Watching Some Original Original And Not So Original Jazz Vinyl

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Very interesting thread on the previous post. Glad everyone has been able to keep the conversation going in my absence. For the record, I am and always will be an original, no matter what anyone says. And now, back to watching original rare jazz vinyl on eBay. I have a lot of stuff I am watching now, so let’s go, starting with Frank Morgan With Conte Candoli and Machito’s Rhythm Section, GNP 12. This is an original pressing with the red vinyl. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition. The start price is $250 with more than two days left on this auction. I was fortunate to acquire a near mint copy of this record when I purchased the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore. For some reason, I always considered this to be an album for the $1,000 bin. I guess the reason is that it’s really rare and hard to find, plus there’s not that much early Frank Morgan on record. When I did a search on Popsike, however, I discovered that the top price for this record was $331, and that was back in 2006. I guess it’s just not a Blue Note. Read more

A Few of My Favorite Things

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Back after a lovely holiday in Costa Rica celebrating my birthday. Now it’s back to reality, which means watching rare jazz vinyl auctions on eBay. But first, I came back to a couple of notes in my inbox with opposing viewpoints on the same record and the same auction. This was the auction in question: John Coltrane, My Favorite Things, Atlantic 1361. The auction was from our friends at the Jazz Record Center in New York. This was listed as the “original mono pressing . . . on the red and purple labels.” The record looked to be in M- condition and the cover was probably VG++. There were four bidders, seven bids, and the final price was $255. Read more

Jazz Vinyl Auctions for the Road (And Beyond)

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I’ll be off line for the next week so I won’t be able to post. Not that it will be any different than a normal period between posts, but this time my absence will at least be planned. Everything’s fine. Just enjoying a little holiday. In the meantime, I will leave you with a large batch of records to watch so you can all comment to your heart’s content. Let’s start with one of the records that would still be on my want list, if, indeed, I had a want list: Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This looks to be an original deep groove pressing listed in M- condition for the record and EX+ for the cover. Bidding is in the $200 range with almost three days left on the auction. I have no idea how this record has eluded me all these years, but it has. Read more

Booking

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Sorry, yet again, for the long gap between posts. Been very busy around here. Plus, my computer crashed for a few days. Very disconcerting, when you are wondering whether you are going to be able to recover all of your files and settings, which I was able to do, fortunately, with tremendous online support from Apple. Now that we’re safely back in action, let’s catch up on some of the stuff we were watching on eBay before we were so rudely interrupted, starting with Booker Ervin, Groovin’ High, Prestige 7147. This was an original blue label mono pressing that was part of the Jazz Record Center auction we were watching. The record and cover looked to be in M- condition and the final price was $360, which was a new high for this record, according to Popsike.  I am somewhat surprised to see the demand for these blue label Prestiges to have increased so much in the past few years, but I am also pleased to see it for a player like Booker Ervin, who, in my view, is quite underrated and always produced some very nice records. Read more

Four For The New Year

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Happy New Year. This week we are watching a new auction from the Jazz Record Center in New York. Seems like the seller Carolina Soul has become the predominant seller of rare jazz vinyl on eBay in the past year or so, but the Jazz Record Center is still a gold standard as far as I’m concerned. This week, we have a couple from Kenny Dorham, starting with Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This looks to be an original pressing that would probably be in M- condition for the record and cover, were it not for a drill hole through the cover and label. The item is new to eBay and doesn’t close for more than six days. The starting bid was $1,000 and there is already one bidder.  Also, there is Kenny Dorham, ‘Round About Midnight at the Café Bohemia, Blue Note 1524. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. Very nice copy, I’m sure. Like Quiet Kenny this auction closes in more than six days and already has a bid at $1,000. Read more

Condition is Still Critical . . . Isn’t It?

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Let’s look at some random jazz vinyl we are watching and have been watching on eBay, starting with Joe Henderson, Page One, Blue Note 4140. This looked to be an original pressing, listed in VG or VG+ condition for the record and G+ for the cover with water damage on the bottom. There were 13 bidders for this record and the final price was $439. From the same seller there was Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This was an original West 63rd Street deep-groove pressing, listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. The final price was $2,475. Over the years, when people have contacted me for advice about selling their collections, I have always emphasized the importance of condition. While it is still of great import, of course, it seems that there has been a shift in the market and collectors are more willing to pay high prices for records in less than great condition. We’ve all been noticing this for a while, I’m sure, so it probably requires an adjustment for those of us buying or selling records to be aware of this pretty fundamental change in what jazz collectors are looking for these days. As with most trends, you wonder if this one will last and will become kind of a new standard in our little world of jazz collecting. Read more

Four for the Holidays

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Heading into the holiday weekend, here are some of the auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with the Roy Haynes Quartet, Out of the Afternoon, Impulse A-23. This was an original mono pressing with white promo label and the Van Gelder in the dead wax.  The record and cover were both listed in VG+ condition and the final price was $416. The same seller had Curtis Fuller Volume Three, Blue Note 1583. This looked to be an original deep groove mono pressing with the West 6rd Street address. The record and cover were listed in VG+ condition. The final price was $736. Read more

What Really Went on in the Van Gelder Studio?

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Speaking of playing favorites, the other night I had a little time to do some mindful listening, so I put on one of my all-timers, Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038, original pressing, original cover, as seen in the accompanying photo. As I’m listening, I’m picturing the musicians in Van Gelder’s studio playing live, looking at one another and giving signals and approvals, all young men in their primes discovering what they were capable of doing and, on this album, doing it as well as anyone ever did it. Then I put on a record I haven’t listened to nearly as often as Sonny Rollins Plus Four, which was Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001, and I had the same picture in my head with the four musicians on that album, Sonny, Wynton Kelly, Doug Watkins and Philly Joe Jones. And then my mind started wandering and this is what I thought. Read more

Playing Favorites

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No sooner did I empty the Jazz Collector eBay watch list did I fill it up again, starting with two of my all-time favorite records from the same seller: Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness, Prestige 7047. This is an original New York yellow label listed in M- condition for the record and probably VG+ for the cover, based on the description and the pictures. Maybe VG for the cover. I know the seller and he is very reputable. The auction closes in about three days and the start price is about $450 with no bidders yet. Another of my favorites from this seller Benny Golson Sextet, The Modern Touch, Riverside 256. This looks to be an original pressing with the blue label and small logo. The record and cover are both in M- condition. This one also closes in about three days, with a start price of about $250 and no bidders . . . yet. Both of these records will sell, if not to anyone else then perhaps to me. Yes, I have copies. But the M- Golson is a strong upgrade for one of my top records. Love the arrangements and all the playing, especially an impeccable Kenny Dorham. Read more

Seconds Anyone?

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Going deeper into the Jazz Collector eBay watch list, we have Mal Waldron, Mal-1, Prestige 7090. This was an original New York yellow label. The seller graded the record and the cover as VG+. Based on the pictures, I would grade the cover VG. The final price was $776. The same seller had this one: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040.This was an interesting one, IMHO. No deep groove, no ear, no West 63rd Street address. So, was it issued by Liberty using old labels, or by the original Blue Note using old labels? In either case, it wasn’t an original. But it was in nice condition, M- for the record, close to M- for the cover. The final price was $760. This seller also had that later pressing Introducing Lee Morgan on Savoy that we spotlighted a few days ago How Many Original Copies of Rare Jazz Vinyl Have Survived (And Other Existential Questions). When we highlighted this record, the bidding was in the $400 range. The final price was $797.99. Perhaps I (and others?) will have to adjust my expectations of what a nice second pressing might command in today’s market. Good for the sellers, and good for the buyers if they are happy. Read more

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