Vinyl Sadness and Stuff

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Once again relying on our friend CeeDee to keep me apprised of jazz vinyl happenings on eBay while my work prevents me from being as active as I would like. The first one is a record I’ve never heard of by an artist that is not familiar to me: Bjarne Rostvold Trio, Tricrotism, RCA Victor 9955. This was an original mono German pressing sold by vinyl-house-uk.The record was listed in EX+ condition and the cover was EX. The final price was $503. Is this a bass, drum, trumpet trio, as it seems on the cover? I’m trying to think of other records with this personnel and I’m coming up empty. There surely must be more out there, but I can’t think of them. Read more

Who Did You See?

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Dexter Gordon in the ’70s. When he played the Vanguard, I would go every night.

This will be fun (for me, at least). It’s a new thing: Who Did I See? And the flip side: Who Did I Not See? I’m 68, born in 1953. I got into jazz at age 17 in 1970. I’ve told that story: Song for My Father. I was born too late to have seen Bird or Fats or Clifford or Pres or Billie or Art Tatum. I grew up in New York and have spent most of my life in New York. When I was a kid, my dad used to drag us to afternoon jazz shows in Manhattan. There was an organization called Jazz Interactions and they used to do Sunday concerts at the Village Gate and other venues. I remember going to the Five Spot on St. Marks as a kid. So I have two lists of Who Did I See. One is Who Did I See before I had any appreciation for who I was seeing. The second list is Who Did I See after I got into jazz and was making my own decisions and spending my own money. BTW, this is jazz only. I did see Cream and I did not see Hendrix, but that’s another list and another web site. These lists are not complete. I don’t remember every drummer or bass player or pianist. I don’t remember everyone I saw. It’s just a list of highlights off the top of my head. The nice thing about Jazz Collector is I can add to, subtract from or amend in my own time and at my own discretion. Here goes: Read more

Just a Few Jazz Records

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Lots of interesting jazz vinyl to drool over on eBay right now. Let’s start with Hank Mobley Sextet, Hank, Blue Note 1560. This is an original West 63rd Street deep-groove pressing listed in EX condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The bidding is already over $2,000 with nearly two days left on the auction, as of this writing. The seller is vinyl-house-uk and they have a load of great original pressings for auction this week, including a lot of nice Blue Notes. Here’s one more: Introducing Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1523. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing that is listed in EX/EX+ condition (whatever that is) for both the record and the cover. The bidding is around $1,250. Read more

Vinyl Madness

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I did a bit of a double take when I saw this record sell on eBay: Thad Jones, Mad Thad, Period SPL 1208. The reason for the double take was I remember owning this record but do not remember seeing it in my collection for many years. Sure enough, I perused the shelves and I apparently do not own this record any more. Do I have any idea what happened to it? Well, have some idea: I sold it. When, why, to whom, I have no idea. My guess is that the copy I had was in poor condition and I was weeding out some records from the collection. Or it could go all the way back to 1990, when I sold a large batch of records in order to buy a boat. Careful readers know the story: I sold the records, bought the boat and there was a hurricane and the boat sank. Vinyl karma? Anyway, I do not have a copy of Mad Thad. This would have been a nice one to own. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG. The final price was $940. This is the second highest price for this record, according to Popsike. Whenever I did sell my copy, you can rest assured I didn’t get anything close to that price. Read more

Oddballs and Ends

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I think CeeDee may be prodding me to post more. Yes, my friend? Anyway, he’s been sending me links with little notes. Here are the latest. This one is titled “another one from my ‘Greatest Misses’ list:” East Coasting by Charlie Mingus, Bethlehem 6019. This was an original red label pressing, featuring Bill Evans on piano. Is this the only recorded instance of Mingus and Evans together? The record and cover were in VG+ condition and the final price was about $286. Here’s one titled “This oddball LP has been fetching good bids for some years, so don’t pass it up the next time you’re browsing:” The Louvin Brothers, Satan is Real, Capital 1277. The record and cover were in VG+ condition and the price was $363.88. I have no idea what this record is and why CeeDee sent me this link. I have a feeling I am better off in my ignorant bliss, but I have a feeling someone, perhaps Mr. CeeDee, will provide an answer. Read more

Benson, Bird, Dex and More

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Last week I posted that video of the guy who bought George Benson’s record collection (In The Mailbox: Yikes, Yowzas & George Benson’s Collection). Now we are starting to see some records from the collection coming onto eBay, starting with Dexter Gordon, A Swingin’ Affair, Blue Note 4133. This is an original New York USA pressing featuring Sonny Clark on piano. The record is listed in VG condition and the cover looks to be about VG+. The bidding is in the $125 range with eight days left on the auction. There are already 16 bids and 83 watchers, which will surely increase with this post. It’s a great record and a nice collectible: Does the fact that it was probably owned by George Benson have an impact on the price? If you were considering buying this record, would it matter to you? Read more

Explorations in the Jazz Collector Stratosphere

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Time to clear out the watch list, starting with The Arrival of Kenny Dorham, Jaro, JAM 5007. This was an original mono pressing with the blue label and deep grooves. The record and cover were both listed in EX+ condition. The final price was about $1,248. From what I can see on Popsike, this is a new high for this record, beating the pervious top tag of $1,050. Speaking of new highs, I had to do a double-take on this one: Get Happy With Freddie Redd Trio With Guests, Nixa Jazz Today Series, NJL 19. We wrote about that a few weeks ago and the post received 59 comments (and counting). At the time of the writing the bidding was in the $460 range and there was some speculation that would end up in the $1,000 bin. How about the $4,000 bin, as in $4,377. Read more

In the Mailbox: Yikes, Yowzas & George Benson’s Collection

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Got a few emails from our friend CeeDee, starting with The Booker Ervin Quintette, Cookin’, Savoy 12154. This looks like a red label, but it’s not clear. Some of the photos look red, some look maroon. Not sure this record had deep grooves, but there are none in the picture. This copy was in Ex condition for the record and the cover and sold for about $558. The previous high for this record was $175, according to Popsike. Read more

Thelonious, Duke, Phil and Buckshot

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Let’s get back to the mundane business of watching prices of rare jazz vinyl soar on eBay, shall we. Let’s start with Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, Riverside 12-201. This is the original pressing of the first record in the 200 series of Riverside. It is an original white label pressing with the original cover, featuring photos of Monk, Oscar Pettiford and Kenny Clarke. The record looks to be in nice condition, although the description is pretty vague for a seller who does not offer returns. Cover also looks pretty nice, based on the pictures. The bidding starts at about $750 and so far there is no action, with the auction closing in about two days. I would love to own an original copy of this record and I came close about 20 years ago for what at the time was a reasonable price. I was at the Jazz Record Center in New York and had a copy in my hand in very nice condition and the price was $100. I thought long and hard, asked Fred what he thought and he said it was a bargain at that price, but I guess I didn’t have the money, or the balls, at the time, so I left it behind. Came back a few days later to get it, but it was gone. Read more

Ramblings, Records and Rancor, Oh My

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In my real life I’ve been writing what we call an “eBook” for a client. Basically, it’s a long term paper of about 5,000 words. The topic is climate change and, if you want to get really depressed, read the latest report from the United Nations. Anyway, I share this because being buried in work has left little time for the important things in life, like Jazz Collector and, lo and behold, in my absence there are 55 comments, and counting, on the latest post. Surely, they can’t all be about getting happy with Freddie Redd and Jazz Collector, so I am curious about what is going on to inspire such interest and, perhaps, inspiration. So, pardon me while I catch up. Hmmm, now I see that there was a personal, and in my view entirely unfounded attack on Clifford from a new commenter named Gohoos81, who has since apologized and rambled to the point where I am having trouble deciphering whether this was a real diatribe or an attempt to spam the site. Whatever. I see there has been enough pushback without me having to waste more time worrying about it. But Gohoos81, if you are still here, you may find that there are other sites where the community is more welcoming of your rancor and bluster, but you don’t seem to have a very welcoming audience here, including your usually amenable host. Read more

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