Sahib Shihab, Conversations, Polydor 623257. This was an original pressing in M- condition. Price: $256

Billy Bauer, Let’s Have A Session, Ad Lib 5501. This was an original pressing with the red label. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. It sold for $160. I have two personal Billy Bauer stories. Back in the early 1970s, I had a gig as a rhythm guitarist accompanying my friend Dan Axelrod. My musical talents are, to be generous, modest at best, but Dan taught me enough chords to support him while he soloed. At the time Dan was taking lessons from Billy Bauer and one night Bauer came down to see us with a group of his other students.

And, during our first set, Bauer told all of his students to keep a careful eye on what I was doing because I was swinging so well and doing what a good accompaniest ought to be doing. It was, and still is, the highlight of my musical career. Fast forward 30-something years, I’m standing in Tower Records in Westbury, Long Island, browsing in the magazine section. Some little old man comes up to me and asks if I’ve seen the latest issue of Guitar Player Magazine. I point him towards it, he thanks me and says they just did a profile of him. Really, I say. Who are you? Billy Bauer, he replies. A few weeks later, sadly, I got a call from Dan: Billy Bauer had passed away.

Back to the records:

The Return of Art Pepper, Jazz West 10. This was an original pressing. The record was VG and the cover was VG+. Price: $162.50

Booker Ervin, That’s It, Candid 8014. This was an original pressing in M-/M- condition. Price: $255

Here’s that Roland Kirk record I mentioned the other day: Roland Kirk, Third Dimension, Bethlehem 6064. This was an original pressing in M- condition. Price $338

Finally, here’s that Jackie McLean record I threatened to bid on: Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068. This was an original pressing. The vinyl was VG and the cover VG+. Price: $202.50

I’ll be back with more later. Stay tuned.

Red Garland, All Kinds of Weather, Prestige 7148. This is an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey address in M- condition. Price: $385. I’ve never quite figured out which Red Garland records sell for the highest prices, and why. So, if anyone out there has the answer, please post a comment.

Here’s an interesting one: Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. What’s interesting is that this was not an original pressing: The original pressing on this has the Lexington Avenue address, and this copy had the West 63rd street address. So it was not original and it was only in VG condition, yet it still sold for $124.50.

Ben Webster, Soulville, Verve 8274. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo in M- condition and sold for $190.09. That’s a pretty nice price for a Ben Webster on Verve. This was sold by

the dealer ofvinylinterest, which describes it as part of the noted $3 million eBay auction of what was billed as “The World’s Greatest Record Collection.” I’ll send them a note and find out more about what they’re willing to say about this collection. Based on this item and some others, the records seem to be in very nice condition. 

Here’s a beauty and a high price to match: Louis Smith, Blue Note 1594. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd address in M- condition. Price: $1,514

Not all nice collectible records have to be expensive. Here’s a great record at a reasonable price: Stan Getz, Award Winner, Verve 8296. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo. Price: $60.50

Here’s one we mentioned earlier: Herbie Nichols, Blue Note 1519. This was an original with the Lexington Avenue address in M- condition. Price: $446

And a few more: Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, Riverside 201. This was an original white label pressing with the original cover in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $348.50

Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This was VG+/VG+. Price: $700

Count Basie, RCA 1112. This was an original pressing with the cover by Andy Warhol. The record was VG- and the cover was VG. Price: $161.38

Paul Chambers Quintet, Blue Note 1564. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd label in M- condition. I had predicted it would sell for more than $1,000. I was close — the actual price was $898.88.

My personal story about this record: I had a copy back in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The cover was VG the record was about VG, maybe VG+. I had a dealer come to my house offering what were, at the time, pretty good prices for rare collectibles. This was before eBay set the whole market spinning, of course. Well, I was saving money for a boat and he offered my $500 cash for the Jackie record and I took it. I haven’t found a copy of the record since. And the boat sank.

Here are the results of some of the items we were watching yesterday on eBay:

Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This was an original pressing of this very rare record. The dealer uses different terminology than we use for grading, but it seems like the record was what we would call VG++ and the cover was VG+. Price: $798

Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original pressing from the same dealer as the Jackie McLean record. This was in VG++/VG++ condition. It sold for $713. We expected this to go for a higher price. In our Price Guide we’ve had two copies since the beginning of the year: One was in better condition than this and sold for $1,302: The other was in worse condition and sold for $861.

Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This was an original pressing with the white cover in M-/M- condition. Price: $202.50

Sonny Rollins Volume One, Blue Note 1542. This was an original pressing with the Lexington Avenue address. It was in VG++/VG+ condition and sold for $360.

Lee Konitz, Very Cool, Verve 8209. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo in M-/M- condition. It looked very clean and fetched a price of $131.38.

Finally, here’s an interesting collectible you may have missed: A copy of Frank Sinatra’s Songs For Swingin’ Lovers signed by Sinatra. It was not in great shape but still sold for $94.51.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow at Jazzcollector.com and on Friday with our next newsletter. — Al

Back watching eBay today and we’re pleased to see that the seller JBLD44000 is back with two of the rarest of the rare jazz LPs. We expect both of these to net prices near or above $1,000. We’ll watch and let you know tomorrow: Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1685. This is an original pressing in nice condition. As of the time we posted today the price was $685. Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This is an original pressing in what appears to be decent condition. As of the time we posted today the price was $618.

In addition to these items, this seller has several others closing today, tomorrow and later in the week. Interesting, he sold a copy of the Art Pepper LP Modern Art, Intro 606, for more than $2,000 last week, but it’s up on eBay again for a start price of $1,500. We assume something happened to prevent the other sale from going through. Here are some of the other items we’re watching:

Sonny Rollins Volume 1, Blue Note 1542. This is an original pressing with the Lexington Avenue address on the label. At one point there was a question in our Forums whether this LP was issued with that address. Here’s definitive proof.

Sonny Rollins, Moving Out, Prestige 7058. This is an original pressing with the New York address on the label. It’s not in great shape but, for those who are not sticklers for condition, it’s an opportunity to add a rare record to the collection at, perhaps, a reasonable price. We’ll see: Sometimes even records in not-so-great condition fetch hefty price tags on eBay.

The seller Atomic_records is also back on eBay with some nice items. Take a look at this one and click “View Seller’s Other Items” for a complete list. Donald Byrd at the Half Note, Volume 1, Blue Note 4060Another dealer with some interesting records is sadg. He is selling several later Blue Notes and Prestiges. Check this one out and look at the others. John Patton, Let ‘Em Roll, Blue Note 4239

Finally, the seller bullsite2000 has this item and several others in very nice condition. Take a look: Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038

That’s it for today. See you at Jazzcollector.com tomorrow. — Al