“A Pretty Nice Batch of Sides”
Let’s turn this one over to our friend Japhy, who sent me the following note under the subject “New Trombone, New High!”
“Heya, Al, just randomly nosing around eBay and noticed a few records, all from the same seller. Not one of the more-known sellers we talk about, but the guy recently sold a pretty nice batch of sides for some hefty sums. Included in those were Curtis Fuller New Trombone, Prestige 7107, which at $1,259 set a new record, and also a Riverside white label Monk Plays Ellington, which, at $1,077, was the third highest ever, according to Popsike.
“And riddle me this one: Yusef Lateef Cry Tender, New Jazz 8234 blowing away all prior sales at $1,125! That’s almost $700 more than the previous high! Color me curious, if not suspicious. There may be some other new records set in that batch, but I didn’t dig any further.”
The Monk Plays Ellington was especially puzzling to me as it’s not the first pressing (mentions Brilliant Corners on the back). I wonder if the distinction between a vintage and a definitive first pressing isn’t as important to the new crop of collectors?
DG white label, first pressing.
Paul, check out the Riverside label guide on the LondonJazzCollector website to see the two white label variations. The eBay copy was the second, c. 1957 pressing.
This seller “laprayve” is a well known collector that is very particular about condition and has some amazing LPs in Museum/Archival condition. So I guess this has an effect on the bidding.
Justin is correct and if I recall correctly, the first pressing of Monk Plays Ellington does not have a laminated cover like this one.