Jazz Vinyl For The New Year

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wes copyWhen last I left you, these were some of the jazz records I was watching on eBay:

Wes Montgomery, Full House, Riverside 434. This was a mono pressing with the white labels, which I assume is a promo pressing. There don’t seem to be deep grooves, but I’m not sure if that has anything to do with whether this is a first pressing. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+, with some wear on the cover. It sold for $310.

Curtis Fuller, Bone and Bari, Blue Note 1572. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep grooves. It was listed in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The bidding reached $855, but it did not surpass the reserve price set by our friend Serge.

These two also did not sell, but they have since been re-listed at the same price, and are still not getting any action:

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Updating the $5,000 Bin (and More)

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Sonny Clark copyMichael posted this as a comment in earlier post, but it’s worth a mention all on its own: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This was an original pressing probably in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $5,156. There were 13 bids and eight bidders. In the last minute the bidding went from $1,888 to $3,767 to $5,056 to $5,156. I’d be curious to know to which country this record is going, but I don’t think you can discern that from the eBay listing, can you? This is a new one to the $5,000 bin.

It looks like there will be some additions to the $1,000 bin as well: John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This looks to be an original pressing with the New York 23 one one side. It is listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Despite the condition, the record has already been bid up to $1,385 and the bidding will close in about two hours from the time I am typing this.

The bidding on this one is more than $1,200 and there are still SIX DAYS to go on the auction:

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Review: Rosemary Clooney Mosaic Boxed Set

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Rosemary copyLet’s move off jazz vinyl for a day. I’ve been listening to a recent Mosaic release: The Rosemary Clooney CBS Radio Recordings 1955-61. This is a five-CD set of 104 songs recorded by Clooney for three CBS radio shows produced by Bing Crosby. Why have I been listening to these CDs when I could have used the same time to place original Blue Notes or Prestiges on my beautiful refurbished Lynn Sondek turntable? Two reasons:

One: I happen to be a huge fan of Rosemary Cooney—not her work in the 1950s when she was a pop icon, but the series of albums she made for Concord Jazz starting in 1977 and ending with her death in 2002. These, in fact, are some of my favorite vocal records in my collection, particularly Everything’s Coming Up Rosie, Here’s to My Lady, Rosie Sings Bing, For the Duration, and Rosemary Clooney Sings the Music of Irving Berlin. I like them all, to be honest. It helps that on these albums she is typically accompanied by top-flight jazz artists such as Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Nat Pierce, John Oddo, Chuck Israels and many others too numerous to name. But it’s not the accompaniment that knocks me out. It’s the singer. The simple, clear, moving and heartfelt presentations of the songs, each one sung as if the singer had lived and experienced them deeply—and had also experienced quite a bit of life along the way. Which, of course, was exactly the case with Rosemary Clooney.

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Jazz Vinyl and a Touch of the Poet

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Tina Brooks copyBeen a while since I did an update from the Jazz Collector inbox and, so we shall do so today and close with a little bit of jazz vinyl poetry, courtesy of our friend CeeDee. This one came in from Michael with a simple note: “Nice one.” And it is: Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,900, with 29 bids. It went from about $1,900 to the final price in the final seconds. Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t sell for a higher price. How many M- copies of True Blue do you think there are left in the world? How many ever come up for sale? Not a lot.

Somebody also sent me this completed listing: Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This was an original pressing with the New York 23 labels. It was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The seller had a buy-it-now price of $1,250 with the option of accepting the best offer, which he did. So we don’t actually know what it sold for.

As for the jazz vinyl poetry:

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Seven for the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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Hank Mobley copyLet’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This one was in just VG condition for the record with what the seller described as “some feelable scratches.” It apparently plays well for the condition, but the condition isn’t so great. The cover was VG+. It was, of course, an original 10-inch LP with a very cool cover. This one sold for $665.

Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was an original pressing with the purple labels and the deep grooves. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was VG-. It sold for $711.07.

Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. I had thought this was an original but in an earlier post Earl corrected me and noted that only one side has the New York 23 cover, so perhaps it is not a first press? It’s definitely an early press. This one was listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,344. As for those other Sonny Clark records we were watching:

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Jazz Vinyl To Check Out

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jerome richardson copyBack on eBay and, of course, there is much jazz vinyl of interest, starting with: Jerome Richardson, Midnight Oil, New Jazz 8205. This looks to be an original purple label pressing. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is Ex+, which I imagine is close to M-. The bidding is in the $130 range with three hours to go and it has yet to reach the seller’s reserve price. I would think this would get a bid of at least $200, being quite a rare record on quite a collectible label, so we’ll keep an eye and see if this sells.

This one is from the same seller and has also not yet met the reserve price: Horace Parlan, Headin’ South, Blue Note 4062. This looks to be an early pressing, but is it an original? I’m not seeing deep grooves in the picture or on the listing, but this is one of those that was issued right at the borderline of whether Blue Note pressings still have deep grooves. I’m sure someone the question will be answered in the comments. The record is listed at M- for the vinyl and Ex for the cover. The bidding is currently in the $190 range with less than three hours to go.

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Dial Jazz Collector For Blue Notes

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Sonny Clark copyYes, that copy of Sonny Clark Cool Struttin’ sold for $2,400, which was the buy-it-now price. Do you think it was a reader of Jazz Collector? I do. This would be a week to fill in those Sonny Clark gaps in your Blue Note collection, if you were inclined to spend a small fortune to do so. Also on eBay: Sonny Clark, Dial S for Sonny, Blue Note 1570. This looks to be an original West 63rd pressing listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. We would, of course, expect this to sell for well more than $1,000, and perhaps entering into the $2,000 bin. Right now the bidding is at $811 with more than four days to go. Also on eBay: Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. This also looks to be an original pressing. It is listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. This will also be a record that will sell in the four figures, I would assume. Right now the bidding is at about $350, but there are five days left on the auction.

While we’re on the subject of Blue Notes, here are:

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What’s Going on With Jazz Vinyl Prices?

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anita2 copyI finally got back onto eBay yesterday and I did a search and came up with a bunch of nice Blue Notes, including a nice copy of Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, and it was interesting because none of the Blue Notes had any bidders. They all have several days left, so I’m expecting that the action will pick up. The thing that did surprise me was the one record that was getting a lot of action was this one: Anita O’Day Sings Jazz, Norgran 1049. This has the black label so it’s not even an original pressing. There are already 10 bids and the price is more than $150. The record is in M- condition and the cover looks to be VG++. I can’t quite figure out why the strong interest in this record. Norgrans are not particularly hot, and neither are Anita O’Day records. Any theories?

This one closes in six days, but if someone wants to swoop in and grab it, there is a buy it now price of $2,400: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This looks to be an original pressing listed in Ex condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is $1,400 and so far there are no bidders.

Here’s another nice one with no bids:

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Another Adventure, Part 8/Epilogue

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Untitled copySorry to leave you all hanging there, but the meat of the story has been told. At the time, because I thought I was writing a chapter for a book that has still to be written, I wrote one more entry, which was this:

It’s time to starting moving the Blue Notes off the temporary shelf and into the collection. What does this entail? Well, first off each record needs to be washed and cleaned on my VPI record cleaner. Then, I’ll look at the inner sleeve and determine if it needs a new one. I’ll try to listen to each record, or at least one side, before it does into the collection. Then, if it’s new to the collection, I’ll put a sticker on the plastic outer sleeve with the name of the artist, the catalogue number, the condition and probably the value. Something like:

Donald Byrd
Blue Note 4048
Original West 63rd, DG
M-/VG++
$1,200

Why do I do this? Well, not to be morbid about it, I do this so that when I die my family will know what the records are actually worth. I’ve seen too many circumstances where people got ripped off because they had no idea about the value of the records. Heck, I may have done some of the ripping off myself.

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Another Adventure, Part 7

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Untitled copyIt wasn’t until early January that the second batch of records arrived. As I did with the first batch, I recorded the unveiling for posterity. This is what I wrote:

The final batch of records has arrived. The guy from the shipping department in the building just brought them up on a hand truck. Three boxes – those banker’s box file boxes, the brown and white ones you get in Stapes. They’ve never been good for storing or transporting records, but hopefully this batch made it through safely. Opening the first box. There’s a sheath of what looks to be sheepskin or some kind of cotton on top. Nice. The records seem safe. On top, an Errol Garner record. No big deal. Going through the records. Each has the same type of soft plastic cover: I have a feeling these were the original covers on the records. In the 1950s and 1960s they didn’t use what we have come to know as shrink wrap, but they used a cover and it fit loosely over the records, just like these. They certainly seem old enough, and dirty enough, and covered with enough dust to have been original covers from the 1950s. No matter. Getting through the box, one by one, record by record.

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