Guest Column: Hub Cats of Jazz

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There’s been a lot of chatter on Jazz Collector this week about record stores in various locales, including New York and San Francisco. One of our regular readers and commentators, Jason, has submitted a guest column on jazz in Boston — not the stores, but the music itself from the 1950s and 1960s. So here’s Jason:

“When I first thought of writing a post about jazz in Boston during the 50s/60s, I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t, and the problem is Boston itself. When one considers jazz and geography it is usually New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City and New York come to mind as sources of talent and innovation. Not Boston. New Orleans could claim Dixieland. Kansas City had Read more

More Jazz Vinyl Updates: J.R., Sal et al

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We shall continue our exploration of non-Blue Note jazz vinyl for the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Sal Salvador, Tribute To the Greats, Bethlehem 74. This was an original red label pressing with promo stamps. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. You don’t often see Salvador among the collectibles, even his 10-inch Blue Note doesn’t always rate with the other Blue Notes. This one did all right, selling for $154.

J.R. Monterose, The Message, Jaro 5004. This was also a promo copy, with a white label that had a nice vintage look to it. The record was in VG+ condition and the cover was VG+ as well. The price was $422.

Introducing Jimmy Cleveland, Emarcy 36066. This was an original

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A Little Clef, A Little Norgran, A Little DSM

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Trying to get off Blue Note a little bit and infuse some variety to our posts. Yesterday we added some Prestige and New Jazz jazz vinyl to the Jazz Collector Price Guide, today let’s look at a few from the Norman Granz pantheon.

This one has a very pretty, simple cover design by David Stone Martin: A Recital By Tal Farlow, Norgran 1030. This was an original pressing with the yellow label and the trumpeter logo. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $122.16.

This one also has a nice Stone Martin Cover: Anita O’Day, Collates, Clef 130. This was a 10-inch LP and it was listed in M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. The price was a very reasonable $82.

Here’s another nice 10-inch LP:

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Tracking Rare Jazz Vinyl on Prestige

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Not everything is Blue Note, right? Here are some Prestiges that we’ve just entered into the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Dorothy Ashby, Hip Harp, Prestige 7140. This was an original New York yellow label pressing and it looked to be in nice M- condition for both the vinyl and the cover. The price was $193.

Miles Davis Plus Horns, Prestige 7025. This was a New York pressing. The record was VG++ and the cover was M-. The listing lacked a little bit of detail — such as whether it was a kakubushi cover — and the price was $170.17. Just a few weeks ago we saw an M- version of this LP sell for $799.

Ray Bryant Trio, Prestige 7099. This was an original New York yellow label pressing

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Tracking Prices For Later Blue Note Pressings

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People have been asking about prices and values of later-pressing Blue Notes, so I’ve been watching a few just to keep tabs on the market. There was a seller last week that was selling a bunch of United Artists pressings, including: The Magnificent Thad Jones, Volume 3, Blue Note 1546. This one was in VG+ condition for both the record and the vinyl. The start price was $40 and there were no bids. So that price was definitely too high. However, if you look at his other completed listings, there were a bunch more United Artists pressings in better condition and they sold in the range of $15 to $25 each, for the most part. There was a Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550, that sold for $25.49 and a Lee Morgan Indeed, Blue Note 1538, that sold for $15. There were others as well, including a couple of blue-and-white label Liberty pressings that sold for between $30 and $40. I also watched this blue

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Blue Notes on A Summer’s Day

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On this warm, sticky, hot, sweltering summery day in New York, let us take a moment to catch up on some collectible jazz vinyl from the recent annals of eBay:

Here’s a nice Blue Note for what seemed to be a pretty reasonable price: Lou Donaldson, Swing and Soul, Blue Note 1566. This was an original pressing from a reputable seller. The vinyl was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $460.75, and this is quite a fine record, indeed. There was a second copy of this record for sale. The record and cover were VG++ and the

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Guest Column: An LP Trip To NY

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Thanks again to Rudolf for his very special guest column on French Vogue. It is garnering quite a bit of attention and conversation. We will be offering a few more guest columns in the next week. One of our regular patrons, Don-Lucky, is at the Ottawa Jazz Festival and has promised some reports and another regular patron, Jason, offers up this item about a recent trip to New York, where he paid a visit to the famous world headquarters of Jazz Collector. Here’s Jason:

“After several 84-hour work weeks I’ve finally gotten around to accepting Al’s offer to blog about my trip to NYC. Last April the wife and I made our way from Boston for a show at the Apollo. Since the show wasn’t until much later I thought I’d make a first time trip to Infinity Records out on Long Island after reading about it here. Only I never made it. Read more

On eBay: Three More Tenors

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Here are some of the records worth watching now on eBay:

Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This is a New York pressing with the first cover. I would assume the cover is a kakubushi cover, but if I were to actually bid on this record — I won’t — I would definitely ask first. This is a great record, of course, with Clifford Brown and Max Roach and this copy is in M- condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. This is also listed as a promo copy and I’m not sure if that does anything to enhance the value. Anyway, this one is at about $230 with less than two days to go.

Here’s a nice 10-inch Blue Note:

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Newcomers For the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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Here are some records that don’t often make it to the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

I’ve never thought of this record as a collectible: The Standard Sonny Rollins, RCA 3355. This was an original pressing and it was in M- condition. It sold for $122.50. It was a stereo pressing and I’m wondering, perhaps, if it is as much an audiophile collectible as much as a jazz collectible. I’m a big Rollins fan, but this is not among my favorite Sonny LPs.

How about this one: Presenting Red Mitchell, Contemporary 3538. This is an original deep groove mono pressing with the yellow label. The vinyl was listed in M- condition and the

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Mobley 10-Inch For The $2,000 Bin

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I’ve been updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide and noticed that I somehow missed writing about the final price of this one: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This is a nice 10-inch LP and it was in M- condition for both the record and the cover. When I first wrote about it the price was in the $340 range and there were a few days left on the auction and I kind of put it aside and assumed it would sell for somewhere near $1,000, as did a copy of Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5065, its direct predecessor in the Blue Note catalogue. So now I am adding new items to the Price Guide and came back to the Mobley and was kind of surprised to see the final price, which was $2,251. Surprised, but not shocked, since all the Mobley Blue Notes are selling for top dollar these days. Still, this was the highest price we’ve seen so far for any 10-inch Blue Note. Congratulations to the seller, and to the buyer as well. As I said, I’ve been loading

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