Tag: Donald Byrd

Catching Up on Rare Jazz Vinyl

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Let’s catch up on some items we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134.This was an original New York yellow label. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The final price was $1,610. Hank Mobley Quintet, Blue Note 1550. This looked to be an original promo copy with the New York 23 label. The record was listed in VG+ condition and the cover was listed as VG, but the pictures tell a different story for the cover. VG minus would be a stretch. Despite the cover, the record sold for $969. Read more

Blue Note Sunday

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Back to the watchlist grind, starting with Donald Byrd, Byrd in Flight, Blue Note 4048. This looks to be an original mono pressing with the deep grooves, ear, Van Gelder, etc. The record is listed in Ex condition and the cover is VG. The start price is about $900 with eight days left on the auction. According to Popsike, there have been about 10 instances of this record in the $1,000 bin. We’ll see what happens with this VG cover. Another Blue Note: Fred Jackson, Hootin’ ‘N Tootin’, Blue Note 4094. This looks to be an original New York USA pressing, despite what the listing says. The record is listed as VG and the cover as VG+. The start price is $700 and so far there are no bidders, with the auction closing next week. High expectations for both sellers, IMHO, but we’ll see. Read more

More Jazz Vinyl From Europe

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Let’s look at a few more original European pressings, starting with Zoot Sims in Hollywood, Esquire 20-040. This is an original 10-inch version of an original 10-inch U.S. Prestige. The record looks to be in M- condition and the cover looks to be VG++. The bidding starts at about $115 and so far there are no bids. I have to admit – I’ve never seen a copy of this record before, either in person or even on eBay. Can’t beat the cover on this one: Gigi Gryce-Clifford Brown Sextet, Jazz Time Paris, Volume 2, Vogue L.D.E. 048. This is an original French pressing. It takes a while to interpret the seller’s description, but I would say this looks to be in VG- condition for the record and VG for the cover. The start price is $100 and so far there are no bidders. The auction closes tomorrow. Read more

Transitioning Back with Rare Jazz Vinyl

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Let’s celebrate our return with a look at random rare jazz vinyl on eBay, marking the transition back to Jazz Collector with some records from Transition: Doug Watkins, Watkins at Large, Transition TRLP-20. This looks to be an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. There is no mention of the booklet, and no pictures of the booklet, so my expectation is that there would be no booklet, making this particular copy incomplete. So far there is one bid at $750, with the auction closing in a couple of days. Whilst Transitioning, here is a new one to me: Donald Byrd Sextet, Transition 5. This looks to be a limited edition numbered reissue, and it seems to include the booklet as well. Looks pretty cool, if you are into numbered reissues. This is part of the Sam Records Artisan Series, number 138 out of 300. Since I don’t follow the reissues market as closely as original pressings, perhaps someone can enlighten us about this record and this series. Read more

Prestiges and Transitions and Booklets and Speculation

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Perusing eBay and came upon this record: Wardell Gray Memorial Album, Volume One, Prestige 7008. This is an early New York yellow label pressing with the second cover. The cover has a cutout hole in the center. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG+. Start price is $350 with no bidders and plenty of time left on the auction. What strikes me about this is why Prestige changed covers so early and often in the early years. Off the top of my head, I can think of a bunch of similar situations: Sonny Rollins Plus Four,  John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, All Day Long, all come to mind. I know the cynical answer is they did it to make money, but how? Were they also experimenting to see what would sell better? Perhaps covers with innocuous photos such as this Wardell record, versus a picture of a black artist? Perhaps a careless buyer would buy both copies? Perhaps they envisioned a time in the far off future when they could drive collectors crazy with questions like this? I have raised this question before and Rudolf has been helpful in sharing his insight. Any other thoughts? Read more

Guest Column: Digging Vinyl in Portland

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I recently received a note from a reader who asked to write a short post, so here it is, from Stuart Levine.

I moved to Portland, Oregon a week ago and have spent every day but one (Record Store Day; I don’t like crowds) hitting the local record shops. The first one was Jackpot Records, where I had anything but good luck. You see, there was a pristine copy of “My Favorite Things,” but it was on hold for another customer. That led me up the street to Exiled Records and things began to improve. I found an original 1971 Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On.” That’s no easy feat, considering the fact that Rolling Stone had named it the top album of all time. Oh, and it’s VG (not a beater) and plays through. Read more

Hot and Heavy

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Here are some jazz vinyl auctions we are watching this week, starting with a couple of heavy hitters: Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This is an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is in the $800 range with more than six days left on the auction. Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record looks to be in VG++ condition and the cover is probably VG+. The current price is $2,995. There is one bidder and five-plus days left on the auction as of this writing. Last week we saw a copy sell for more than $8,000 (WOW). Read more

Another Pretty Nice Batch of Sides

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As I’ve been perusing eBay since my return from vacation, I’ve been randomly filling my watch list with items to write about for Jazz Collector. And as I’ve been doing that, I am finding that most of the records I’m saving this week have a common seller, which would be Carolina Soul.  I’m a little bit in awe, and a little bit in envy, of the huge collection of Blue Notes, Prestiges and others they have up for auction this week. Not sure if the awe/envy is about the money that will be coming their way in just one week’s worth of auctions, or if it’s the fact that they seem to have a virtually endless supply of interesting/collectible jazz records. Anyway, here are some of the items in my queue, starting with Thad Jones, After Hours With the Prestige All-Stars, Prestige 7118. This one caught my eye because of the cover: I have a copy of this record with the New York yellow label and a different cover. My cover has a generic picture of a city nightscape. This cover, as you see, has a picture of Thad and (I think) Frank Wess. With Prestige it’s challenging to figure out which cover came out first and why they would change it so quickly after the initial release of the record. If I were to guess, I would say the cover I have would be the first cover, but that is just a guess. The reason is that the orange cover has The Prestige All-Starts underlined and that strikes me as an idea that a marketing person would come up with as a way to boost sales by making a slight adjustment to an existing product. In my real job, I spend way too much time talking to marketing people, so I could be completely wrong. Rudolf will know for sure which was first, as will others out there in Jazz Collector World. Anyway, this copy is probably in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. Bidding is in the $125 range, with four days left on the auction. Read more

Jazz Collectors’ Items

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My eBay watch list is filled with Blue Notes and Prestiges today. Gee, what a surprise. Let’s start with Miles Davis, Collectors’ Items, Prestige 7044. This looks to be an original New York yellow label pressing, listed as M- for the record and EX for the cover. The auction closes in about a day and the bidding is in the $320 range. From the same seller is Miles Davis and Milt Jackson, Quintet/Sextet, Prestige 7034. I never really noticed that Milt Jackson was listed as a co-leader until I started typing this post. Miles in big letters and the cover picture, Bags not quite as prominent. I wonder why Jackson was even mentioned on the front cover in that it is clearly a Miles section. Perhaps this was a time when the Modern Jazz Quartet was getting some buzz in the market? Anyway, this is another one listed in M- condition for the record. The cover also looks M-. Bidding is in the $135 range and the auction closes in about a day. Read more

Filling Up the $1,000 Bin

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Catching up on the eBay jazz vinyl watch list. Let’s start with one that was sent to me by Japhy: Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. This was an original deep-groove. West 63rd Street mono. The record and the cover were both in VG++ condition. The final price was $1,650. Japhy’s note was titled “Swinging for the fences,” and he did my homework for me: “A new high of $1,650 for Jackie McLean Swing, Swang, Swingin’ in reported VG++/VG++ condition. Prior high was $1,283 back in 2005.” Speaking of “Swingin’” new highs, we were watching this one the other day: Read more

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