Once Again, The Familiar Allure of Rare Jazz Vinyl

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Cliff Jordan Jazz VinylNo I know I am truly back from vacation. Got up early this morning and went right to eBay to look for rare jazz records. Here are a few that I found, starting with: Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep grooves, ear, etc. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG+. I still don’t have an original pressing of this LP. This one is now in the $300 range with more than four days to go. It will surely sell for a price outside of my comfort zone, so I’ll keep looking.

Hank Mobley, Hank Mobley Sextet, Blue Note 1560. This is also an original deep-groove West 63rd Street pressing. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG+. This one closes today and the price is in the $500 range.

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Sonny Rollins and The New Yorker: YIKES!

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I’m back from vacation and what am I greeted with — a real-life and genuine, if fully trumped up, jazz controversy. I am referring to the fervor being generated over a column several days ago in The New Yorker titled: Sonny Rollins: In His Own Words. The article appeared in the “Shouts & Murmurs” section, which is a longtime humor column in The New Yorker. In the article a writer under the pseudonym Django Gold attributes a number of ridiculous statements to Sonny. Samples: “The saxophone sounds horrible. Like a scared pig.” And: “Jazz may be the stupidest thing anyone ever came up with.”

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Catching Up on A Couple of Jazz Vinyl Rarities

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Sonny Rollins Plays Jazz VinylHey, everyone. Checking in from vacation. Just spent three lovely days in Creede, Colorado, and I’m now in sunny San Diego, where, apparently, there is an excellent record store I should be checking out. And perhaps I will. In the meanwhile, I’m sneaking in some time to take a look at my eBay watch list and see what I’ve been missing. BTW, I am not here for the Comic-Con convention. One crazy obsession is enough for one lifetime.

Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This was an original  deep-groove pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover, although the cover seemed slightly less to me. I’d love to own this record someday. Hard to imagine that it’s eluded me for more than 40 years, but that’s part of the joy of collecting, isn’t it: To always have something to look forward to. This one sold for $1,136.11.

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DG or Not DG; That Is The Question

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Burrell and Coltrane Jazz VinylFound a little time this morning to peruse eBay and these are some of the items I noticed, starting with Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane, New Jazz 8276. This is listed as an original purple label pressing, but I’m not so sure. I zoomed in on those labels and they didn’t look to me like they had deep grooves. One of our regular readers asked me about this record the other day, so here it is if you want to take a chance. I’d be a little careful. The record is probably VG++ and the cover either VG+ or VG++. The start price is in the $150 range and so far there are no bidders. Perhaps I’m not the only one looking for deep grooves. One other question: To those of you who own this record and organize their records alphabetically, where do you put this one: Under Burrell or Coltrane? I used to keep it under Coltrane, but it would get lost among all of the other Prestiges, so now I keep it under Burrell and I actually notice it. Lovely record too.

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Ruminations on Trane and Dizzy

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Coltrane JAzzThere’s a new auction from the Jazz Record Center on eBay. I like to watch their auctions, not just because of their sterling reputation as sellers, but also because I often learn something new, or at least recall something I’ve forgotten. For example, John Coltrane, Coltrane Jazz, Atlantic 1354. I have a hard time keeping track of the Atlantic original pressings once they stopped with the black labels, and this is a nice reminder that the original pressing of this record has the red and purple labels. This is the mono pressing, which is always nice to have, although in the case of this record, I typically prefer the stereo pressing. In any case, this one is in M- condition for the record and the cover and has a start price of $75 with no bidders, so far. I’m getting some new equipment this week. I’m thinking about the first record to play and this would be on the list if I had a stereo copy, but I don’t so I’m taking if off the list. Right now I’m thinking perhaps Way Out West or Sonny Rollins Plus Four or perhaps Blue Train.

This one I find really interesting:

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Who Picked the Sidemen?

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A couple of items from the Jazz Collector mailbox.

One of our readers and regular commenters, Japhy, send a note with the following question:

“Sidemen — who picked em?

“Something I’ve long wondered is — if an artist without a regular working band came in to can an album, how were the sidemen chose? At Blue Note, for example, did Alfred and Frank assemble the players, or would a guy with some pull like Dexter Gordon say, “Hey this is who I want to play with?” Could a name artist veto a sideman? Maybe the leader would come in with a couple of guys and then Lion would fill in the holes? It’s pretty clear that a lot of artists tended to record together, but overall it’s just something I’ve always wondered about.”

Readers?

Another reader sent me this article:

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A Pair of Blue Note Originals. Or Not?

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Burrell 2 copyHere’s an interesting item now on eBay: Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 2, Blue Note 1597.  The seller, who obviously knows his stuff, describes this as a “rare original US press.” I guess that’s true in the sense that the record was originally pressed in the United States, although that doesn’t necessarily make it a first pressing. This one has the West 63rd Street address, but no deep grooves. There is also no mention of the Plastylite ears. I guess, what is original is in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, the bidder, of which there is one at about $200. In my vernacular I would not call this an original. From what I can see, the cover looks like it might be an original mono cover, although someone out there might know of some aspect that might change that view. In any case, potential bidders may be only interested in the cover anyway, since it is by Andy Warhol and it is presumably in much better shape than the vinyl, which is only in VG- condition.

I am tending to think this one is also not an original original:

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Interesting Vinyl & A Question About LP Packaging

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jackie copyHere is some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay now, starting with Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. This looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the Lexington Avenue address, deep grooves, ears, etc. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG++. The bidding is already in the $450 range with more than six days to go. Perhaps this one will enter the $1,000 bin. This seller, based in Germany, has a fairly nice collection of jazz vinyl on eBay now. One of the others I’m keeping an eye on is Jackie McLean, A Long Drink of the Blues, New Jazz 8253. This looks to be an original pressing with the purple label and deep grooves. The condition is a little hard to assess, because he does mention audible repetitive tics. Probably VG or VG+ to be generous. The cover is graded VG+. I was just kind of idly looking through my collection a couple of weeks ago and noticed that my copy of this record is a blue label, non-original. So, it would be quite nice to have an original, although I’d typically prefer one in better condition. Perhaps if the price is right: This one is now at $60 with five days to go.

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Back in Business Watching Jazz Vinyl

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ornette colemanI’ve been so busy with real work I haven’t even looked at eBay in more than a week. But today is a holiday here in the states, and then a weekend, so perhaps I will be able to refocus once again on happenings within the whacky world of jazz vinyl. In the meantime, let me clean up some of the sold items on my watch list, starting with some of those records from the Jazz Record Center auction.

Ornette Coleman, Change of the Century, Atlantic 1327. This was an original pressing with the black label. I haven’t seen that many black label pressings of this record, but I never considered it to be that much of a collectible. Perhaps I need to change my perspective. This copy was in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $449.

I had mentioned these two in an earlier post: Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This was an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,291. Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else, Blue Note 1595. This was also an original pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $751.

This one, from a different seller, fetched quite a nice price:

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How Much of a Vinyl Addict Are You?

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A couple of quick things before I get down to a real post about real jazz vinyl.

My son sent me this article 18 Signs You Are Addicted to Collecting Vinyl. You’ll enjoy. Everyone here pretty much knows that he’s an addict, so it’s not a question of which of these applies to you, it’s a question of which ones apply the most to you. I counted about half for me, including all the ones about home decor.

For those of you in Manhattan next Monday (not me, unfortunately), there will be a memorial service for Horace Silver at 7 p.m. downtown on the Lower East Side at the St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church. I’m assuming that, because it is being publicized, it will be open to the public. Maybe I’ll change my plans and try to get there.

Here’s one to break your heart. It certainly broke mine. I was having dinner with a friend last night and he said he recently knew of a family wherein someone passed away who had a collection of about 20,000 records. The family didn’t make much of an effort to sell the records or find a home for them. The tried a couple of libraries, but didn’t even call any record stores. My friend forgot to tell them about me. The records ended up in a dumpster. Seriously.

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