You don’t see too many jazz records selling for more than $1,000. Here’s a recent Gil Melle, Patterns in Jazz, Blue Note 1517, that sold for $1,225. It helped that the record was in mint condition, was an original and was being sold by a highly reputable dealer. Back when I was doing the site regularly, there was huge discussion when a copy of Monk’s Music, Riverside 342, sold eBay for $3,061.50. Here’s what I wrote at the time: Read more
A $200 Joe Newman LP? Thank Andy Warhol
Here’s an LP by Joe Newman that recently went for more than $200 on eBay. Not quite what you’d expect from the RCA label. The catch is that the cover art was designed by Andy Warhol. I happen to have a spare copy of this record. If anyone’s interested, comment here and I’ll post the condition and price.
The Return of Jazz Collector, Part 2
I did the Jazz Collector Web site and newsletter for about a year and a half in 2004 and 2005 and abandoned my loyal readers to start another business. I almost came back a year ago, but didn’t. Now I’m trying again. This time it should stick. — Al Perlman
Monk’s Music: The $3,000 Question
In our newsletter last week we re-raised the question about why a copy of Monk’s Music, Riverside 242, recently sold on eBay for more than $3,000. Here are some of the early responses:
“Hi. Great newsletter by the way. I buy a lot of LPs from Atomic and watched that auction in disbelief. I corresponded with the Atomic crew after the auction asking them if there was something special I didn’t know about this particular LP and they said they were blown away at the price and had absolutely no explanation. My explanation is someone’s pocketbook is bigger than their brain Read more
A Scratch Is A Scratch Is A Scratch
In the Jazz Collector newsletter a few issues back, we asked readers to give advice to eBay sellers. Here’s a comment from one of our subscribers: “I have some advice concerning scratches. Too often the word ‘mark’ is used as a catch-all for scuffs and scratches and whatever. If a scratch is present, call it a scratch. Don’t take if for granted that a non-feelable scratch is inaudible. Often a very thin non-feelable scratch is audible. I even own a few records with very feelable scratches that are actually inaudible. Nothing takes the place of play-grading whenever possible. Also, the definition of a scratch as one that ‘plays through fine’ can mean different things to different people. Some might assume it is completely inaudible, yet it could pop noticeably for a minute. All the seller meant was that it doesn’t skip. Being more precise can result in fewer misunderstandings.” – Elliot Forman
The Bird and Diz Discovery
Three friends called on Monday to ask if I’d seen the article in Sunday’s New York Times about the discovery of the concert by Bird and Diz at Town Hall in New York from June 22, 1945. Check it out here: Bird Lives! The Birth of Bebop, Captured on Disc. So I get the calls on Monday, rush home, read the article and then head out to my local Tower Records to pick up the CD. Alas, no CD. Also, no CD at Borders, Barnes & Noble or Best Buy. So I ordered on Amazon. Still waiting for delivery. Which is a roundabout way of saying that I’m delaying the next newsletter a week, till I get back from vacation and have a chance to listen to this CD so I can share my thoughts with you. I’ve got plenty of other stuff to write about, plus an updated Price Guide, so stay tuned on August 15. I’ll be offline till then, traveling in Europe. Have fun and happy record hunting. – Al
A Few Items To View
After a few days off, I finally got to catch up a bit on eBay this week. Here are some of the items worth looking at today. If you check out the first item, from Atomic_records, you should also look at “View Seller’s Other Items.” As is often the case, this seller has a lot of nice records for auction this week.
Jackie McLean, New Soil, Blue Note 4013
This is a new seller that has some interesting items at fairly high starting prices. This one, for example, is in nice condition, but it’s not an original pressing: Miles Davis, Cookin’, Prestige 7094.
Here’s one that might be a bargain: Sonny Rollins, Sonny Boy, Prestige 7207. This is an original pressing. For some reason, this LP doesn’t command a high price. Some of the material was issued earlier, but some of it is new, including a beautiful version of “The House I Live In.” Does anyone know of any other jazz version of this song?
Illinois Jacquet and his Tenor Sax, Aladdin 708.
An Urgent Call for Help For Michael Brecker
I received the following urgent email from a friend the other day:
My brother-in-law is Michael Brecker. He is 56 years old, a world famous jazz musician and 11-time Grammy winner but none of that matters now. Please read the email below as it is a question of life or death. Also, if you could please send this to everyone on your contact list, I would be so very grateful as would our whole family. Read more
In Search of the Highest Prices
I was just tooling around eBay this morning and decided to do a quick search in the Jazz LP category sorted by “Highest Prices First.” I’d never thought to do a search this way and didn’t even realize it was an option. Here are some of the interesting items I found:
Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584
Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538
Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This is one of my favorite all-time LPs. I only have a Japanese pressing and have never owned the original. Will I bid on this? Perhaps. The price is $150 and the auction closes in nearly four days.
And here’s one you wouldn’t expect to see on a search of highest priced LPs: Louis Armstrong, Hello Dolly. This is from a seller with zero feedback. His asking price is $100. Think he’ll get it? If he does, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’ll be auctioning on eBay next week.
Summer Slowdown in Jazz LP Prices?
I keep waiting for signs of a summer slowdown in pricing and keep getting mixed signals. The other day there was the Thelonious Monk record that sold for more than $3,000 and, a couple of days later, the heavy prices on the two Horace Silver LPs. No slowdown there. But yesterday, there were some signs that things are not as hot as usual. For instance, here are several albums from Atomic_records that failed to even meet the reserve prices:
Benny Golson, Gone with Golson, New Jazz 8235. Top bid of $67.
Sonny Stitt, Stitt’s Bits, Prestige 7133. Top bid of $89.99
Jimmy Raney, A, Prestige 7089. Top bid of $51.
Art Farmer Septet, Prestige 7031. Top bid of $62.5
My advice, if you’re a buyer, is to look up earlier pricing on our Price Guides and underbid on some items – particularly if you use sniping software. This might be a time to find some eBay bargains.
April is Jazz Month
