This week’s theme: Jackie McLean on Prestige. Featured artists include Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Art Taylor, Donald Byrd, Bill Hartman, Mal Waldron, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Red Garland, Arthur Phipps, Wade Legge, Doug Watkins.
This week’s theme: Horace Silver, Part Two, the quintets. Featured artists include Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Doug Watkins, Art Blakey, Louis Hayes, Joe Henderson, Carmel Jones, Roy Brooks, Junior Cook, Blue Mitchell.
Today’s theme: Horace Silver, Part One. Featured musicians include Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Hank Mobley, Curley Russell, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Doug Watkins, Jimmy Raney, Roy Haynes, Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Louis Smith, Blue Mitchell.
Speaking of playing favorites, the other night I had a little time to do some mindful listening, so I put on one of my all-timers, Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038, original pressing, original cover, as seen in the accompanying photo. As I’m listening, I’m picturing the musicians in Van Gelder’s studio playing live, looking at one another and giving signals and approvals, all young men in their primes discovering what they were capable of doing and, on this album, doing it as well as anyone ever did it. Then I put on a record I haven’t listened to nearly as often as Sonny Rollins Plus Four, which was Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001, and I had the same picture in my head with the four musicians on that album, Sonny, Wynton Kelly, Doug Watkins and Philly Joe Jones. And then my mind started wandering and this is what I thought. Read more
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
Catching up on a few jazz vinyl sales from the recent auction by Carolinasoul, starting with Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $3,000. Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was an original purple label mono with deep grooves. The record was VG and the cover as VG+. The final price was $1,598. Doug Watkins, Watkins at Large, Transition 20. This was an original pressing with the booklet. The record and cover were VG. The final price was $1,415. Read more
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
I’d like to get back to some of the records we were watching, starting with Duke Jordan, Flight to Jordan, Blue Note 4046. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing that was in VG+ or better condition for the record, and probably around VG++ for the cover. When we looked at it the bidding was in the $300 range and we were surprised it was that low, expecting it to eventually end up at or near the $1,000 bin. It did, selling for $960. So what may have seemed like an aberration, was just a product of later bidding, which has been de rigueur on eBay for many years, so no surprises. Same with this one: Doug Watkins at Large, Transition 20. This was an original pressing with the booklet. The record, cover and booklet were all in about VG+ condition. The bidding came in late, but about as expected, with the record selling for $809.
The seller Bullsite2000 has several interesting auctions closing today. I’m surprised at some of the bidding — at both levels, some higher than expected, some lower than expected. For example, Stan Getz, More West Coast Jazz, Norgran 1088. This is an original yellow label pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding has reached nearly $200, which is more than you would typically see for this record, which has never seemed to be one of the Getz records that has been particularly coveted by collectors. The seller took some nice pictures, and the condition does look pretty flawless, so there’s that. Then again there is Read more
Here are a variety of jazz records from my eBay watch list, as I still get back into the swing of things following my trip to Italy and subsequent return to reality. Let’s start with Doug Watkins at Large, Transition 20. This was an original pressing that looked to be in absolutely pristine condition, including the record, cover and booklet. Even the labels seemed to be intact. Potential bidders probably assumed, and probably correctly, that this may be the cleanest version of this record to come on the market some 60 years after its original release. So it sold for a whopping $3,161.
While I’m looking at whopping prices, here’s another: Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This was an original pressing with the deep grooves, ears, West 63rd address, etc. It was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,750.
And then there are some records that don’t sell at all, or sell for relatively low prices. To wit:
