This week’s theme: Exploring recent vinyl reissues from Blue Note, Prestige, and Riverside. Featured artists include Dexter Gordon, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Dave Burns, Ron Carter, Hank Mobley, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Kelly, Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Frank Foster, Lew Tabackin, Julian Priester, Joe Chambers, Jimmy Ponder, Horace Silver, Stanley Turrentine, Bob Cranshaw, Mickey Roker, Miles Davis, Oscar Pettiford, Sonny Red, Sam Jones, Roy Brooks.

This week’s theme: Composed by Dizzy. Featured artists include Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Clyde Hart, Remo Palmieri, Slam Stewart, Cozy Cole, Al Haig, Curly Russell, Sid Catlett, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Barretto, Ray Bryant, Tommy Bryant, Charles Persip, Charles McPherson, Cliff Jordan, Barry Harris, George Tucker, Alan Dawson, Junior Mance, Les Spann, Sam Jones, Lex Humphries, Chino Pozo, James Moody, Kenny Barron, Chris White, Rudy Collins, Red Garland, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Arthur Taylor, George Joyner, Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell, Pierre Michelot, Kenny Clarke, Double Six of Paris, Supersax.

I am not going to reveal the Top Ten list here in this post, but, instead, will wait until I do the actual radio show/podcast, which means I have to figure out the best way to bring the music into the studio. Here is how I’m progressing on that. I realize I have in my collection Japanese versions of Art Blakey Blue Note 4003 and Reddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. As for Dexter Gordon Our Man in Paris, Donald Byrd A New Perspective, Art Blakey Buhaina’s Delight, and anything by Horace Silver, I’ve already brought them into the studio and nothing happened, so I’ll be comfortable with them.

John Coltrane Blue Train, I’m not so sure. Maybe a CD, to be on the safe side. Perhaps CDs or alternate versions for a few others  as well. For example, if I were to include anything by Tina Brooks, I have the Mosaic boxed set on vinyl.

In case I go for Sonny Clark, I just ordered The Complete Sonny Clark Blue Note Sessions on Mosaic. It was unavailable for a while and recently made available again. I have no idea how that works, but it’s not an issue for me to worry about.

The Sonny Clark is a CD set. I figure it’s a good one to have in case I ever want to bring any Sonny Clark recordings into the studio for the radio show or if I ever fall into an irreversible coma and my family wants to sell my original copies. Of course, I’d rather them pull the plug on me before selling my original Sonny Clark LPs, but at that point I’ll be in no condition to make any demands. Once the Sonny Clark CD set arrives in the mail, I’ll be able to do the show. Whilst we wait, you are all free to speculate and to include your own lists as well.

This week’s theme: Part two of a two-part celebration of my father’s 100th birthday. Featured artists include Horace Silver, Joe Henderson, Carmel Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Brown Jr., Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Randy Weston, Cecil Payne, Lockjaw Davis, Johnny Griffin, Junior Mance, and many more.

This week’s theme: More tracks from 10 of Jazz Collector’s favorite albums. Featured artists including Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Donald Byrd, Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and many more

We were also watching some jazz vinyl from the Jazz Record Center, including Mal Waldron, Mal/2, Prestige 7111. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New York address. We assessed the record as being in VG++ condition, based on the description, and the cover as VG++. We threatened to possibly bid on this copy, since we don’t have an original, John Coltrane is one of the musicians, and, at the time, the bidding was in the $260 range. Alas, we moved on to other events in our life, hence the relatively infrequency of recent posts, and forgot all about Mal/2. The final price was $568.88, which would have been beyond our bidding in any case. Nothing ventured, nothing lost, nothing gained – except I still have my Japanese pressing.

As I am typing this and creating new links, I am on the Jazz Record Center web site and I see they have another auction closing in about five days. Let’s see, here is a deep-groove West 63^rd Street pressing of Lou Donaldson, LD+3, Blue Note 4012. Interesting that they don’t use the word “original” in the description, so perhaps someone can shed light on why this copy would not be an original. In any case, the record and cover look to be in M- or VG++ condition. The bidding starts at $150 and so far there are no bidders.

From the same auction: Workin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7166. This is an original yellow label New Jersey pressing. The record and the cover both look to be in M- condition. The cover is still in its original shrink wrap and, psychologically, it definitely looks cooler in the shrink wrap. Perhaps that is leading to higher bidding? The bidding on this one has already surpassed $400.

Let’s look beyond the usual suspects, at least as far as eBay sellers. Here’s one:  Dizzy Reece, Star Bright, Blue Note 4023. This looks to be an original deep-groove West 63^rd Street pressing. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG+, with some writing on the back. The auction closes in about five days from this posting and the bidding is in the $600 range.

One more: Johnny Griffin Sextet, Riverside 12-264. This looks like an original pressing with the small reels and mic logo and the deep grooves. It also has promo stamps on the cover and label. I don’t remember all the factors that go into making these early Riverside’s original, so I could be missing something? Anyway, this copy is listed as VG++ for the record and VG++ for the cover. Nice looking copy. Bidding starts in the $250 range and so far there is no action. If it were a Blue Note with this personnel in this time frame, who knows what it would be. But it isn’t.

I’ll point out one more from the Carolina Soul/Chick Corea auction: Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019. This is also an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record is listed in VG/VG- condition and the cover is graded as VG+. Bidding is at $325, and the auction closes later today. If you’re interested in cool stuff, bidding or just watching, you should take a look at the full auction by Carolina Soul.

Another big eBay seller, the Jazz Record Center, also has an auction going this week, including Mal Waldron, Mal/2, Prestige 7111.This is an original yellow label pressing with the New York address. The record looks to be in VG++ condition and the cover is probably VG+. Bidding is in the $260 range, with the auction closing on Monday. This one features John Coltrane. I have a Japanese copy, not an original. Could I be a bidder? One never knows.

One more: George Wallington Quintet, The Prestidigitator, East-West 4004. This is an original pressing that looks to be in VG++ for the record and VG++ for the cover. This one features JR Monterose on tenor sax. My dad owned this record and, fortunately, I still have it. He must have bought it in the bargain bin somewhere, probably spent about a dollar or two on the record. Thanks, Dad. Bidding on this one is at $100, with more than a day left on the auction.

The following week, doing my regular posting here at Jazz Collector, I came upon this record: Donald Byrd, Fuego, Blue Note 4026. This was a deep groove pressing with the West 63^rd Street address. I had a copy of Fuego for years. I specifically remember buying it at the Titus Oaks store in Flatbush, Brooklyn. I probably paid five bucks for it, but it was in meh condition at best, with a less-than-meh cover. I’d always vowed to upgrade it if I ever found a suitable replacement for a reasonable price. Yada, yada, yada, 40 years later, no suitable replacement at no reasonable price.

Then, in 2023, I decided to shrink my collection and sold a bunch of records through Carolina Soul Records. One of the criteria I used in deciding which records to sell was this: I went through all of my shelves, and if there were records that were in poor condition that I wouldn’t want to put on my turntable, I would sell them and let some other collector deal with them, even if they were original Blue Notes.  Especially if they were original Blue Notes because, as we’ve all learned, even an unplayable original Blue Note can sell for big bucks. Is there a point in owning the record just to own it even if you’re not going to play it? Please don’t answer the question – it is both rhetorical and existential, and, if you’re taking the time to read this on JazzCollector.com, we all know that the answer is yes.

In any case, that Byrd Fuego had always caused me to cringe when I went past it. Something about the tape on the front cover, the dirt on the back cover, knowing that the record was in poor shape. I put in the pile to sell and felt better immediately that it was off my shelf and out of my collection. But there was a hole where it departed, and I knew that hole had to be filled someday.

Then, I saw this copy on eBay. As I noted in the post (Eric Dolphy Autographs (?), Blue Notes And Other Stuff), I believed the record might sell for a “reasonable” price. The seller had a good reputation, the cover looked really clean and was graded in VG++ condition. Right away, I knew I’d feel much better just looking at that record on the shelf. As for the vinyl’s condition? I wrote at the time that the record looked to be in VG or VG+ condition and probably VG based on the seller’s description. In thinking about bidding on the record, I assumed VG, but was hoping for (expecting?) VG+.

Anyway, I decided to use GIXEN and see what happens. I put in a bid for about $250.  What the heck, it was an original Blue Note with Jackie McLean in his prime, probably a very good record, and if it was in VG+ condition, I would have considered it a bargain. Besides, the whole point in bidding for the record on GIXEN was to serve my starving audience at Jazz Collector with firsthand, on-the-ground, in-the-trenches, personal journalism. Right?

I used GIXEN and forgot all about it. Completely. Until I got a note informing me that I had won the auction at a price of $202.50. Surprise! GIXEN did its job. Now I had to do mine. I paid. The record arrived about a week later, pretty fantastic delivery, considering it came from France during the Christmas season. I finally got around to listening to it yesterday, on my nice system in my living room, with the Linn Sondek record player and the Wilson speakers. The verdict: Well, the seller was accurate. The record looked VG+ or even VG++, but it played at what I would grade VG. Nothing terrible, no big clicks or scratches, just enough surface noise in spots to take it out of the VG+ grade, IMHO. The music itself is good, kind of what you would expect out of a Blute Note from 1959, a little bit of funk, a little bit of blues, all original compositions. I love Jackie, so it’s nice to have a listenable copy of the record again. VG is fine for me. And the VG++ cover. Now, when I look on my shelves through the Donald Byrds, I no longer have to cringe and can just smile, knowing that 40 years later, the hole has been adequately filled. Of course, if I find a cleaner copy, well, need I say more?

The post Back on eBay and Ain’t it Grand first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]> https://jazzcollector.com/uncategorized/back-on-ebay-and-aint-it-grand/feed/ 6 9568 https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/eric-dolphy-autographs-blue-notes-and-other-stuff/ https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/eric-dolphy-autographs-blue-notes-and-other-stuff/#comments Sun, 22 Dec 2024 15:21:09 +0000 https://jazzcollector.com/?p=9539 Now that I am back looking at listings on eBay more regularly, I’m reminded of some of the reasons I was turned off a couple [...]

Now that I am back looking at listings on eBay more regularly, I’m reminded of some of the reasons I was turned off a couple of months back. So many sellers who clearly don’t know what they are doing, asking for ridiculous prices. So many records in poor condition and so many sellers clearly misgrading what they are selling. So many come-ons and promotions from eBay, pointing to other listings that I am not interested in seeing, pointing to sellers who are paying extra money to get additional eyeballs. Anyway, that’s my rant. But I’m still here and I’ve found a few items of interest among all of the other BS. Such as Eric Dolphy, Outward Bound, Prestige New Jazz 8236. This looks to be an original deep-groove pressing with the purple labels. Moreover, it seems to be signed by Eric Dolphy and Jaki Byard. Of course, it would take an expert to determine if the signatures are legitimate (Dan, are you still out there?), but to these untrained eyes, they seem legitimate. The record is graded VG+ and the cover is VG. The record has been listed previously, the current price is about $160, the auction closes in about five days, and the seller’s reserve price has not yet been met. Interesting, because if the item was in mint condition and did not have the autographs, it would likely sell for a higher price. In my experience, autographs don’t always add to the value of the record and, in many cases, they seem to detract, particularly if they are not easily verifiable.

The same seller has another one ostensibly signed by Dolphy: Mal Waldron, The Quest, Prestige New Jazz 8269. This also looks to be an original deep-groove purple label. The record and cover are both listed in VG condition and the bidding is in the $140 range.

Here are a couple of Blue Notes that may sell for “reasonable” prices: Donald Byrd, Fuego, Blue Note 4026. This looks to be an original deep groove pressing with the West 63^rd Street address.  The record looks to be in VG or VG+ condition (probably VG based on the seller’s description) and the cover looks to be VG++, quite clean. Bidding is around $140 and the auction will close in a few hours from whence this post goes live.  Art Blakey, A night at Birdland, Volume 1, Blue Note 1521. This looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in EX condition for both the record and the cover. The cover looks really nice in the picture. Bidding is close to $200 with more than three days left in the auction.

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