Happy Birthday, Sonny Rollins

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Yesterday was Sonny Rollins’ birthday. 92.

The first time I saw Sonny play was in 1972. He was coming off one of his intermittent hiatuses. He was doing a week at the Village Vanguard. The first night, Tuesday, it was pouring rain. Dan and I waited on 7th Avenue. We had no idea what Sonny would sound like on his return. One of us said that we hoped he was playing more straight-ahead, not too outside like Pharoah Sanders or Arche Shepp. The guy in front of us turned around and gave us a look, half smile, half sneer. It was, of course, Pharoah Sanders. He was just one of many famous musicians in the audience that night, all to witness the return of Sonny. It was triumphant, as you would have expected. Albert Dailey on piano, Larry Ridley on bass, Dave Lee on drums. Lots of straight-ahead music. St. Thomas, It’s Easy to Remember, A Nightingale Sale in Berkeley Square, some blues. Maybe Green Dolphin Street? I don’t remember everything, but I remember the energy in the Vanguard, and it was explosive. One standing ovation after another. My recollection is that Dan and I went back every night during that gig, and every night for the next gig that followed just a few weeks later. Read more

Starting Points for Rare Jazz Vinyl

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I haven’t been watching eBay as diligently during the summer as I normally do, and I haven’t actually sold anything on eBay in more than a dozen years, so this observation may be dated, but . . . . is it just me, or are sellers consistently putting a higher start price on their auctions of rare jazz vinyl? I was just updating my watch list and flagged several titles that had high starting prices and no bidders. At first I assumed it was all from a single seller. But when I opened up the listings, they were all from different sellers. Here are some of those records, starting with Mal Waldron, Left Alone, Bethlehem 6045. This was an original red label pressing. If you can read through the seller’s tome and ‘tude, eventually you can find the condition of the record, which was listed as NM-. The cover was described as “pretty nice-very nice” and the picture shows a pretty clean front cover, with wear on the top and some old tape on the back. To me, pretty nice-very nice translates to VG+. The bidding start at $800 and so far there are no takers. Read more

Not Selling on eBay

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Took a lovely holiday with The Lovely Mrs. JC and was off eBay for quite a bit. Now I am back and looking over my eBay watch list, and I am somewhat surprised to see that a lot of the items I had put on the list did not sell. A few examples: Jackie McLean, Makin’ the Changes, New Jazz 8231. This was an original purple label pressing in VG+ condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The start price was $500, when I looked at it. It is back again on eBay now for $400 and there are still no takers, yet. This was from the seller 1molecularman, who has had quite a lot of success with his recent auctions, so I expected it to sell. Another from the same seller: Read more

Heavy Hitters, Hefty Prices

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All of the jazz vinyl auctions I was watching in my queue are now over, so let’s start catching up with those, starting with Roland Kirk, Triple Threat, King 539. Although I’m a big Kirk fan, this is a record that has eluded me over the years. This was an original pressing listed in VG condition with “light noise hiss, crackle & an occasional pop.” Cover was listed as VG, with shelf wear and a partial seam split. This was from the seller 1molecularrman, who’s been on quite a run for the past few months. The run continues. This one sold for $1,300 on the noise. Read more

Red, White and Blue Note

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I appreciate all of the advice on what to do with my collection, how much it’s worth, who will buy it, etcetera, etcetera. One of these days, something will happen, but I don’t know when and I can’t imagine I’ll go the Lennib route, at least for as long as I can put Coltrane on the turntable and know that it’s Coltrane that I’ve put on the turntable. In any case, I am watching jazz vinyl with renewed interest and ready to do my normal work here of writing about what I’m watching and, on occasion, writing about what I’m listening to and, on rarer and rarer occasions, what I’m buying. So, let’s start with Red Rodney, Signal 1206. This looks to be an original pressing, listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for the cover. Quite a rhythm section on this record with Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Pettiford and Philly Joe Jones. Question: Can anyone think of another record with that rhythm section. Off the top of my head, I can’t. So we have the record VG+ and the cover VG- and a final price of $1,324. Hmm. Read more

Updates

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The seller of the U.K. Esquires we were watching did all right. I guess the buyers did too. Miles Davis, Miles His New Quintet, Esquire 32-201. This was in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. When we wrote about it, the bidding was in the $55 range.  It sold for $533.99. I find myself siding with Maarten on this one. I like the cover design. It is an artwork, at least to my eyes. In fact, I tend to like the cover designs on most of the Esquire Prestige releases. Case in point: Elmo Hope, Informal Jazz, Esquire 32-039. This one was listed in Ex+ condition for the record and cover. It was also in the $55 range when we posted. It sold for $338. Even this cover has a simplicity that is appealing, although they probably could’ve put a little more effort and oomph into it, Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Esquire, 32-045, particularly considering that they had two years to work on it after the U.S. release.   This was listed in Ex+ condition for the record and Ex for the cover, with a partial seam split on the top. It sold for $356.12. Read more

Potpourri From the 10-Inch and UK Vinyl Vaults

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Random stuff in our watch list. Let’s start with some original 10-inch vinyl, none of which seems to be getting much action: Howard McGhee Volume 2, Blue Note 4024. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in VG or VG- condition for the record, and VG+ for the cover. I could actually be in the mix for this one. I have a nice copy of the vinyl with no cover at all. The starting price is about $80 and the auction closes later today with no bidders yet. Seems like a no-brainer, at least to put in some kind of bid. Here’s another 10-inch Blue Note that has more in common than just the label: Gil Melle Quintet, Blue Note 5033. This is also an original Lexington Avenue pressing, from the same seller, listed in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. No bids yet, with a start price of $100. The common element: Both records feature the great Tal Farlow on guitar. Read more

Transitioning Back with Rare Jazz Vinyl

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Let’s celebrate our return with a look at random rare jazz vinyl on eBay, marking the transition back to Jazz Collector with some records from Transition: Doug Watkins, Watkins at Large, Transition TRLP-20. This looks to be an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. There is no mention of the booklet, and no pictures of the booklet, so my expectation is that there would be no booklet, making this particular copy incomplete. So far there is one bid at $750, with the auction closing in a couple of days. Whilst Transitioning, here is a new one to me: Donald Byrd Sextet, Transition 5. This looks to be a limited edition numbered reissue, and it seems to include the booklet as well. Looks pretty cool, if you are into numbered reissues. This is part of the Sam Records Artisan Series, number 138 out of 300. Since I don’t follow the reissues market as closely as original pressings, perhaps someone can enlighten us about this record and this series. Read more

One Record

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I was driving in the car the other day and listening to a playlist on my phone. A usual car playlist will have a variety of music, from the Beatles to Ella, James Taylor, 60s rock and, of course, some jazz. I was listening for about a half hour, singing along a little, but nothing that necessarily put a smile on my face. But then came this: Paul’s Pal, by Sonny Rollins. As soon as it came on, my face lit up. For me, it’s one of those songs that always puts a smile on my face. Maybe it reminds me of the first time I heard it, or perhaps because it always seemed to me like Sonny was smiling while he played it. Anyway, I started thinking about the record, Tenor Madness, and the thought popped into my head: If I could keep only one record, Tenor Madness would be one of the contenders. Now, I realize this is silly because there is so much music available everywhere in digital formats, so I could listen to pretty much anything I would want at any time. But it’s my game, and here’s how I played it out. Read more

Back in Action and, Finally, Back on eBay (Looking, Not Selling)

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I promised to get back to watching rare jazz vinyl on eBay, so here I am again, but at some point I also expect to weigh in on some of the comments on the previous post. Meanwhile, we have Paul Gonsalves, Boom-Jackie-Boom Chick, Vocalion LAE 587. This looks to be an original British pressing. The record and cover are both listed in VG++ condition. The bidding is in the $280 range with more than two days left on the auction. What’s the story on the record’s title again? I’m sure it’s been mentioned somewhere on Jazz Collector, but I can’t find it. From the same seller is Duke Pearson, “Wahoo!”, Blue Note 4191. This looks to be an original New York USA pressing. The record and cover are either VG+ or VG++, depending on your interpretation of the seller’s description. I would tend to be on the conservative side and go with VG+, but, then again, I am not a potential bidder for this record. For those who are potential bidders, the auction is currently in the $200 range. Read more

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