A Weekend With Jackie, Basie, Warhol, Monk
As promised, here are a few more records to keep an eye on this weekend, as well as some sellers who have interesting items.
Jackie McLean, A Long Drink of the Blues, Prestige New Jazz 8253. I‘ve always loved the second side of this LP, with Jackie in a quartet setting doing Embraceable You, I Cover the Waterfront and These Foolish things. This particular copy of the record is an original, but not in great condition. Sometimes, if the price is right, it makes sense to bid on something like this, hoping that the record sounds better than it looks. In any case, this is a record worth looking at and it’s also worth looking at some of the other items from this seller this weekend. A few weeks ago we wrote about a Joe Newman record selling for a high price because of a cover illustration by Andy Warhol. Now here’s another album with a Warhol cover, Count Basie, RCA 1112. This is being sold by Atomic Records, one of the largest eBay jazz sellers.
To be honest, I’ve had this record for years and I’ve always loved the cover, but never realized it was by Warhol. We collectors often associate the Warhol covers with the Blue Notes, such as the Kenny Burrells and the Johnny Griffin. I pulled out my copy of this record and there’s no Warhol signature that I can find, but I have no doubt it’s the real deal. It has a similar feel to the Billie Holiday covers he did for Clef. In any case, the Warhol cover will be driving the price of this record, which is already at $89, a level at which you don’t often see any Basie LPs.
Another classic jazz collectible on tap this weekend is this one, Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, Riverside 201. This is an original pressing with the white label and the first cover, very rare. This looks to be in very nice condition from a reputable dealer who also has some other nice collectibles on sale this weekend. My personal story on this record: I’ve never had it with the original cover and I saw it at the Jazz Record Center in New York for $100. This was a more than fair price at the time, but I still passed and haven’t seen it ever again in that condition for that price.
There are still of lot of other interesting LPs to watch this weekend, and we’ll do at least one or two more posts before we head off into the world of NFL football on Sunday afternoon.