Jackie McLean, Swing, Swang, Swingin’, Blue Note 4024. This is an original pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The price is $1,000.

I thought this one my be reasonable, until I looked more closely at the listing: Helen Merrill, Emarcy 36006. The seller has it listed as a “first edition” in Ex+ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. We’ve seen this record in the $1,000 bin many times, so the $599 price seemed all right. But the back cover does not have the blue writing, so it is not a first press.

And here’s a beauty that I can’t imagine will sell at the asking price:

Walter Davis Jr., Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. This is an original pressing, probably in VG++ or maybe M-  condition for both the record and the cover. The price is $2,999.99. At least there’s free shipping.

Donald Byrd, Off To The Races, Blue Note 4007. This looks to be an original pressing. The picture shows a West 63rd Street address on the label, but it shows only one side. Also, the seller doesn’t actually grade the condition of the record, but, based on his description, it looks to be at least VG+, perhaps better. So maybe this will be a bargain for someone. It is now priced at $33.76.  In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve monitored this record at around $125 in this condition and as high as $344 in M- condition. 

We’ve always like the cover of this next one, with a caveat:

Lester Young and Paul Quinichette, Pres Meets Vice-Pres, Emarcy 26021. This is a 10-inch LP. The caveat I have is that it is quite misleading — Pres and Quinichette don’t actually play together. The LP is just a compilation of 78s, with Pres on one side and Quinichette on the other. It would have been great to have a recording of them actually playing together, but I don’t think that exists. Anyway, this record is marginal as a collectible. This one seems to be in nice condition and is priced now at $17.

Another potential bargain is: Babs Gonzales, Tales of Manhattan, Jaro JAM 5000. This looks to be an original pressing in VG+ condition, both cover and vinyl. The current price is $10.49. In the Jazz Collector Price Guide, we’ve seen this sell for anywhere between $75 and $150.

We also have a couple of interesting autographed items — one by Herbie Mann, Flute Fraternity, Mode 114. and another by Maynard Ferguson, Boy With Lots of Brass, Emarcy 36114.  I especially like the Ferguson autograph because it was signed and dated from New Year’s Even 1958 at the Cork ‘N Bib. The Cork ‘N Bib was one of the few jazz clubs on Long Island. My parents used to go there all the time. I remember one time from the early 1960s, my parents came home from the club with an autograph from Maury Wills, the shortstop from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was obviously there enjoying some jazz. A nice memory.

Time to catch up on some of the items we’ve been watching on eBay the past few days. Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134, finally sold yesterday for $850. It was like an expensive suit that kept getting marked down. First it was on last week for a start price of $1,100, then this week was on for a Buy it Now price of $950. Last year, as we mentioned before, a nice copy of the same LP sold for $2,414. At $850, the Flanagan LP wasn’t even the highest priced item to sell so far this week. That honor, at least among the items we’ve been watching, goes to a copy of Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568, which went for $1,300. Over the weekend, a copy of Cliff Jordan, Blue Note 1565, sold for $1,402.

We don’t only look at the Blue Notes or the other high ticket items on eBay. We’re constantly looking for bargains as well. Lately, however, we haven’t been able to find any.  Case in point: Here are the sale prices of the other items we mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter:

Jackie McLean, Capuchin Swing, Blue Note 4038, in M-/M- condition. Price: $365. 

Jackie McLean, Bluesnik, Blue Note 4067, in M-/M- condition. Price: $200. If you missed out on this copy, another copy in worse condition is up for auction later today.

Marty Paich Quartet with Art Pepper, Tampa 28, with red vinyl in VG++/M- condition. Price $560.99

The other item we mentioned was Art Blakey Big Band, Bethlehem 6027. This doesn’t close till later today.

Collector Q+A

Q. I own the LP Georgie Auld in the Land of Hi Fi on the Emarcy label. The liner notes don’t list the musicians. Could you please tell me who plays on this album?

A. Yes. The trumpet players are Maynard Ferguson, Conrad Gozzo, Mannie Klein and Ray Linn; the sax players are Willie Schwartz, Ted Nash, Babe Russin and Chuck Genry; the trombone players are Tommy Pederson, Frank Rosolino and Si Zentner; the pianist is Arnold Ross; the guitarists are Al Hendrickson and Barney Kessel; the bassists are Joe Mondragon and JoeComfort; the drummer is Alvin Stoller. The source of this information is The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord, Version 3.3. If you’re a serious collector, the CD-ROM version is definitely a worthwhile tool.

That’s it for today. We will do another update on the Website tomorrow, then a newsletter on Friday, when we will give away another item. We’re still looking through our stuff to figure out what would be a fun give-away. Remember to check our Price Guide and Latest Prices to keep up on pricing trends on eBay and to use our Forums to ask questions of other collectors and to post want lists or even sell items. See you tomorrow. — Al

Since I wrote about collecting autographs recently, I’ve been keeping a watch on eBay for autographed LPs and other items. Generally, my theory holds that, with some notable exceptions, autographs don’t dramatically increase the worth of a collectible. Here’s a case in point: A few weeks ago an autographed copy of the Barry Galbraith LP Guitar in the Wind, Decca 9200, sold on eBay for $41 in VG condition, not much more than what a non-autographed copy might sell for.

 But, then again, there are the exceptions. How about this one: An original copy of the Clifford Brown and Max Roach LP Study in Brown, Emarcy 36037, autographed by Clifford. When you consider that Clifford died in 1956, this is a pretty rare item.  The record and label were in VG condition. Normally, it would go for around $20. With the autograph it sold for $648.

 There were some surprises on eBay over the weekend. As we pointed out last week, a mint copy of Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134 was available for a start price of $1,100. We were curious how high the bidding might go, given that a similar copy sold for $2,414 last year. Well, guess what? It didn’t sell at all. No bids. Not only that, the same dealer also had mint copies of the following records that didn’t sell: Ray Bryant Trio, Prestige 7098, start price of $950; Elmo Hope Trio, Prestige 7010, start price of $950; George Wallington Quintet at the Café Bohemia, Progressive PLP 1001, start price of $1,100. The only record this dealer sold this weekend was a copy of Lawrence Marable Tenorman, Jazz West JWLP-8, which went for $585.75. I have to be honest: I’ve never even seen this record in 35 years of collecting.  

It’ll be interesting to keep an eye out on what happens with other items he has listed this week, including two Clifford Jordan Blue Notes, as well as the Flanagan relisted at $850 with a buy-it-now price of $950. I’m tempted to go for $950, but in the interest of my marriage I’m going to exercise restraint. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the record is gone by the time most of you read this. It is one of the rarest of jazz collectibles and it has sold for much more in the past

 We spent a good part of the weekend at the WFMU Spring Record and CD Fair in New York. We’ll give you a report tomorrow. Friday will be give-away day. We’ll look through our stuff and try to come up with something interesting and fun. Right now we’re listening to a nice copy of Miles Davis, The Musings of Miles, Prestige 7007. It’s a New Jersey pressing, but it’s very clean. Our New York pressing is not nearly as clean, so we’ll be putting it up on eBay soon. We’ll let you know when it gets posted. See you tomorrow. — Al 

More eBay watching today. Here are some of the items and dealers we’re keeping an eye on for you:

 Billie Holiday at Jazz At the Philharmonic, Clef 169. This is a 10-inch LP with the beautiful illustration on the cover that is either by David Stone Martin or Andy Warhol. We looked in our price guide for earlier mint copies of this LP and it sold twice recently, for $610 and $325. This copy is also near mint and was only in the $70 range as we posted this.

Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 1, Blue Note 1596. This one does have an Andy Warhol cover. The cover is VG++, but the record is only VG. We’ve had it in better condition on our Price Guide and it has sold for $250 and $438. In addition to this LP, the dealer, Atomic_Records, has some other nice items on eBay, so you might want to do a search of “View Seller’s Other Items.”

Another dealer with nice items currently on eBay is Jazz5060. Here’s another Kenny Burrell Blue Note:

Kenny Burrell Live at the Five Spot, Blue Note 4021. This one looks to be in nice condition, not quite mint minus, but pretty close.  In our Price Guide, we’ve seen copies sell for $114 to $275. This one was already priced at nearly $230 as we posted this and it still hadn’t met the reserve price.

The dealer JBLD44000 is also back with some high-ticket items, including this one:

Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume 2, Blue Note 1516. This copy is listed in M-/M- condition. We haven’t seen this one in our Price Guide yet, so this copy will help fill out the Blue Notes. As we posted this, the price was $620.

And here are the results of some of the auctions we were watching yesterday:

This first one is also from Jazz5060

Benny Green, Walking Down, Prestige 7049, in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $338

Wynton Kelly, Kelly At Midnite, VeeJay 3011. This was a promo copy with the white label and was in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $147.95.

Finally, here’s a 10-inch LP with a nice looking cover:

Ben Webster, The Big Tenor, Emarcy 26006. Price: $103.50

That’s it for today. Keep checking Price Guide and Latest Prices for an ongoing look at the eBay market. We’ll see you tomorrow. — Al

Back from another weekend away, so it’s time to see what happened on eBay the past few days. We were watching auctions from a group of dealers that had some amazing records. Here are some of the dealers and their wares. You can do a general eBay search on completed items for any of these dealers to see more.

Here are items sold by the dealer Jazz5060. This dealer also has a bunch of great records for auction now.

Charlie Persip, Jazz Statesman, Bethlehem 6046, in M-/M- condition. Price: $157.50

 Walter Benton Quintet, Out of this World, Jazzland 28, in M-/M- condition. Price: $449

 Zoot Sims, Stretchin’ Out, United Artists 4023. This was a promo copy in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $460

 Freddie Hubbard, Goin’ Up, Blue Note 4056, in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $349.95

 The Return of Howard McGhee, Bethlehem 42 in M-/M- condition. Price: $676

Here are some items sold by the seller Recordsfever:

Kenny Drew, Undercurrent, Blue Note 4059, in M-/M- condition. Price: $388.30

Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578, in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $310

Lou Donaldson, LD&3, Blue Note 4012, in M-/M- condition. Price: $210.50

Freddie Hubbard, Hub Cap, Blue Note 4073, in M-/M- condition. Price: $240.50

Here are some items from the seller Dirtcup.

Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington, Riverside 201. This was with the original cover and the original white label in M- condition. You rarely see it with this cover and hardly ever in this type of condition. Price: $420

Kenny Burrell and Frank Foster, All Day Long, Prestige 7081 in M-/M- condition. Price: $400.50

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, A Night at Birdland Volume One, Blue Note 1521, with the original cover in M-/M- condition. Price:  $414

Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040, in M-/M- condition. Price: $1,065

Miles Davis Volume Two, Blue Note 1502 in M-/M- condition. Price: $356

Here are some from the seller AnthonyPearson:

Clifford Brown and Max Roach, A Study in Brown, Emarcy 36037, in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $503

Art Farmer Quintet with Gigi Gryce, Prestige 7017, in VG++/VG++ condition. Price: $139.50

The Dual Role of Bob Brookmeyer, Prestige 7066, in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $71.26

Dexter Gordon, Dexter Blows Hot and Cool, Dootone 207 in VG++/VG++ condition. Price: $960

These are from the seller Hithere757:

Hank Mobley, Hank, Blue Note 1560, in VG+/VG++ condition. Price: $374

Cliff Jordan, Blue Note 1565, in VG++/VG++ condition. Price: $975

Duke Jordan, Flight To Jordan, Blue Note 4046, in VG++/VG++ condition. Price: $666

Louis Smith, Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584 in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $533

Here are a couple of more nice ones for relatively reasonable prices:

Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4032, in M-/VG+ condition. Price: $141.49

Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068, in VG+/VG++ condition. Price: $256.50

We’ll spend some time today looking ahead on eBay for some interesting items this week. Check out Jazzcollector.com tomorrow for an update. See you then. — Al

As we go through records preparing to sell them on eBay, we always seem to find a few that fail to list the accompanying musicians. When this happens, we go through our source material to try to fill in the blanks. Among the resources we use most often are The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord, which we have on CD-ROM; various Internet sites, such as The All Music Guide; plus several discographies we have in our collection, including those for Blue Note, Savoy, Prestige, Verve, Clef and Norgran.

Whenever we find this information we will post it on the Website. So here are some of our recent findings:

Billie Holiday, Songs for Distingue Lovers, Verve 8257

Sweets Edison, Ben Webster, Jimmy Rowles, Barney Kessel, Red Mitchell, Alvin Stoller

 Georgie Auld in the Land of Hi Fi, Emarcy 36060

The trumpet players are Maynard Ferguson, Conrad Gozzo, Mannie Klein and Ray Linn; the sax players are Willie Schwartz, Ted Nash, Babe Russin and Chuck Genry; the trombone players are Tommy Pederson, Frank Rosolino and Si Zentner; the pianist is Arnold Ross; the guitarists are Al Hendrickson and Barney Kessel; the bassists are Joe Mondragon and JoeComfort; the drummer is Alvin Stoller. The source of this information is The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord, Version 3.3. If you’re a serious collector, the CD-ROM version is definitely a worthwhile tool.

 Taft Jordan, The Moods of Taft Jordan, Mercury MG 20429

The album consists of Jordan backed by a quartet as well as an orchestra. The names of the orchestra members are probably lost forever. The quartet consisted of Everett Barksdale on guitar; Dave Martin on piano; Joe Benjamin on bass; and Chink Martin on drums. The session was recorded in 1958 and at this point is not available on CD.

Tony Scott, The Touch of Tony Scott, RCA 1353

The album was recorded by three different bands on three dates in 1956. First was the orchestra on July 3. It consisted of Jimmy Maxwell, Jimmy Nottingham, Idrees Sulieman and Joe Wilder on trumpets; Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green, Rex Peer and Bart Varsala on trombones; Gigi Gryce, Sam Marowitz, Seldon Powell, Zoot Sims and Danny Bank on reeds; Bill Evans on piano; Mundell Lowe on guitar; Milt Hinton on bass and Osie Johnson on drums. Scott played clarinet. The tentette was recorded on July 5, 1956 (they took a holiday on July 4). It consisted of John Carisi and Joe Wilder on trumpets; Cleveland and Green on trombones; Bank on sax; Evans on piano; Barry Galbraith on guitar; Hinton and Johnson. The quartet was recorded July 6, 1956. It consisted of Scott on clarinet; Evans on piano; Les Grinage on bass and Lennie McBrowne on drums.

 That’s it for today. We’ll be back on the Web tomorrow and with our next newsletter on Friday. See you then. — Al

My friend Dan called the other day. He’d just bought a copy of “Slim’s Jam”, the original 78 on the Bel-Tone label, featuring one of Charlie Parker’s early recorded solos recorded in December 1945 when he was in Los Angeles. Dan paid 40 bucks on eBay for the 78. I don’t have a copy of the 78, but I do have the cut on the original Savoy 12-inch LP, The Genius of Charlie Parker, Savoy MG-12014, so I put it on. This is a classic, of course, featuring Slim Gaillard introducing each of the musicians in his own inimitable style: “Here comes Zutty in the door with his brushes . . . This is a fun, Jack McVouty and his tenor.” And, inevitably, “Charlie Yardbirdaroonee,” who, as we soon learn, was “ havin’ a little reed trouble.”

 You’ll never know there was any trouble when you listen to Bird’s solo. It’s very soulful and almost out of context, it’s so far ahead of its time. Click here to enjoy and, remember, this was 1945.

            A few interesting items coming up in the next few days. While we can’t vouch for the dealers, here are some collectibles you might be interested in:

            Sal Nistico, Heavyweights, Jazzland 966. Closes Thursday, March 5 at 5:29 p.m. PST.  Nistico was an underrated tenor player and this LP has a great supporting cast, including Nat Adderley, Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Walter Perkins. Last we looked there were no bidders and the starting price was $9.99. This dealer has a lot of good stuff up now.

            Horace Silver, Finger Poppin’, Blue Note 4008. Closes Thursday, March 5 at 7:45 p.m. PST.  This is an original pressing that looks pretty clean, rated VG+. Price was up to $86 last time we looked, so it’s already pretty high.

            Tina Brooks, The Complete Blue Note on Mosaic. Closes Saturday, March 6 at 8:40 a.m. PST. Start price is $100 and there were no bidders when we looked. This is long out of print and, as we’ve seen with the Mosaics, they only seem to go up in value — not to mention that the music is pretty terrific as well.

            Introducing Joe Gordon on Emarcy. Closes Saturday, March 6 at 2:34 a.m. PST. This is an original Emarcy with the drummer label that looks to be in nice condition. Start price was $14.99 with no bids.

            Sarah Vaughan in the Land of Hi Fi, Emarcy 36058. Closes Saturday, March 6 at 5:30 a.m. PST. This is an original pressing that looks to be in great shape. Price is high at $39.99, but it’s not often you get a record this old and this clean. Plus it’s got some great soloing by Cannonball Adderley to back up Sarah. A great record if you don’t have it.

            Some recent prices of collectibles on eBay:

            Cannonball Adderley, Presenting Cannonball, Savoy. Original. VG++ Condition. Price: $89.88.

            Charlie Parker, Bird and Diz, 10-inch Clef MG C-512. Record and cover were VG+. Price: $100.

            Ken McIntyre with Eric Dolphy, Looking Ahead, Prestige New Jazz 8247. Cover was rated VG++, record was M-/VG++. Price was $37.51, but it did not meet the seller’s reserve.

            Horace Siler, Silver’s Blue, Epic 3326. This was a white promo label in VG+ condition. Price: $92.99.

            For Sale: The Jimmy Giuffre 3, Trav’lin’ Light, Atlantic 1282.

            This is a stereo LP with the red and purple label. Cover has a small cutout hole on the upper left. Record is in VG+ condition, has occasional light surface noise. Cover is VG++, with seams intact and a nice shine on the front.

            Unusual instrumentation on this LP with no bass and no drums, just Jim Hall on guitar, Bob Brookmeyer on trombone and Giuffre on clarinet, tenor sax or baritone sax. As you would expect, it’s a soft, thoughtful record, with a lot of interesting interplay among the musicians.  It was recorded in 1958 and features, among other tracks, the tune 42^nd Street, which was not done often as a jazz number. The album received four stars in the All Music Guide

            Here’s an interesting tidbit from the liner notes by Nat Hentoff, with Giuffre explaining why he chose to name the album after the song “Trave’lin’ Light.”

            “Because we’re traveling around the country in a light Volkswagen bus and we have a light trio (no drums, piano or bass).”

            This album is available on CD but, for some reason, was packaged with a set by Mabel Mercer, of all people. We, of course, prefer the original LP. Don’t know if the CD package includes the original liner notes. Maybe one of our readers can tell us.

            Anyway, this LP is offered for $10, plus shipping, to subscribers only. We have one copy so if you’re interested send an email to rhett@jazzcollector.com and we’ll make you eligible to buy it. We’ll conduct a drawing and announce the results in two days. Shipping for the LP is $3.50 in the U.S.; $12 to Europe and $15 to Asia.

Question For The Day

            Q: Which Duke Ellington classic made its debut under the title “Subtle Slough.”

            Answer tomorrow.

            Answer to yesterday’s question.

            Q. Which hard bop bassist went by the nickname “Home?”

A. Sam Jones, the long-time bassist with Cannonball Adderley.

Source: Liner notes to the Jones LP The Soul Society, Riverside 324. This from Cannonball, who wrote the notes:

            “’Home,’ as he is affectionately known to his friends, was tagged with that name in much the same way as Lester Young became known as ‘Pres’ – for Sam refers to everyone else as ‘Home!’”

Bonus: Here’s another interesting tidbit from those liner notes, this from Jones himself: “I never heard Jimmy Blanton in person, but his record of “Jack The Bear” with Duke Ellington influenced my direction more than any other bass performance.”

Last Chorus

That’s all for today, folks. We do this five days a week, offering new items for sale every single day exclusively to subscribers. For more information about what we do and how to subscribe, please come to Jazzcollector.com or send me a note at al@jazzcollector.com. Also, please remember that, like you, we are fans and collectors. We don’t purport to own all the knowledge and expertise about jazz and jazz collecting, so if you see mistakes, have suggestions or would like to contribute to our efforts, please let us know. Email is always the best way to stay in touch. See you tomorrow. — al