Clifford Brown Memorial, Prestige 7055. This is an original yellow-label New York pressing that looks to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. The current price is only $200. I say “only” because this looks like the best condition you will ever find this record. Also, does any other artist have two “Memorial” albums? Not just two “Memorial” but on Blue Note and Prestige?

Here are a couple that are not from the Jazz Record Center, starting with Kenny Dorham and the Jazz Prophets, Volume 1, ABC Paramount 122. The record and cover look to be in VG+ condition. Bidding starts at $500 with no bidders yet and the auction closing in about  two days.

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling, Blue Note 4083. This is described as an original New York USA pressing listed in M- condition for the record and cover. Start price is about $500 with no bidders yet for an auction that closes in about three days.

To follow up on some of the records we were watching:

Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing that looked to be in V++ or so condition for the record and the cover. When we looked at this record, the bidding was in the $860 range. We knew it would break the $1,000 mark, and perhaps the $2,000 mark. It came pretty close, selling for $1,939.08.

From the same seller: Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. Again, this was an original pressing in “excellent/superb” condition, with the added benefit of a cover design by Andy Warhol. We anticipated a final price “north of $3,000,” but we were a bit off. The top bid was $2,823.08.

To no surprise, the two Lee Morgan records and the Chet Baker 10-inch record did not sell.

While we’re in the stratosphere: Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was probably VG++ based on the pictures. The final price was $2,370. Johnny Griffin. The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing with the Andy Warhol cover. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $1,593. Wardell Gray Memorial, Volume 2, Prestige 7009. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. The record and cover were in VG+ condition. The final price was $1,246. Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This was an original New York yellow label. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG. The final price was $3,450. Whew. I’m out of breath just typing in these numbers. Must be the atmosphere pressure in the stratosphere.

The cover is a mess, with the name of a previous owner etched in dark black ink right across the top. And the rest of the cover isn’t much better. The cover is listed in G+ condition. The record is listed in G+ condition with scuffs, scratches, crackles and pops. Sounds more like a cereal than a classic Blue Note. It is, by the way, a stereo pressing with the New York USA labels. So why is this record more interesting to me than the Juju pressing? The Juju pressing I can understand a $300 bid. Speak No Evil has a single bid at nearly $500. I would never accuse a seller of having phony shill bids without evidence, but I do have a hard time imagining who would want this record at nearly any price, and particularly at $500. What would you do with it? You can’t play it and you wouldn’t want to look at it.

May as well stick to Blue Notes today: Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This looked to be an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record was listed in VG- condition with some noticeable flaws, according to the seller. The cover, with the Andy Warhol design, was listed as VG++. The final price was $695 and my expectation is that the buyer was more interested in the cover than the vinyl. Why not? The cover is quite cool and adds enormous value to the record in visual and financial terms.

J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This looked to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for he cover. The final price was $1,365. The prolific seller, funkyousounds, has had some nice records for sale the past few weeks so it may be worthwhile to keep an eye out for their auctions, if you are in the market to buy records on eBay.

From the same auction, there is The Magnificent Thad Jones, Blue Note 1527. This is an original Lexington Avenue deep groove pressing. The record looks to be in nice condition, except for a flaw in the pressing that causes some issues. I hate those, don’t you? The cover is listed in VG+ condition. The bidding is at about $150. I was quite fortunate to acquire a mint original copy of this record when I purchased the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore. Hard to believe that was eight years ago.

I saw this on eBay and had to flag it: “Signed Charlie Parker Quintet LP Self-Titled Jazztone 1240 Stan Getz.” I’m assuming the signature purports to be Bird. The first suspicion is the red felt marker. They didn’t make those back in the day, did they? Of course, there is also the fact that the record was released in 1956 and Bird died in 1955. Giving the seller the benefit of the doubt and assuming he doesn’t know anything, whoever attempted this forgery could have done just a little bit more research, don’t you think? The starting bid for this record is $1,399. Without the autograph, based on the condition, my assessment of the actual value of the record would be in the Blutarsky-esque range of zero point zero.

From the same auction there was A Night at Birdland Volume 2, Art Blakey, Blue Note 1522. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the original cover. Oh, what a beauty, in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $921.99. While we’re there, here’s it’s companion: A Night at Birdland Volume 1, Art Blakey, Blue Note 1521. This was also an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the original cover, also in pristine condition. Final price on this one was $898. One more: The Trio, Hank Jones, Kenny Clarke, Wendell Marshall, Savoy 12023. This was an original red label pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $233.50. This is probably the first time we’ve ever written about this record here at Jazz Collector. Not one you often see, and certainly not in this condition or at that price point.

Moving on to other sellers: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing with the deep grooves, ear, etc. The record was listed in VG condition and the cover VG+. Pictures showed some cover issues, but perhaps not to earn a lower grade? Blue Notes, these days, are in the eye of the beholder. This one sold for $861.99.

And one for the $1,000 bin: Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 2, Blue Note 1597. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing with the cover design by Andy Warhol. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was Ex (VG++?). The final price was $1,400.

The same seller has this nice 10-inch Blue Note that is getting quite a lot of attention: Jazztime Paris Volume 1, Gigi Gryce and his Big Band Featuring Clifford Brown, Blue Note 5049. This is a Lexington Avenue pressing listed in Ex condition for the record and the cover. The bidding is already more than $925 with four days left on the auction. I just looked over at Popsike and the previous top price for this record was $265, so I don’t know what is going on with this particular copy. The original recording was issued on Vogue, so while this is an original Blue Note, it is not the first release of the music. I was doing some research and this great post from Jazz Collector, January 2009 came up: The Blue Note Story. If you read the article, also take some time to look at the comments: Our long-time reader Rudolf offers some great research on these Blue Notes and French Vogue records from the era.

This record has been sitting in my queue for a few weeks and I want to clear it out: Thelonious Monk, Brilliant Corners, Riverside 12-226. This is a blue label third pressing. When I bought a copy last year I valued it at between $100 and $200 in VG+ condition, and I’ve been checking other copies to see if I overvalued it, which I probably did, based on current market. If you look at Popsike, white label original pressings of Brilliant Corners often sell for several hundred dollars, with a high of $1,251. Blue labels, not so much. This one had a start price of $110 in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It was a third pressing and didn’t sell at all. And now it is out of my queue. Mission accomplished

Speaking of Monk, there is this: Thelonious Monk Quintet, Prestige 7053. This is an original New York yellow label with the first cover, which is a photo. The second cover was the one designed by Andy Warhol and my bet is that the second cover is the one more valued by collectors. Let’s take a look . . . click to Popsike . . . and . . . indeed, the Warhol cover is, by far, the one that collectors seem to prefer, with one aberrant copy actually selling for $2,350 in 2009. The top price for the photo cover was $665. I’ll take either cover, and definitely the entire record, which is a classic. This one is graded in Ex condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. There is less than a day left on the auction, the start price is about $300 and so far there are no bidders.

Is it time to create a $6,000 bin? Not just Blue Train, but there was also this: Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 1535. This was from the Jazz Record Center auction and was an “original” 12-inch pressing. I use the quote marks because the original original was the 10-inch version, with fewer tracks, but all of the Afro-Cuban variety. This one was in pristine condition and sold for $6,421.12. This topped the previous high price by more than $2,000. From that same auction there was Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1543. This has the Andy Warhol cover and is the last of the Lexington Avenue Blue Notes. This was also in pristine condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $2,412, once again setting a new price record.

As always, there are lots of nice Blue Notes on eBay at this time, including this one from my own personal want list: Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1587. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing. The vinyl is listed as VG+ and the cover as M-. The bidding is in the $200 range and there is less than a day to go on the auction, with nine bidders and 11 bids. The action seems very light for a record of this quality in this condition and I would expect the bidding to end up close to the $1,000 range or beyond. But, you never know. Hey, if the action stays light, I may even toss in a bid myself.

One more for the day: Jackie McLean, Capuchin Swing, Blue Note 4038. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing, listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is $650, there are no bidders and the auction closes today. I would think this would sell, but the seller doesn’t add to his credibility by stating “this is Mcleans (sic) rarest,” which we all know is just hyperbole and, of course, is not true. Any knowledgeable collector would assume, as I do, that The New Tradition on Ad Lib is the rarest of the McLeans. I mean, there are not that many artists where you can say, yes, this is the rarest, but McLean seems to be one. Right?

Also in the inbox was a link to this record: Lionel Hampton, Jazztime Paris, Blue Note 5046. This was an original pressing from the Jazz Record Center. The record looked to be M- and the cover was probably VG++. It sold for $1,009, joining the $1,000 bin. Who wouldda ever thunk it: Lionel Hampton in the $1,000 bin. The power of Blue Note persists no matter what, it seems.

I have a few other updates while I am cleaning out the Jazz Collector inbox, including:

This year’s WFMU Record Fair is over and the dates for next year’s are now available: April 27-April 29 at the Brooklyn Expo Center again. I didn’t hear from anyone about this year’s show. Did anybody go? Want to send a report? You can put a comment on this post or, if you are really game, you can send me a more detailed account and I can put it up as a guest post.

This looks like a really cool new vinyl release: Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings. It’s a vinyl issue, and I can’t wait to get my copy. Once I do, I will do a review as well, although that will have to wait: Heading out later today for a brief holiday, which may or may not affect my posting. Although, to be fair, my posting has been anything but consistent lately, due to a super heavy workload in the work that actually pays the mortgages around here.

Here’s another Prestige that went for a high price, although this one may be skewed because the real collectible value is probably more in the Andy Warhol cover than in the actual contents of the music or the musicians: The Story of Moondog, Prestige 7099. This was an original New York pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $698.01. I sold my copy on eBay a few years ago. If I recall, it was about $300. There was a time where I thought I would be a Prestige completist, at least for the yellow labels, but I gave up that idea and when I listened to the Moondog record there was nothing on it that would ever convince me to listen to it again, so I decided to sell it, without regard to the label or even the cover art. I don’t think I regret it. Certainly not like I regretted selling Lee Morgan Candy or Jackie’s Pal 25 years ago to buy a frickin’ boat that sank.

I also realized I never officially closed the books on that copy of Ike Quebec Soul Samba, Blue Note 4114, which I was watching last week. It sold for $860.

Yes.

It sold for $860.

In case you missed it, that was $860.