This week’s theme: Another show wherein I play a jazz vocal from the Great American Songbook, followed by a jazz instrumental of the same song. Featured artists include Rosemary Clooney, Stan Getz, Eddie Jefferson, Nat King Cole, Harry Sweets Edison, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Clarke, Anita O’Day, Hank Mobley, Sonny Clark, Marshall Royal, Chet Baker, Sonny Rollins, LaVern Baker, Sonny Stitt, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Paul Chambers, Arthur Taylor, Bill Hartman, Curtis Porter,and many more.

Here’s one from the Jazz Record Center that ended up in the $1,000 bin: Mal Waldron, Mal-1, Prestige 7090. This was an original New York yellow label that looked to be in M- condition for the record and M- or VG++ for the cover. The final price was $1,009. For the record, pun intended, we checked with Popsike and that is the highest price recorded for this particular record. Mal 2, Prestige 7111, the one with John Coltrane, has sold for a high price of $1,400. Left Alone, the Mal Waldron record on Bethlehem, has sold for a high price of $1,625.

We were watching this kind of weird copy of Herbie Nichols Trio, Blue Note 1519. The consensus seemed to be that this was a Liberty pressing using older labels. When we spotted the record on Jazz Collector the bidding was in the $85 range. It wound up selling for $233.28. I have one of similar vintage but with Lexington Avenue labels. It has no deep groove, but it does have the ear and the RVG stamp. Wonder what that would sell for?

I meant to write about this earlier: McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy, Blue Note 4264. This was an original Liberty pressing with the Van Gelder stamp. It was probably in M- condition for the record and cover and was sold by the Jazz Record Center for $810, which seemed quite high to me. I checked the Jazz Collector archives and came upon this article from 2014 “Really, McCoy?”  in which readers were surprised that a copy sold for as much as $171. I will say that the $810 is a new high point for The Real McCoy, nearly double the previous high. Must be inflation.

Speaking of inflation, I also saved a few from an early June Jazz Record center auction because I couldn’t believe the prices. Here are:

Wardell Gray, Los Angeles All Stars, Prestige 147, 10-inch LP, VG++ condition or so for the record and the cover. Price: $799.

Art Farmer Quintet, Prestige 181, 10-inch LP, VG++ condition or so for the record and the cover. Price: $850.

Finally, to close the book on a crazy auction we were watching a couple of months ago,
Gigi Gryce and His Big Band, Jazztime Paris featuring Clifford Brown, Blue Note 5049. Final price: $1,253.44

John Coltrane and Stan Getz with Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, Hackensack

Thelonious Monk, Don’t Blame Me

I’m sure those of you who explore these things have your own favorites, so please share. I have others as well, but I happened to find these last night and they are fresh on my mind this morning.

Meanwhile, back on eBay:

Lee Morgan, Volume 3, Blue Note 1557. This is an original pressing with the New York 23 address. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is in the $360 range with more than four days left on the auction.

Curtis Fuller, the Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover. If the grading is accurate, this looks like a very nice copy. The start price is $1,000 and so far there are no bidders, but I would definitely expect this record to sell, and perhaps set a new high-water mark. This seller has a lot of nice stuff on eBay now, so it’s worth taking a look even if, like me, you have no intention of bidding but just like to watch.

While we’re on Blue Note, here’s one more auction from the list that CeeDee sent me the other day: Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil, Blue Note 4194. This was an original New York USA pressing that was listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. It also had the original shrink wrap, which may or may not have influenced the bidding. In either case, the bidding was intense, with 15 bidders and 52 bids pushing the price up to $737.

This is also one I don’t see very often, but I’ve never viewed it as a record that was particularly favored by collectors:

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, A Night in Tunisia, Via 1115. This looks to be an original deep-groove mono pressing, listed in excellent condition for both the record and the cover. It has interesting personnel, with Johnny Griffin and Bill Hardman, not a very often-recorded group of Messengers. And it includes Jackie McLean under the pseudonym “Ferris Benda,” apparently to avoid contractual conflicts. This is another one I will have to listen to, since I’ve owned it for years and probably put it on the turntable maybe once when I first obtained it. Anyway, this copy is in the $160 range, which seems high for a non-Blue Note Blakey. A quick search on Popsike seems to indicate that a price this high will be an aberration or perhaps just a new level for this record. It’s probably great, right?

“Hank Mobley — Blue Note 1568: Might Moe and Joe; Falling in Love With Love; Bags Groove; Double Exposure; News.

“Personnel: Mobley, tenor; Curtis Porter, alto, tenor; Bill Hardman, trumpet; Sonny Clark, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Taylor, drums

“Rating — Three and a half stars

“One of the nicer things about Al Lion and associates at Blue Note is that they don’t hesitate to present new talent they consider worthwhile. On this set is presented 29-year-0old Philadelphia saxman Curtis Porter, who is equal to the company. Although it is Mobley’s date, the leader allows generous space for the wailing of his fellow reedman, which makes for a high degree of hard blowing.

“Porter’s alto and tenor work is more intensely staccato than Mobley’s. He skips through his solos with light-footed adroitness, delicately sparring with the changes. And he always swings hard. Trumpeter Hardman remains a wishful spokesman for the late Clifford Brown. Though he blows with controlled ferocity and biting tone, he lacks the sense of construction and taste so necessary to major status. Clark, Chambers and Taylor combine in churning rhythm  section, with Sonny’s frequent solos gems of taste and swing. His rippling tough and original, melodic constructions contribute much to the album’s rating.

“Of the three originals here, Porter wrote two (Joe and News); Exposure is Mobley’s. None is outstanding compositionally, but News offers an attractively melodic theme. Mobley’s tenor is big, bustling, hard and virile — but still a considerable cut below the level established and sustained by Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. When he speaks, though, it is with authority. The good moments are many in this set, and quite a few of them come from the horns of newcomer Porter. Let’s hear more from him.”

There is is. What do you think?

When did this one become a collectible that would fetch a price tag of nearly $200: Charles Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Impulse 54. This was an orange label stereo pressing in M- condition. It sold for $178.05. Quite a nice price for this LP, right? I have a stereo copy in my collection also in M- condition, beautiful. If anyone wants it for $175, just send me a note and I will sell it to you.

I almost bid on this one and now kind of regret that I didn’t: Milt Jackson and the Thelonious Monk Quintet, Blue Note 1509. This one was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it looked to be in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover, although the seller could have been a bit more forthcoming with the grading. It sold for a little more than $100, and

I would have liked it since this is one of the few gaps in my collection of 12-inch Lexington Avenue Blue Notes.

This is a record I have not seen very often: Bill Hardman Quintet, Saying Something, Savoy 12170. This is a pretty late Savoy release but it seems to have the deep red label, based on the picture. This one was in M- condition and sold for about $174.