This week’s podcast: More vocals and instrumentals from the Great American Songbook. Featured artists include Dinah Washington, Ben Webster, Annie Ross, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Barney Kessell, Herb Ellis, Rosemary Clooney, Zoot Sims, Scott Hamilton, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond Jim Hall, Sonny Criss, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more.Featured songs include Makin’Whoopee, I Was Going All Right, Diane, I’ve Got a Crush on You, Cry Me a River, I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face, For All We Know, and more.

This week’s theme: Jazz Vocals featuring horn player accompaniment. Featured artists include Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dave Lambert, Joe Williams, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Abby Lincoln, Kenny Durham, Sonny Rollins, Dinah Washington, Clark Terry, Paul Quinichette, Lockjaw Davis, Annie Ross, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Helen Humes, Teddy Edwards, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, and many more.

This week’s theme. Various jazz vocals on vinyl. Artists include Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Quincy Jones, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ben Webster, Helen Humes, Carmen McRae, Duke Ellington, Annie Ross, Gerry Mulligan, Billie Holiday, Rosemary Clooney, Maxine Sullivan, Cannonball Adderley, Helen Merrill, Clifford Brown.

Another reader sent us this link with this note: “Not sure if you caught this beautiful Lorraine Geller LP that sold for $1,200 (buy it now). There can’t be too many of these rarities left in that type of condition.” Indeed.

Here’s a question from a reader:

“Al,  I have a question for you. When you bid on a jazz lp on Ebay and the seller gives it a visual grade of lets say NM-.  You win the lp and when you receive it, you find his visual description is perfectly accurate, but when you listen to it you hear lots of clicks and a lot of background noise. What do you do, if anything?  Would you complain to the seller about the sound or just accept it the way it is?  I ask because I notice many sellers don’t give an audio grade in their descriptions, and many of these lps sell for huge amounts.  When I sell, I give an audio & visual grade, but I think I’m in the minority. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback on this question. Thanks much (and thanks for the great website), Bill.”

Here’s my reply:

“Hi, Bill. I’ll pose the question to my readers, if you don’t mind. I won’t mention your full name. I don’t buy much on eBay these days, but I would definitely get back to the seller. I wouldn’t look at it as a complaint or question the seller’s credibility and I wouldn’t do it with even a trace of hostility or anger. Rather, I would say that, yes, the visual description was accurate, but when the record played it was closer to VG or VG+ or whatever. Then I would ask the seller what he would recommend. Some sellers will take the record back and give you a full refund (if that’s what you want); others will give you a partial refund and tell you to keep the record. Most sellers will do something. If they don’t offer anything and are arrogant or hostile, then just don’t buy anything from them anymore. Personally, I’m not comfortable filing formal complaints on eBay. Can’t say why other than karma. — al”

I never did hear back from Bill on how/wheher this was resolved, so, Bill, if you’re still out there, what happened?

Here’s another question from a reader: “Do you have any information about the Crescent record label other than what is reported by Wikipedia?” Answer: I don’t but I figured maybe someone out there does. So here’s the question for any Crescent experts.

I was listening to this record today: Vi Redd, Bird Call, United Artists 14016. Part of a pact I recently made with myself to go into the collection and listen to records I’ve either never before listened to, or haven’t listened in years. This is a damn nice record, to my pleasant surprise. Anyway, on this record, there is a trumpet player identified as “Kansas Lawrence.” The clue is that he went to school in Lawrence, Kansas. I tried to identify him by his playing. At first I thought it might be Clark Terry. That was wrong. It took a quick search on the Internet to find out who it was, which any of you can do as well. The question is, can anyone identify Kansas Lawrence without looking it up. As always, we are on the honor system here at Jazz Collector.

BTW, the Vi Redd record is over and now I have on the turntable, Annie Ross Sings a Song with Mulligan. Another great record, excellent vocals, excellent arrangements, with great contributions from both Chet Baker and Art Farmer. I’m trying to decide whether this embarrassment of riches is a curse or a blessing – to have so many records, I can’t listen to all the good ones, or to have so many records that I can pull one off the shelf seemingly at random and be pleasantly surprised. I’m sure many of you will gladly volunteer to take some records off my hands to alleviate any concerns may have. It is also odd that I have this little bit of extra time on my hands to listen. I have a short respite between writing assignments, and close listening is something I rarely take the time to do anymore, so I’m having fun.

Now for the two that are new to us:

Annie Ross, Annie by Candlelight, Nixa 504. This looks to be an original Canadian 10-inch pressing. Not only have I never seen this record, I’ve never heard of the Nixa label. Anyone want to help us out with some info? This record is listed in excellent condition and the cover is described as very good. The start price is about $220 and so far there are no bidders.

This is a French pressing we’ve never seen: Rene Thomas, Meeting Mister Thomas, Barclay 84091. This looks to be an original pressing from 1963. The record is listed in Ex minus condition and the cover looks to be excellent. The bidding is in the $130 range but it has not yet reached the seller’s reserve price.

Here’s a listing lacking in either knowledge or integrity: Hank Mobley, No Room For Squares, Blue Note 4149. This is listed as a “Blue Note Jazz LP Original Pressing,” while the listing clearly shows that this is a mere Liberty pressing. The seller has a start price of about $150 and so far there are no bids. We assume it will stay that way, but you never know. Look at the bidding on that Hank Mobley Blue Note 1568 reissue that got out of hand before the seller graciously decided to pull the listing. Not sure if he did that because he was expecting problems, or because he realized something wacky was going on. But, the listing did clearly state it was a reissue, so he didn’t need to do that. Or did he?