Still Here

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I must admit it has been difficult to get motivated to write about jazz records at a time when the world seems to have flipped upside down and we are all worried about the health and safety of ourselves, families, friends and other loved ones. But, I also realize our love of music and passion for our records can be a comfort and escape at a time like this. Funny, I got a note from my daughter late last night. She had called me earlier in the day, feeling a lot of angst, just generalized and starting to get a little cabin fever because she’s not working and cooped up in her apartment. A few hours later this was the note she sent: “Spent the day in my office, listening to records and organizing them. Felt good.” Is that a chip off the old block, or what? Read more

Another Adventure, Part 4: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me

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Bobby Bradford

Dee had already been in contact with a guy who has a record store in Maine. He was disappointed that I wound up with the records. He had no way to know and didn’t realize, I’m sure, I had no intention of keeping them all. Dee put him in touch with me and we arranged for him to come to The Berkshires and make an offer for whatever he wanted. We struck a deal and he took about  220 records, including many of the rock and blues records. There were probably about 400 jazz records left. I reached out to a friend who owns a record store around here and invited him to take a look and make an offer. He came, but didn’t take anything. He did, however, bring a friend who did buy a few choice items, including the two Monk Blue Notes, which, for the record, were not original pressings but early West 63rd labels. Read more

Another Adventure, Part 3: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me

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Dizzy

It was a Thursday when I went to Dee’s, the week before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States. Before I left Dee’s with my five records and four-hour drive, we had one last conversation as I was getting into my car. For a variety of reasons, Dee needed to sell the records by the Spring, hopefully in the May/June time frame. She was concerned that Spring would come and she would still have the records. I told her not to worry; if she still had the records in the Spring, I would drive back, pay her a fair price and take the records so she wouldn’t have to be concerned. She offered on the spot for me to take them all, sell them at my own pace and then pay her later. She was obviously comfortable placing a lot of trust in me, but I politely declined. I didn’t want that much responsibility, tempting as it may have been. Read more

Another Adventure, Part 2: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me

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Gerry Mulligan

It was probably mid-November when I made my way north to Dee’s. She lives up, up, up a mountain and, with the early snow in that part of the world, I was fortunate to have a four-wheel drive vehicle, otherwise there may have been no story to tell at all. Dee has this fantastic house that she designed and helped build, with views overlooking the mountains, and everything in the home is bursting with creativity and creative energy, including furniture that she also designed. Not to mention the vinyl.

Dee and I got along right off the bat, as you can probably tell. We’re around the same age and we both love jazz, so that was a good start. She told me a bit of her life story, I told her a bit of mine, we chatted, I got a brief tour of the house and then we went to the room with the records. There were 5-6 long shelves with records, I guessed about 1,000 or 1,200 records in all. They were not all jazz records. There were classical, a little rare gospel and blues, and a big section of contemporary Latin and Brazilian – her own carefully curated collection. Read more

Another Adventure, Part 1: Ornette, Monk, Dee and Me

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I owe you all a story.

It started last Halloween. A new commenter on Jazz Collector, who identified herself as Dee Dee, submitted the following:“I am Ornette’s stepdaughter – raised with Monk in the house frequently. I’m needing now to part with his and my mother’s vinyl collection, AND my original silver gelatin art photography – an AUTOGRAPHED edition of one single print of these historic musicians:

Count Basie
Miles Davis
Dizzy Gillespie
Horace Silver
Art Blakey and Billy Higgins
Gil Evans
Gerry Mulligan
Cecil Taylor and Tony Williams
Abbey Lincoln
Gato Barbieri
Pharaoh Sanders
Charlie Haden
Ernie Andrews
Mal Waldron
Steve McCall
Charlie Rouse
Freddie Greene
Bobby Bradford
Bela Fleck
Buster Williams
Chico Freeman and Pacquito d’Rivera
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Gomez
Milton Nascimento
Djavan
Joao Bosco
Ivan Lins
Airto Moreira
Jose “Cheo” Feliciano
Francisco Aguabella
Willie Colon
Yomo Toro
Dave Valentin
Papo Lucca
Yolanda Rivera” Read more

Rare Vinyl, eBay Complaints: An Email Grab Bag

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Somebody sent me this link: Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original New York yellow label in nice condition, VG++ for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,028. Not sure why this particular link was sent to me, but I figured I’d share it nonetheless. Nothing seems out of whack to me, in terms of the eventual price or the provenance of the record as an original pressing. Maybe someone else can find something. You have all been more observant than I have been lately, it seems. Perhaps too many distractions at my end. Maybe I should just retire from work and devote myself full-time to Jazz Collector. 🙂

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Original Blue Notes? $1.57 Each? I’m a Dreamer, Aren’t We All?

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Back on eBay. This seller has a lot of nice records closing today, including: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. This is a West 63rd Street second pressing that looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and probably VG+ for the cover. The bidding is in the $465 range, fairly steep for a non-first pressing. One of the things that caught my eye was the shrink wrap still on the cover. A first pressing wouldn’t have had the shrink, but what struck me was the sticker on the shrink, which said “SPECIAL PRICE $1.57.” Imagine being able to buy this for $1.57. On further examination, the seller has a bunch of other original pressings with the same SPECIAL PRICE $1.57 sticker, including Dexter Gordon. A Swingin’ Affair, Blue Note 4133; Duke Pearson, Wahoo!, Blue Note 4191; and Donald Byrd, A New Perspective, Blue Note 4124, among others. I have a dream where I go back in time and walk into a record store and all of these records are sitting there at $1.57, sealed, and I buy them all, every last one. Read more

Random Musings on Random Jazz Vinyl

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Here are some more random jazz records we are watching this week on eBay, starting with Steve Lacy, Soprano Sax, Prestige 7125. This is an original yellow label pressing with the New York address. The record looks to be in VG++ condition and the cover also looks like it is VG++. The start price is in the $100 range and, so far, there are no bids. I’ve never heard this record, nor have I ever owned it, but I would like to. A copy recently sold for around $480, which would be out of my comfort zone anyway, even if I were inclined to buy on eBay. Read more

Miles, Morgan, Monk and More

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Today we will view some random jazz vinyl from my eBay watch list, starting with Miles Davis, Volume 2, Blue Note 5022. This is an original 10-inch Lexington Avenue pressing. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. Bidding starts at around $100 and so far there is no auction action. The auction closes in about three days. This record caught my eye, even though I already own it, because it is such an awesome cover and because I recently view a collection loaded with 10-inch records. At this point I have passed on purchasing the collection because the seller has it over-priced, but I am hoping he comes back to me when he realizes I made a fair offer. Will keep you posted. Read more

Cool Struttin’ With Some Bop and Blues

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We mentioned the passing of Jack Sheldon last week and now someone in the Jazz Collector world will get to honor him by purchasing one of his rarer and most highly sought LPs, specifically The Jack Sheldon Quartet, Get of Out Town, Jazz:West LP 1. This is a 10-inch record listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover, although the picture looks more like VG to these eyes. There are 13 bids and the price is in the $170 range with less than a day left on the auction. We’ve written about this record once before, back in 2018, when a copy in worse condition than this one – with a G cover – sold for $450. At the time, we had never seen a 10-inch Jazz:West LP and, to be fair, we’ve still never seen one live, only on eBay. I just checked Popsike, and $450 was the top price for this LP, matched almost exactly a year ago by a nearly mint copy. Read more

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