Donald Byrd! Transition! $5! Wake Up!

I went to the country for a couple of days and stayed off eBay, cold turkey. I had no outward signs of withdrawal, but my wife swears I was up in the middle of the night screaming incoherently about missing a Donald Byrd record on Transition for $5. Anyway, I’m back and looking at some of the items I was watching over the weekend to see what I might have missed. Here are a few things that are catching my eye:

Ray Bryant Plays, Signature 6008, in M- condition. Price: $576.

Here’s an interesting anecdote about this record: I had a copy for years in very poor condition, with a pretty nice cover, probably VG+. I would work an occasional record show and put this record in a $1 box. It never sold. I was literally about to dump it, when I figured why not put it on eBay? Maybe someone would be interested in the cover. A week later it sold for $99.

 Ray Bryant Trio, Prestige 7098, in M- condition. Price: $675 – did not sell.

This is one that’s been on eBay a few times by this dealer, each time with a lower start price. We’ll keep watching it to see what it sells for. This dealer has had an amazing series of records the past few weeks, all in terrific condition, all at very high prices. In addition to the Bryant LP this weekend, he had a M- copy of George Wallington Quintet at the Bohemia, Progressive 1001, which did not sell at a start price of $895.

 Another dealer with a recent slew of strong collectibles sold a copy of Arthur Taylor, Taylor’s Wailer’s, Prestige 7117, in M- condition for $660. I was watching an earlier version of this on eBay a few weeks ago. I looked it up in the Jazz Collector Price Guide: It was in VG+ condition and sold for $405. If you’re not using the price guide, you should take a look at it. It can come in very handy. This dealer also sold a copy of Blue Mitchell, Out of the Blue, Riverside 293, in M- condition. Price: $338.

For me, the most interesting item from this dealer was a copy of A Recital by Tal Farlow, Norgran 1030, in M- condition. What makes this so interesting is the final sale price: $660.  My best friend Dan Axelrod was close to Tal and I’ve been watching the market for years on his LPs, and this is the highest price I can recall for any of his records.

 Finally, there’s this item: Mary Osborne, A Girl and Her Guitar, Warwick 2004. It was in VG condition and sold for $41.20. I have a copy of this LP with a different cover. On my cover Osborne is standing, kind of straddling the guitar between her ankles. I don’t know which cover came first: Does anybody out there have the answer? Send a note to al@jazzcollector.com.

 That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll be back on eBay looking ahead at items for sale over the next few days. See you then. — Al