Podcast: Dexter Gordon on Blue Note
This week’s theme: Dexter Gordon on Blue Note.
Tag: Bud Powell
Podcast: A Jazz Collector Playlist to Welcome in 2024
This week’s theme. Welcoming in 2024, with 24-related jazz vinyl. Hint, Swing, Swang, Swinging’ and A New Perspective on Blue Note. Featured artists include Jackie McLean, Donald Bird, Herbie Hancock, Hank Mobley, Al Sears, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, John Coltrane, Oscar Pettiford, Oliver Nelson, Kenny Dorham.
Podcast: Verve, Clef, Norgran Playlist, Volume 2
This week’s theme continues the random playlist from the Clef, Norgran and Verve catalogues. Some of the featured artists are Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Art Tatum, Johnny Hodges, Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz and many, many more.
High Tide for Jazz Vinyl
Ella and Louis, Verve 4003. This was an original pressing with the orange and yellow label. It was listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The seller was Carolina Soul. The final price was $465, the highest we’ve ever seen for Ella and Louis. Music doesn’t get any better than this, IMHO. Pretty good cover too, wouldn’t you say? I didn’t realize this had become this highly valued as a collectible but, hey, if I didn’t have a copy of this record I’d be fine to pay the going rate. Maybe even sell one Blue Note and get two or three copies of Ella and Louis, just in case.
Autographs, Autographs, Autographs
I heard back from the reader who sent me the original link to the auction for the autographed copy of John Coltrane Ballads, Impulse A-32. The one that sold for more than $5,000 a few weeks ago. His name is Bill and, it turns out, he has a passion for collecting autographs—as well as an impressive collection. With his permission, here is a copy of our correspondence after I replied to his initial note.
Al:
My jazz collecting the past 25 years has morphed mainly to jazz autographs. There is something about a genuine signature that makes an item come alive: This was actually in the hands of Billie, Bird, Trane, etc. One must be careful to not obtain a fake, but I have mainly dealt with reputable dealers, and over time, I have become more savvy in finds on sites such as eBay.
I did bid on this Coltrane item, but exited the bidding when it went above $2000.
The prizes of my collection are signed photographs, some contracts, some personal letters, etc. To give you an idea of some of my prized items, here is a partial list: Read more
A Dash of Blue Note Mania
I was away from eBay for a couple of weeks but I had put a bunch of records in my queue. Now that all of the auctions are done, and I’m looking at the queue of records all at once, it’s striking to me how the market value of Blue Note LPs just keeps escalating and escalating with no apparent limits. I think it has been this way for as long as I’ve been watching the market and collecting records, but for whatever reasons there seems to have been another quantum leap forward recently. Or perhaps I just haven’t noticed. Let me do a download of some of the records I’ve been watching, starting with Bud Powell, Bud!, Blue Note 1571. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep groove, ear, etc. The record and the cover both looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $1,230.90. Based on Popsike, this looks to be the highest price this record has sold for on eBay. Granted, the condition was great and the seller is reputable, but the price was outside of what you have considered to be the normal top range for this LP. Read more
Catching Up (And We Mean Up!) on Rare Jazz Vinyl
Here are a couple of nice $1,000 records we were watching on eBay: Dizzy Reece, Progress Report, Tempo TAP 9. This was an original U.K. pressing that was listed in excellent condition for the vinyl and great condition for the cover and, even though those terms are not precisely Goldmine-approved, you get the sense from the description and pictures that the record was in extremely nice condition. This one sold for about $1,025. Also, Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and cover. We said “under normal circumstances” this record could set a new high water mark for the Cooker. What we meant was that we felt the pandemic would perhaps be dampening prices for high-end records. We were wrong. This record did set a new high at $1,625. So much for my theories and hypotheses—so far at least. Read more
Blue Notes and Beyond
I’m back, finally. I see in my absence, Mr. Lee did a good job of keeping the interest alive. I’ve actually removed a couple of posts that had to do with cases filed on eBay. Sorry, Mr. Lee, that’s not something we do here at Jazz Collector.
Let’s start with the tease on the Blue Note documentary. It is called Blue Note Records: Beyond the Blue Notes. I saw it at a special screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Watching the movie and knowing that I would have to write about it here reminded me why, early in my journalism career, I decided that I didn’t want to be a critic. To be fair, there were some great things about the movie. Nice clips of Monk, the Lion and Wolff story, the artwork (of course) and some great commentary and stories from 91-year-old Lou Donaldson, who lights up the screen every time he appears. Would I recommend the documentary to you, loyal Jazz Collector readers? I don’t need to, do I? You’ll see it no matter what I say, as you should. Within the movie is the story of the music we love as it was recorded and packaged on one of the labels we treasure and collect. Read more
Prestiges, Esquires and Blue Notes, Oh My
Here’s another one of those cool Esquires with a cool cover: Sonny Rollins Quintet, Esquire 20-080. This is the original U.K. version of the Prestige record Moving Out (Prestige 7058). This one is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. There are two days left on the auction and the bidding is already close to $700. What I said in my previous post about getting a good deal on these Esquires? I only wrote it a week ago. Have times changed that quickly, or does it have to do with immaculate condition of this record? Or, perhaps, a little of both?
Meanwhile, it seems as if the bidding has barely begun on this original original Prestige: Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068. This looks like a beauty, graded M- for the record and VG++ for the cover. There seems to be shrink wrap, which would not have been the packaging medium when it was first introduced, but that wouldn’t scare me off at all. With more than three days left, the bidding is at just $45. I would expect it to increase markedly as we get close to the end of the auction.
A New Perspective on Jazz Vinyl
We will being today’s post with two of our favorite records, starting with Donald Byrd, A New Perspective, Blue Note 84124. As you can see from the “8” at the beginning of the catalogue number, this is a stereo pressing. It is an original, with the New York USA label, the ears, Van Gelder, etc. This is being offered by the seller anilin1000 from Germany, who has been selling off his collection due to age — his own and not the records. This one is listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is in the $150 range, which is somewhat surprising, since the stereo pressings don’t usually sell for that much. I see one stereo pressing on Popsike for about $125, and one for a bit higher that was autographed. Hey, it’s a great record so I don’t begrudge anyone willing to pay top dollar for it. I often play “Cristo Redentor” for people who don’t really know jazz, and without exception (so far) it always gets a very strong positive reaction, probably more so than any other jazz record I can think of.
This is another favorite that just came onto eBay: