Mobley Sets New Top Vinyl Price For Jazz Collector

Time to catch up on a few items. By now, most of you have probably seen what happened with those records we were watching from the Jazz Record Center. The Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568 sold for $5,101, which is the highest price we’ve ever recorded for a jazz record at Jazz Collector. The previous high was $4,036 for a copy of Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, on Ad Lib. A lot of people have already commented on this one, so I don’t have much to add other than what I’ve often said: The market is the market and eBay reflects what the market will bear. This is the going rate for this record in this condition at this point in time. I was wrong, barely on a couple of my predictions. (1) I had opined that two of the other records from this auction would sell for more than $2,000 and only one of them did: Hank Mobley, Hank, Blue Note 1560, which is the one pictured here. This one sold for $2,347. The one that did not break the $2,000 barrier was:

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A Veritable Cornucopia of 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl

As is our usual custom, we were perusing the jazz vinyl listings on eBay this evening and we happened to notice an unusually large number of interesting 10-inch LPs for sale, some of which we shall share with you henceforth, including:

Kenny Dorham, Afro-Cuban, Blue Note 5065. A beauty, no? This one is in M- condition for the record and what looks to be VG+ for the cover. The current price is around $225 and there are three days to go.

Here’s the next one up in the 10-inch Blue Note catalogue: Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This is an original pressing, of course,and the vinyl looks to be M- and the cover somewhat close to M-. The current price is $338 and there are also three days to go.

Another 10-inch Blue Note? Why not. Here’s The Amazing Bud Powell, Blue Note 5003. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It is being offered by Euclid Records and is currently at about $115.

Here’s the one on the list that will probably sell for the highest price:

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Adventures in Jazz Collecting: The Auction, Part 3

Guess what came in the mail yesterday? Remember that Jazz Auction in which I participated a few weeks ago. Well the records are here and now I can tell you how I did. Remember, I bid blind on these records, based on the written descriptions, and I gambled on quite a few of the packages. I was competing with a bunch of sellers/dealers who were at the scene and had the opportunity to physically view the records. Also, I paid an extra 17 percent above what I bid because that was the fee taken by the auction house. In any case, here are the results, part one of three: Live vicariously through me if you please. The prices listed below include the 17 percent extra fee, so they are the amount I actually paid for each package. Also, the listings as I describe them below are similar to the way they were listed in the auction itself.

Wes Montgomery, Full House. Price: $70.20. This is an original blue-label Riverside

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Bird & Newk for the $1,000 and $2,000 Bins

Two of those Sonny Rollins LPs we were watching passed the $2,000 barrier: Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original pressing in near mint condition from a reputable seller in Italy. The final price tag was $2,850. Also: Sonny Rollins Volume 1, Blue Note 1542. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing, also in near mint condition. This one sold for $2,025.22. Breaking the $1,000 barrier was:

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On EBay Now: Griffin, Red, Blakey, Bird

EBay is loaded with nice jazz vinyl this weekend. Some of the top sellers are back in action, it seems. Here are some of the items we’re watching:

Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. When we looked at this item last night the top bid was only $99. We thought we might be able to steal it for a decent price and we put in a Bidnip bid of about $230. Alas, no such luck for Jazz Collector today. The record is closing in a couple of hours and it is currently at about $425.

This seller has been selling some very nice records that seem to be in absolutely beautiful condition, including this: Red Garland, High Pressure, Prestige 7209. This is an original pressing in near mint condition and, from the picture with the listing it looks absolutely pristine, the cover as well. The current

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Updating the $1,000 Bin: Griffin, Bird, Dolphy

Doesn’t look as if things on eBay slowed down during the Christmas weekend. Here are a few of the items we’ve been watching:

Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address and the cover illustration by Andy Warhol. It was listed in M- condition by a very reliable seller. The price was $1,875. The same seller also sold: Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This also looked to be in nice M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,275.

While we’re updating the $1,000 bin, here’s this one:

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Rare Bird Nets $2,210. Yes, $2,210.

Wow, there was a real bidding war for this one: Charlie Parker, Dial 203. This was a 10-inch pressing sold by Euclid Records. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++. What would you normally expect this to sell for? I’d have said $400, maybe $500. If you look at the Jazz Collector Price Guide the range is $300 to $500 depending on condition, with one previous copy selling for more than $700. The bidding for this one started getting intense between two buyers at somewhere north of $800 and it skyrocketed all the way to a final price of $2,210. Not bad. By contrast, Euclid also sold copies of the following 10-inch Dial records by Bird: Charlie Parker, Dial 207. This one

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Today on eBay: A Rare Bird Indeed

We spent some time last night perusing today’s activities on eBay, so we figured we’d share some of our findings with you on a bright lovely morning in the New York metro area.

Charlie Parker, The Bird Blows The Blues, Dial 901. This is purported to be the first 12-inch LP ever. It was issued as a promo for Dial. There are reports of only 50 pressings of this record, but, we’re sure that is part of the mythology. We’ve written about it before at Jazz Collector and we’ve also tracked pricing in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Our top price in the past has been $2,850. It certainly does not come up on eBay very often. This one seems to be in pretty nice condition. When we first saw this last night, the price was around a hundred dollars and now it’s around $400 with six hours to go. We’ll see where it ends up. It is quite a rarity and

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Jazz Vinyl Countdown: Bird’s First, Autographed

Here’s an interesting test: With this winnowing down of the jazz vinyl collection, are we still a collector or have we morphed into something else  — perhaps a dealer-slash-collector-slash-aficionado or something other equally endearing term? Well, we have two copies of this pretty rare 10-inch record: Jay McShann, Kansas City Memories, Decca 5503. This record is noteworthy because it is the first studio recording of one Charles Christopher Parker Jr. Bird’s solos on The Jumpin’ Blues and (especially) Hootie Blues usher in a new era in jazz. It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? Both of our copies of this record are in pretty nice condition, but one of them has a bonus feature: An autograph on the back by

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