A Recurring Case of Blue Note Envy

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Back to eBay with four Blue Notes that come to you straight from my want list, leading off with Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4032. This looks to be an original deep-groove West 63rd Street pressing that appears to be in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The bidding is now in the $300 range with four days left on the auction. This is a record that has sold for more than $1,000 several times in the past, with a top price of $1,802, according to Popsike. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see this copy end up in the $1,000 bin. This is a record I once owned and stupidly traded away back many years ago – I would say nearly 40 years? – when  I was transitioning from fan to collector and I had set out to fill in all of the first 200 or so yellow-label Prestiges. Read more

Jimmy Heath, RIP

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Lots of news from the Jazz world, not all of it good. In case you haven’t heard, Jimmy Heath died this morning. He’s been a fixture in jazz since the early days of the bebop era and a major figure in the evolution and history of the music. I had the privilege of seeing him perform many times, back in the days of Jazz Interactions in New York. He was also at the premiere of the Chasing Trane documentary when I saw it in 2016 and I’ll never forget him standing up and singing the theme of Part 2: Resolution of “A Love Supreme.” He may have been diminutive in size, but he was a giant in stature. Who’s left? Read more

New Year’s Vinyl, One More Time

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I’m clearing out whatever backlog I have in my watch list, so I can start the year fresh.This one is from back in November: Dave Burns, Vanguard 9111. This was an original mono, promo record with deep grooves and  white label. The record and cover were both listed in M- condition. The final price was $166. I’m not exactly sure why I was watching this or even saved it for so long, but I can guess that I was wondering how much longer an album like this can remain of interest to collectors? Vanguard was not a premium label and Burns was not a premium artist, although he always accorded himself well on recordings and in live performances, when I had the rare opportunity to see him play. There still seems to be demand for his two original Vanguard LPs, based on Popsike results, so I guess part of the question answers itself: Yes, there is still demand. For how long? Anyone’s guess. Read more

New Year’s Vinyl

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Happy New Year everyone. I hope all of your vinyl dreams come true. Perhaps you can find some on eBay, where we are, per usual, watching jazz records from our perch here far above Manhattan (well, actually, just seven stories), including the album Tenor Conclave, Prestige 7074. This is one of those jam session records featuring Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, not to mention a pretty good rhythm section in Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. This is an original New York yellow label pressing that looks to be in VG+ or better condition for the record and Ex for the cover. The auction closes in more than three days and so far there are no bidders at a start price of $175. Read more

Christmas Candy and Other Vinyl Treats

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Back to eBay: Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover are probably in VG+ condition and the listing has the now-familiar bobdjukic imprimatur, so you have to read carefully to find the relevant details through the various typefaces, colors and hyperbole, which all seem to work very well for Bob, so, I say, more power to him for getting strong interest and high prices for his listings. The bidding on this one is at $755 with more than a day left on the auction, but it has yet to meet the reserve price. Read more

Ornette, Intrigue, Esquire and More

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Today we will get back to the normal business of watching and commenting on jazz vinyl for sale and we will also pose some reader questions and comments. Let’s start with Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz To Come, Atlantic 1317. This is a deep groove pressing, unplayed, still with its original loose sleeve. The start price is around $200 and the auction closes today with no bidders. This record caught my eye because in my other room just down the hall I have a copy of this record still with its original seal unopened. Oh, yes, and the record happened to be owned by Ornette himself. Oh, yes, and it is part of a collection that I recently purchased and am looking to sell in toto. Intrigued? I will be providing more details soon, because, as always, there was an adventure and a story that goes with it. In the meantime, if anyone is interested you know where to find me, alatjazzcollectordotcom. Read more

How Do You Listen?

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Lots of philosophical/existential comments on the previous post, which we all love, or at least some of us, or at least me.  I have another one: What do you actually listen to and how do you listen? For myself, I have two primary listening modes. One is really listening, which is sitting down with no other distractions, no devices, no cell phones, no iPads, no books or magazines, putting a record on the turntable, actively listening and concentrating solely on the music. When I do this, vinyl is the only choice and I would say, at this stage of my life, I don’t do this as often as I would like and, when I do, my choices are typically records that I already know and music I am familiar with. I can’t tell you exactly why, but I think it is because I don’t do this frequently enough and, when I do listen to my favorite records, it feels like I am reuniting with old friends, and it’s a great feeling. The other night, for example, I had about three hours I was able to devote to listening, which was a somewhat extraordinary event. I didn’t put a single record on the turntable that wasn’t an old friend. I started with Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street; moved on the Sonny Rollins Plus Four; Roland Kirk, Volunteered Slavery, the live side at Newport; Thelonious Monk, Criss-Cross; Dave Brubeck plays Bernstein, the West Side story side; then I was in the mood for a vocal, so I went with Ray Charles and Betty Carter. It was a lovely way to spend an evening and, after doing so, I vowed to myself to do it more often. Read more

Jazz Vinyl, Highs, Lows and In-Betweens

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Let’s clear out some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been tracking on our eBay watch list, starting with a few from the Jazz Record Center auction that ended earlier this week, including Curtis Fuller, Bone and Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing that looked to be in M- (or close) condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $1,136. I thought that might be approaching a high point for this record, but it’s not even close. According to Popsike, the top price for this record was $2,550, and there have been at least four other copies that have sold for more than $1,500. It is possible to think that the buyer got a “bargain” at $1,136?

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Back At Our Post, Watching, Lamenting and Celebrating Jazz Vinyl

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I don’t know what to say about my extended gap(s) between posts, so I will just apologize and hope to do better. I have somewhat of an excuse for the latest gap, sort of, in that part of that time has been in pursuit of a small record collection that has resulted in success, sort of, in that I am in possession of the records. Whether I want to be is another story, and what I will do with the records is also another story, and, sorry to do this to you, but I am not in a position to tell any of the stories yet, because we are still in progress. But all the stories bill be told in time, when they are complete. In the meantime, let’s get back to basic business, i.e,. looking at records on eBay.

Here’s a nice 10-inch Blue Note that caught my eye: Introducing the Kenny Drew Trio, Blue Note 5023. This is an original 10-inch Lexington Avenue pressing, in what looks to be M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The bidding is at $250 with more than three days left on the auction. The record is from the Jazz Record Center, so, naturally, I clicked over to their other listings, and these are some of the items I saw: Read more

Random Musings on Random Collectible Jazz Vinyl

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We will look at some highly coveted jazz collectibles today, starting with John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, Impulse A-77. This is an original mono pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is more than $1,000 and the auction closes later today. Of course, this record is iconic and wonderful (not always the same), and it has continued to go up in value over the years, to the point where the $1,000 bin is no surprise, even in VG+ condition, and especially with a widely respected seller such as Euclid Records. From the same seller is Workin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet. This is an original yellow-label New Jersey pressing listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The album still has the original shrink wrap and, based on my anecdotal observations over the years, this seems to add value to the record. I guess there’s a feeling that the cover has been protected, so it is more likely to be clean, which I understand. Of course, when I get a record like this, the first thing I do is take off the shrink wrap and put in a sleeve, usually the 12-5/8 sleeve, but sometimes the 12-3/4, depending on the fit. I do obsess a little about these sleeves, as I do about so many little things to do with my record collection. Read more

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