenly think it is actually a collectible of real value.  You do wonder if the hyperbole and razzle-dazzle in this seller’s listings affect real bidders and real collectors. It certainly helps to jack up prices on records such as these, but does it scare bidders off on other records? Case in point:

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Updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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I’ve been spending time updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. I hope you guys use it: It does take up a bit of time to keep it going. In any case, as I’ve been going through older watch lists on eBay, here are some of the odds and ends I’ve been seeing.

I would classify this as a bargain: Gene Ammons, The Big Sound, Prestige 7132. This was not an original pressing with the New York address, but it was an early yellow label with the New Jersey address. The record and cover were ion VG+ condition and the price was $32. What makes this record interesting, in my opinion, is the presence of John Coltrane as a sideman. I have to admit I haven’t listened to this record in years so perhaps that will be one of my chores for the day to report back to you on the quality of the music.

There was a seller a few seeks ago with a bunch of autographed records, including: Art Farmer, Modern Art. This was a reissue, worth about $3 without an autograph. With the autograph it sold for $47. There were also a couple of records signed by Dizzy Gillespie, including: Dizzy Gillespie, Perceptions, Verve 8411. This was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Without the autograph this would be maybe $10: With the autograph it sold for $60. Did I ever tell you about my copy of AT’s Delight signed by Art Taylor?

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