Some Blue Notes That Sell, And One That Won’t

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J.R.Congratulations to our new friend Vinylrealist who is having quite a nice week for himself on eBay. Here are a couple of his recent auctions: J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing with a very nice note signed by J.R. The record was in M- condition and the cover was Ex and looked quite nice from the pictures. Would love to own this copy of that record, but not at this price, which was $2,358. Also, Introducing Johnny Griffin, Blue Note 1533. This was also an original Lexington Avenue pressing, listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. This one sold for $1,985.

I had my eye on this one because I have two copies and was pondering selling one: Cannonball Adderley, Something Else, Blue Note 1595. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $404. I thought it would get a higher price. I will have a booth at the WFMU Record Fair next Friday and Saturday, assuming there will be no super storm that weekend, and  Read more

Nice Records, No Bids (So Far)

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Lester YoungI’m watching the latest auction from the Jazz Record Center and there are some nice items, but not a lot of action. Wondering if a non-Pay-Pal-policy has any impact on the bidding? Here are a few of the items:

We were talking last week about perhaps less of an interest in some of the earlier pre-bop artists and some of the more mainstream labels, such as Norgran. This one is up for bid: Lester Young, The President, Norgran 1005. This is an original yellow label pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and at least VG++ or M- for the cover. The start price is $250 and, as yet, there are no bids with about two days left.

We were also talking about white label Riversides, such as Kenny Dorham, Jazz Contrasts, Riverside 239. This is an original white label pressing in what looks to be M- condition for the record and the cover. The start price is $200 and there are no bids.

I always think this one should sell for more:

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Down By the White Riversides

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ZootWe’re watching quite a large number of jazz vinyl auctions on eBay now, so let’s get right down to it:

Zoot Sims, Zoot, Riverside 228. This is an original white label pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The start price on this one is about $330 and so far there are no bids. I imagine this one will sell and perhaps it will be sold for the buy-it-now price, which is about $500. Those white label Riversides are quite lovely to own, very substantive with heavy vinyl. Here’s another from the same seller: Sonny Rollins, The Sound of Sonny, Riverside 241. This one is also in M- condition for the record and cover, and it comes in as the same price points as the Zoot record. Again, so far there are no bidders. Curious.

This one may be nice, but it would probably help to see a clearer picture of the cover if you were thinking of bidding: Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This looks to be an original New York 23 pressing. The record is listed in excellent condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is already passed $700 with two days to go, a bit surprising given the condition of the cover.

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Not So Comical, but PRetty Expensive

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DexterAs I was writing yesterday’s post with some ruminations on the strength of the market for jazz collectibles, I got two notes from our friend CeeDee indicating with quite clarity that the demand for high-end collectibles is, indeed, continuing to rise. To wit:

There was this note under the subject “geez” with a link to: Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling, Blue Note 4083. This looked to be an original New York USA pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,045. Welcome to the $1,000 bin, Dexter Calling. Wow, or, as CeeDee says, geez.

The second missive came under the subject “hmmm” with an accompanying note that said “big bucks for a listing with such a minimal description, don’t you think.” The listing in question was: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue. This looked to be an original 6-eye stereo pressing but, as CeeDee notes, the description was minimal, although the condition was listed as M- for both the record and the cover. The price was, ahem, $798.

 

Comic-al, But not Very funny

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A reader sent me a copy of this sobering article: Those Comics in Your Basement? Probably Worthless. It tells the story of the plight of collectors of comic books who have seen the collections vanish into virtual nothingness. There’s the story of one collector who thought his collection was worth about $23,000 when, in reality, it was worth probably less than $500. Of course, there are the exceptions — the beautiful, pristine, blue-chip first issues. We’ve seen a similar path in the jazz vinyl market, where the run-of-the-mill pressings are now pretty much worthless, while the high-end collectibles seem to getting more and more valuable as the years pass by. But we also see that the list of what is deemed “collectible” changes as well, although the original Blue Notes seem to be invulnerable to any downturns. Some records by more traditional artists, thinking of the Verve, Clef and Norgran labels for example, seem to have declined in value and/or interest among collectors over the years that we’ve been watching the market. What do you think? Time to start thinking about selling that old vinyl while the demand is still high, or will the high-end collectibles continue to be a solid investment, not just musically but financially as well? Or do you even care as long as you have the music? Seems to me, anyone paying collectible prices for rare records these days is not just doing it for the music, but with the expectation that the records will at least maintain their value and, hopefully, continue to increase in value.

Quickie Quiz

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One of our readers poses a question on the previous post about the Blue Note sessions on which John Coltrane appears. He lists Blue Train, Johnny Griffin’s A Blowing Session, Whims of Chambers and Sonny’s Crib. That’s all I can think of as well. That’s not the quiz. The quiz is this: On how many Blue Note sessions does Cannonball Adderley appear?

Breaking a Few Records

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Blue TrainDidn’t quite get in all of the jazz vinyl auctions I wanted to post from yesterday, so here are a few more.

John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an original pressing. The seller didn’t give it a grade, but from the description is sounded like the vinyl was probably M-. The cover was probably VG++, based on the pictures. It sold for a whopping $3,000. That’s far and away the highest price we’ve ever seen for Blue Train in the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Thelonious Monk, Monk, With Sonny Rollins and Frank Foster, Prestige 7053. This was a New Jersey pressing, not an original. The cover also had the New Jersey address. This one has the Andy Warhol cover, which gives it some additional prestige, if you’ll pardon the play on words. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover looked to be VG++ as well. This one was listed by bobjdukic, and he has somehow figured a way to get prices that no one else can match. For this second pressing, he was able to get a top bid of $955.21.

Here’s another Warhol cover from the same seller:

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Four for the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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monicaHere are the results of some jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay:

Monica Zetterlund and Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Phillips 08222. This was an original mono pressing listed in “pristine” condition for the record, which we translate to M-, and VG++ for the cover. Not a lot of description from the seller, but certainly a lot of interest from the buyers. This one had 13 bids and sold for $555.65.

Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This looked to be an original West 63rd deep-groove pressing. The record was listed in VG+ condition, and the cover was listed as VG+, but somehow the seller made it sound as if it were actually better than that. The play-grading described the record as between VG+ and VG++, with the description of some surface noise. And the nice clear picture of the cover made it seem that the cover may also have been better than VG+. I have a feeling whoever purchased this record may be hoping that it is, indeed, better than VG+. Why? Well, the price was $960. As for me, I tend to believe the seller’s original grading of VG+, and that’s what I would expect.

This looked like a nice one:

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Three Tenors

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boydSo many records, so little time. Here are some of the jazz vinyl auctions we are watching on eBay:

Rocky Boyd Quintet, Ease It, Jazztime 001. This is an original pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It features Kenny Dorham on trumpet and we’ve seen a copy sell for nearly $700 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. This one is at about $330 with a day and a half left on the bidding.

The seller vinylrealist is back with some nice items, including: Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. This is an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record ad M- for the cover. Seller took some very nice pictures, which always helps the listings. This one has a start price of about $900 and a buy-it-now price of about $1,200. So far there are no takers at either price. Did anyone notice that this seller commented on Jazz Collector recently to explain his pricing strategy? I was surprised no one commented.

Here’s another beauty:

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Sealing the Deal, or Not?

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PepperA reader sent me a link to this record: Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section, Contemporary 3532. This record looks to be an original pressing in its original seal. It’s always hard to tell with a sealed record, but this one has the red ink on the back and it seems to have original promotional materials from Contemporary within the seal. If it is not an original seal, someone went to great measures to pretend that it was. And, if so, there was a nice payoff. The record sold for $718. Still another existential question: What do you do if you are the buyer of this record? Do you break the seal and actually listen to it? Or do you preserve it on your shelf like a museum item, perhaps the world’s only original pressing of this classic jazz record still in it’s original factory seal 56 years after its original release? I know what I would do. What about you?

 

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