We were cleaning this record yesterday to put it up on eBay: The Chico Hamilton Quintet With Strings Attached, Warner Brothers 1245. It is an original pressing in pretty nice condition. It was in a pile of records to sell. It was not one I was even considering keeping, so it wasn’t even going to get a mention in the Jazz Vinyl Countdown. Then I looked at the liner notes, where it mentions a “newcomer” on reeds by the name of Eric Dolphy. I had forgotten about Dolphy getting started with Hamilton. Anyway, I decided to give this record a second chance. I put it on the turntable. Quite interesting Dolphy — he plays mostly straight, but you can absolutely hear the direction he will head towards in the next few years. So, after listening to several tracks, what’s the verdict?
Jutta Hipp Blue Note Tops The $1,000 Mark, But Jackie McLean Does Not Sell For $2,500
Time to catch up on some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching this week at Jazz Collector:
Jerome Richardson, Midnight Oil, New Jazz 8205. This was an original purple label pressing in VG++ condition, both the record and the cover. It was sold by Euclid Records, which usually means it would get top dollar. However, in this case, we’re not so sure. This one sold for $153.50. We sold a copy of our own a few months ago for more than double that, even though it was in worse condition. We’re not sure what that means, other than the reality that prices on eBay tend to fluctuate for no apparent rhyme or reason.
Then there was this one from Euclid Records: Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume One, Blue Note 1515. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $1,263. That’s the first time this record will enter the $1,000 bin in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. As we’re doing our Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown, this
Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Bird’s First, Autographed
Here’s an interesting test: With this winnowing down of the jazz vinyl collection, are we still a collector or have we morphed into something else — perhaps a dealer-slash-collector-slash-aficionado or something other equally endearing term? Well, we have two copies of this pretty rare 10-inch record: Jay McShann, Kansas City Memories, Decca 5503. This record is noteworthy because it is the first studio recording of one Charles Christopher Parker Jr. Bird’s solos on The Jumpin’ Blues and (especially) Hootie Blues usher in a new era in jazz. It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? Both of our copies of this record are in pretty nice condition, but one of them has a bonus feature: An autograph on the back by
On eBay Now: One Stellar Collection
Have you seen the jazz vinyl being sold this week on eBay by the seller nautiluso?We are quite agape and agog. There are a good 75 classic jazz collectibles — Blue Notes, Prestiges, Transitions — and most of them seem to be original pressings in very nice condition. The seller is from Rio de Janeiro and says in the listings that they are from his personal collection. His eBay feedback is pretty good, not stellar, and he normally seems to sell a mix of jazz and classical records. The items he has listed this week are a pretty nice jazz collection unto themselves. We’ll post a few of the records here, but it would be worth your time to click one of these and look at the seller’s other items as well.
Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This is one of the rarest of the jazz collectibles — could it be the rarest? — and this copy is listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide we’ve twice recorded this one selling for more than $3,000. This one
Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Ike Quebec, Blue Note
We were watching this record carefully on eBay: Ike Quebec, It Might As Well Be Spring, Blue Note 4105. It was an original pressing in M- condition, both the record and the cover. It sold for $276, which is about as high a price as we’ve seen for one of the Ike Quebec LPs on Blue Note. We figured perhaps it would be a good time to sell our copy as well. Turns out, we don’t have a copy. We have three other Ike Quebec Blue Notes: Blue And Sentimental, Blue Note 4098; Heavy Soul, Blue Note 4093; and Soul Samba, Blue Note 4114. Anyway, we figured we’d try one out and see if it will make the cut as we reduce our collection to 1,000 records. The one we chose is Heavy Soul, figuring this was the least likely to stay, since the rhythm section
Prestige Day: Monk, Webster Young, Dolphy, Jug
Let’s catch up this morning on some Prestige LPs we’ve been watching. There was a time when we pondered the idea of owning the entire Prestige Yellow label catalogue but, thankfully, we’ve give up that particular obsession.
Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, Prestige 7075. This was an original New York pressing with the promo stamp on the label. It was in M- condition and it was sold by the seller hershel78, who’s been selling some beautiful records lately on eBay. This one sold for $500.
From the same seller was this beauty: Webster Young, For Lady, Prestige 7106. This was an original New York pressing and it too was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $482.77.
Here’s one that definitely set a new high price:
Trane, Good Bait, YouTube: What Do You Think?
I was doing a search of John Coltrane jazz vinyl on Google and came across this video. If you’re going to do a video on YouTube, this looks like a pretty good way to go.
Notice that this has been viewed about 2,500 times. Not bad. This, of course, is from Soultrane, Prestige 7142.
Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Jackie Mclean, 4, 5 & 6
Okay, this was a close one: Jackie McLean, 4, 5 and 6, Prestige 7048. I’ve had a copy of this in my collection forever, an original New York pressing. I probably listened to it once when I first got it. Someone had placed about 10 stamps on the back cover: “Club Soulville.” I recently saw a copy on eBay — VG on the vinyl, VG+ on the cover. For $60 or so, I was able to get it for a nice cover upgrade and get rid of Club Soulville. This morning I got up real early and took a look at both records, figuring now was the time to figure which one to sell. Quite unfortunately, they both looked quite marked up. The one I bought on eBay was not really a VG, it was more like a VG-, with lots of marks. The one I had in my collection — the Club Soulville copy — didn’t look that much better. Could it be that I would be in a position to get rid of both copies? Alas, thank goodness for the heavy vinyl on
Tracking Some Nice 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl
Here are a few nice 10-inch LPs we’ve been watching.
Gigi Gryce and Clifford Brown Sextet, Blue Note 5048. This was a beautiful copy in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $579.
The Amazing Bud Powell Volume 2, Blue Note 5041. This was listed as VG for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price was $90.97. As someone said in one of the comments recently, the Bud Powells seem to be in less demand than some of the other Blue Notes.
Elmo Hope Quintet, Blue Note 5044. This was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and cover, which is a classic. The price was $305.
Art Blakey, A Night At Birdland Volume 2, Blue Note 5038. This one was also in nice condition — VG++ for the vinyl and M- for the cover. The price was $305. 03.
And yet another Blue Note:
Catching Up: Kenny Drew, Rouse, Nichols
Here’s an update on some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching here at Jazz Collector. We sense a slight softness in the market the past couple of weeks compared with the end of the summer, when prices seemed to be skyrocketing. This sense comes not only from what we are watching, but from what we are selling as well. These things go back and forth all the time, so we don’t see much use in trying to time the market as a seller, but for buyers, this might be a time to be active. Prices surely will go up again if past is prologue to the future. Here are a few recent sales:
Kenny Drew, This is New, Riverside 236. This was an original white label pressing. The record was listed as VG++ and the cover was VG+. The price was $125. This one features Hank Mobley and Donald Byrd and is quite a nice collectible — and quite a bit cheaper than comparable Blue Notes of the same era with the same artists.
Speaking of Blue Notes: Herbie Nichols Trio, Blue Note 1519. This was
April is Jazz Month
