This week’s theme: All the Things You Are in multiple settings. Featured artists include Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, Tal Farlow, Dan Axelrod, Eddie Costa, Booker Ervin, Tommy Flanagan, Richard Davis, Alan Dawson, Phineas Newborn Jr., Oscar Pettiford, Kenny Clarke, Johnny Griffin, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Art Blakey, Ella Fitzgerald, Horace Silver, Rosemary Clooney, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Carmen McRae, Kenny Dorham, Doug Watkins, Dexter Gordon, Barry Harris, Buster Williams, Tootie Heath.

This week’s theme: Standards played by Charlie Parker and others. Featured artists include Charlie Parker, Scott Hamilton, Chris Flory, John Bunch, Phil Flanagan, Chuck Riggs, Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Roy Haynes, Paul Quinichette, Carmen McRae, Anita O’Day, Tony Aless, Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Dave Lambert, Sonny Rollins, Barney Kessel, Hampton Hawes, Leroy Vinnegar, Shelly Manne, Herbie Mann, Max Roach, Al Haig, Percy Heath, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Steve Davis, Lou Donaldson, Blue Mitchell, Horace Silver, Art Blakey,  Booker Ervin, Richard Davis, Tommy Flanagan, Alan Dawson, Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez.

Within four notes of the first solo you’ll know immediately that it was Stitt, and within two notes of the second solo, you’ll know it was Rollins. Nat Hentoff, one of the giants in jazz journalism and a personal hero, was responsible for writing the liner notes. Is it possible he missed something, or is it just a typo that somehow got past the reviewers? I have no idea, but having been a journalist for my entire career, these kinds of mistakes drive me crazy and should be caught well before they ever see the light of day. These are just a few of the examples I’ve encountered since I began doing the radio show six months ago. I’m sure you’ve all encountered many more, which you are welcome to share here. Booker Erwin? Really?

Here’s a nice 10-inch LP featuring some very early Sonny Rollins: Art Farmer Quintet, Prestige 177. This looks to be an original pressing with the blue label. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG. The auction closes in more than a day after this post and the bidding is in the $200 range.

Hank Mobley, Roll Call, Blue Note 4058. This is an original West 63^rd Street pressing listed in VG condition for the record and VG for the cover, although the cover grading looks a bit optimistic to me based on a water stain on the back. The auction closes in a day and the bidding is in the $190 range.

Here’s a nice one that doesn’t have any bids yet: Booker Ervin, Exultation!, Prestige 7293. This is an original yellow label pressing. The record is listed in Ex condition and the cover is listed as VG+. Bidding starts at $200 and there is a buy-it-now price of $260.

Just to show that Groovin’ High was no fluke, there were also these from the JRC auction: Booker Ervin, The Freedom Book, Prestige 7295. This was an original yellow label mono pressing that also looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $392. This was not a new high for The Freedom Book, which has sold for more than $800 on one occasion. And Booker Ervin, The Space Book, Prestige 7386. This was an original blue label mono pressing. The record looked to be M- and the cover was probably VG++. The final price was $289.99.

Whilst on the JRC auction, let’s fill in the gaps of some of the records mentioned in the previous post and assorted comments. There was Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225, with the drill hole through the center of the cover and the label. This one sold for $3,023.  There was Bill Evans, Explorations, Riverside 351, with the misprinted cover. This one sold for $539. There was Teddy Edwards, Good Gravy!, Contemporary 3592. This was an original deep-groove mono pressing that was in M- condition for the record and probably VG+ or VG++ for the cover. This one sold for $133.50.

Of course, we were also watching other auctions. Here is one that caught our eye. Sonny Rollins and the Modern Jazz Quartet, Barclay 84057. This looked to be an original French pressing of the early Rollins Prestige 12-inch compilation. I had never this version and the cover is quite cool. Both record and cover were in M- condition and the start price was about $200. There were no bidders, so I would expect to see this back soon, perhaps at a lower price. I was listening to a playlist I had compiled a while ago and “Slow Boat to China” came on. Sonny was just 21 or 22 and, man, could he play. I am currently reading (and thoroughly enjoying) the new biography Saxophone Colossus: The Life of Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy. Definitely a must-read for Sonny fans, which means it is a must-read for Jazz Collector readers, because it is impossible to imagine that anyone reading this far into this post is not a Sonny fan, right?

The rest of the records I bought were fill-ins, such as the Booker Ervin, Heavy!!!, Prestige 7499. This was priced at about $30 for an original pressing and I was pretty sure the pressing I had at home was a later green pressing. Of course, once I got home and looked at my copy, it is a blue label, so now I have two. Beyond the records in the photo, I came home with a bunch others that were $3 or $4 each, including an original New York label of the Musings of Miles, Prestige 7007. The cover is beat, but the record looks decent. I’ll clean it up and put it on the turntable. For $4, I couldn’t resist. Who could, could you?

Anyway, it was fun going to a record show again. I hadn’t been to one all through Covid and it was nice to be in the action. It was also nice to see that there was a big crowd and a lot of young people. The jazz selection wasn’t bad – I passed up some nice records that I’m sure other Jazz Collectors were able to purchase and enjoy. Next time the show comes to town I’ll let you know in advance. I may even be tempted to get a table of my own. After all, I have now have copies  of Booker Ervin Heavy and the Musings of Miles to sell.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this, but a few years ago I started this process of putting a label on each of my records, denoting the condition and whether it is an original pressing. I also put an estimate of the value. Not to be morbid, but the purpose of this is to give my kids a sense of the value of the records so they don’t get ripped off when I die. Anyway, my maroon copy of Booker Ervin Cookin’ is in M- copy. When I put the label on a few years ago, I put the value at $40. I guess I will have to change that now. The odd thing is that the second pressing that just sold is now the highest price ever recorded for this record, according to Popsike.

Back to non-Blue Notes: Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068. This was an original New York Yellow label that looked to be in VG+ or VG++ condition, depending upon how you feel about “light ticks” and “non-feelable scratches.” I don’t get too hung up on “light ticks” because I’ve found even new, unplayed records can have a tick or two here and there. This copy sold for $1,137. From the same seller there was Art Taylor, Taylor’s Wailers, Prestige 7117. This was also an original New York yellow label and seemed to be in better condition than Jackie’s Pal, with fewer ticks. The cover was listed in VG condition. The final price was $685.85.

Taylor’s Wailers reminds me of something I did recently. I’ve been really listening to a lot of Trane lately. All Trane, all eras, all the time. So, to ensure I have the broadest selection when I want to listen, I put all of the records featuring Trane in one place. So Taylor’s Wailers is now on the same shelf as all of my other Trane Prestiges, plus the Red Garlands, Mal Waldron, Gene Ammons, etc. And Blue Notes, Whims of Chambers, Sonny’s Crib, A Blowing Session. And the Cannonball on Mercury and the Wilbur Hardens on Savoy and the Art Blakey on Bethlehem. I’ve never done this type of organization before, but it’s been a couple of weeks and, so far, I’m loving it. The simple pleasures we can get from our hobbies, right? And totally awesome that I have all of these records to organize and reorganize according to the Whims of Perlman.

This one came with a “yikes!”: Lee Morgan, Search for the New Land, Blue Note 4169. This looked to be an original New York USA pressing. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The final price was about $627.Finally, there was Lee Morgan, The Sidewinder, Blue Note 4157. This was also an original New York USA pressing. The record and cover were both in VG+ condition. The final price was $484.

This may sound hard to believe now, but when I first started collecting, back in 1970, you could pretty easily find The Sidewinder and Search for the New Land in the bargain bins at most of the Sam Goody locations in New York. I don’t recall if they were original pressings or Liberty pressings, but they were plentiful. My guess is that The Sidewinder was such a hit that they kept printing more copies and they figured Search for the New Land would be a hit too, so they printed extra copies of that as well. Not sure if CeeDee had the same experience/observation, but it is clear that these records are no longer in the bargain bins.

This one came in from our friend Japhy with the subject line “Pass the Roach!” and the following note and link: “I guess when you’re the Jazz Record Center you can get $1,300-plus for a Freddie Roach record! Yowza! That’s the highest book Roach record ever, as far as I can tell. In fact, JRC topped its own previous high of $710 for this same title a few years ago. The highest selling Roach drops to about $300 after that. Freddie Roach, Brown Sugar, Blue Note 4168. This was an original New York pressing with a “Review Copy” stamp. It looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $1,346. At the same time that the Lee Morgan records were pretty easy to get, so were the Freddie Roach records. Who knew that someday a Freddie Roach record would be more coveted than a Max Roach record? Do a Max Roach search on Popsike and the highest price that comes up is $300.

Looks like that copy of Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington did not sell and is back on eBay at the same start price. If at first . . . The Phil Woods Warm Woods record also did not sell, with a start price of $200.

Finally, here’s an interesting video/story that came in over the transom. It’s pretty long, but I started watching it and got hooked and stayed until the end: I Bought GEORGE BENSON’S LP RECORD COLLECTION!!

Some highlights, from a collectible standpoint. Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else; Finger Poppin’ with the Horace Silver Quintet; Art Blakey, Mosaic; Modern Jazz Trombones, 10-inch Prestige; Miles Davis All Stars Volume 2, 10-inch Prestige; Stylings of Silver; Blowin’ the Blues Away; 6 Pieces of Silver; Horace-Scope; Booker Ervin, The Freedom Book; Frank Morgan on GNP; Best Coast Jazz; Study in Brown and Clifford and Max at Basin Street; Miles Davis, Blue Haze; Tenor Madness; Miles Davis All-Star Sextet, 10-inch Prestige; Chet Baker Sings, 10-inch; Miles with Sonny Rollins, 10-inch Prestige; Miles, Blue Note 5013, 10-inch.

That’s about 20 nice collectibles, assuming they are in good condition, which is a strong assumption to make, sight unseen There are other collectibles and probably a total of 200-300 LPs altogether, plus a load of CDs. Our intrepid reporter on the scene says that “word around Nashville is it sold to a guy in Houston for five figures.” Congratulations to a collector or dealer in Houston. If you see this post and want to share anything about the collection, be our guest.