Stan Getz Quartets, Prestige 7002. This was an original New York yellow label that looked to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $363.

Booker Ervin, Exultation!, Prestige 7293. This was an original New Jersey yellow label pressing that also looked to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $317.34.

Bobby Jaspar, Tenor and Flute, Riverside 240. This was an original white label pressing that looked to be in M- condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. The final price was $212.50. Interesting sidemen: Idrees Sulieman, George Wallington, Wilbur Little and Elvin Jones.

Finally, there was that collection of 29 Blue Notes in not-so-great-condition, described by the seller as “filler lot only.” The final price was about $1,390. I have to admit, I was tempted, even if just to see the records. But $1,400 was a bit steep for my curiosity. But, if the buyer is out there reading these, I am sure I am not the only curious one about the actual condition of these records and covers. I’ve been looking for that Lou Donaldson Quartet, Quintet, Sextet for years, but I stopped buying records that I can’t confidently put on my turntable.

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

Someone please explain this one to me: Clifford Brown Memorial Album, Blue Note 1526. This is a New York USA pressing, with a West 61st Street address on the cover. In other words, nothing about this record is close to an original first pressing and, at best, the vinyl was issued, when, in the early 1960s? Not to mention the vinyl is in VG condition. The cover is VG+. Somehow, there have been four bids on this record and the price is close to $200. Explanations please?

Our friends at Euclid Records seem to have made a nice discovery/score:

They have a bunch of records listed as coming from the stock of a record store that closed in 1971 and whose records haven’t been touched since then. Here’s an example: The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 209. I do have a question about these that I would need answered before bidding, and that is this: How does Euclid know if these are original pressings? Have they actually broken the seal and looked at them? I was buying jazz records in 1971 and, at best, a record on the shelf in those days, with a factory seal, would have been no better than a blue label,  certainly not a white label. This Monk record is in the $135, so it would be an important question to have answered, don’t you think?

Don Sleet, All Members, Jazzland 45. This was an original orange label mono pressing. The record looked to be VG++ and the cover was listed as VG. The price was $94.

Mike Cuozzo with the Costa-Burke Trio, Jubilee 1027. This was an original pressing and the value is certainly aided by the presence of Eddie Costa. It was only in VG condition for the record and the cover and still sold for $108.50.

Bill Perkins, Just Friends, Pacific Jazz 401. This was an original pressing sold by the Jazz Record Center. It was in excellent condition — the words “immaculate” and “exceptional” were used in the description. It also benefitted from the presence of strong sidemen, in this case Art Pepper and Richie Kamuca. The price was $330.55.

Johnny Hodges, Perdido, Norgran 1091. This was a black-label pressing, which I think is an original. At some point, we will need to do in Norgran what we are doing in Blue Note and Prestige and come up with some definitive information about yellow and black labels, logos, etc. This was in beautiful M- condition and sold for $90.47.

Rene Thomas and Bobby Jaspar, Thomas Jaspar Quintet, RCA PML 10324. This was an original Italian pressing and, frankly, I’ve never seen or heard of this LP before. It looks like a nice cover and the players are certainly excellent, so I imagine it is quite a find. This one was in M- condition for the vinyl and VG++ for the cover and sold for $700. If anyone has more insight on this record, please feel welcome to share it.

For those of you keeping score at home, here are some of the items we’ve been watching on eBay:

Tal Farlow, The Tal Farlow Album, Norgran 1047. This is an autographed copy in M-/M- condition. Price: $249.95.  This was one of those records I planned to bid on but figured the price would go too high because of the condition of the LP and the presence of the autograph. The first bid was $249.95 and I expected it to go way up from there. But nobody else bid, including me.

The Farlow record was from the seller Jazz5060. We’ve been watching this seller because he consistently has good records on eBay. Here are a couple more, one already sold, one that failed to meet its reserve price and one coming up over the next day or so.

Sonny Stitt, Jazz At the Hi Hat, Roost 418. This was an original 10-inch LP in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $224.50

This is one from Jazz5060 that failed to meet its reserve price:

The Rene Thomas/Bobby Jaspar Quintet, RCA 10324. This was in M-/VG++ condition and fetched a top bid of $493 but did not sell.

Also, Jazz5060 has some great items coming up, including this one:

Dexter Gordon, Doin’ Allright, Blue Note 4077

Here are some other items we were watching:

Billie Holiday at Jazz At the Philharmonic, Clef 169. This is a 10-inch LP with the Andy Warhol/David Stone Martin cover. Price $329. This failed to get many early bids and was in the $70 range about an hour before it closed.

Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes, The Jazz Couriers, Tempo 15. This is an original pressing in near mint condition. Price: $669.76

Freddie Redd, The Connection, Blue Note 84027. This is a stereo pressing with the West 63^rd Street address in M-/M- condition. Price: $225

Another seller we’ve been closely watching is JBLD44000. Here are a couple of items he did not sell. You can expect to see these back on eBay with lower start prices.

Donald Byrd, Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill, Transition 17. This is an original pressing in M- condition with the booklet. Start price was $875 with no bids

Fran Thorne, Piano Reflections Volume 2, Transition 27. This is an original pressing in M- condition without the booklet. Start price was $550 with no bids

Here are some items from JBLD44000 that did sell:

Art Pepper, Modern Art, Intro 606. This is an original LP in M-/M- condition. Price $2,150.60

Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume 2, Blue Note 1516. This is an original LP with the Lexington Ave. address in M-/M- condition. Price: $900

Cecil Taylor, Jazz Advance, Transition 19. This is an original pressing in M-/VG+ condition with a mint booklet. Price: $765.50

Jazz At Columbus Ave., Transition 2. This is an original pressing in M-/M- condition with the booklet. Price: $812

We’ve got a lot more records to watch for you this weekend. Keep an eye out for our newsletter tomorrow. See you then. — Al