For What It’s Worth (Or More)

freddie hubbardI’m way, way behind on my posting. Let me catch up on a little on some of the items I was watching, and then we can move forward with some new stuff. Sorry about that. Promise not to wait that long between posts anymore.

Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. This was an original West 63rd pressing listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,136.22.

Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. This one sold for $1,555. As many of you may recall, I recently purchased a copy of this in the Baltimore collection. I have been going through this weird process of putting a label on each of my records, describing the condition, whether it is an original and assigning a value to it. Why am I doing this? Well, if I were to die suddenly, it would prevent my kids from getting ripped off. Anyway, for my copy of this record, in M- condition for both the record and the cover. I had put in $1,000. Perhaps it’s time to make an adjustment.

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Four Blue Notes For the $1,000 Bin

Goin' Up -- That's for sure

                    Goin’ Up — That’s for sure

Let’s look at some rare records that we may have missed on eBay:

Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,250. That’s not quite the highest price we’ve ever recorded for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but it’s definitely up there.

This one got a lot of mentions in the comments, but I wanted to point to it specifically in a post so anyone doing a search can easily find it: Freddie Hubbard, Goin’ Up, Blue Note 4056. This was an original pressing that seemed to be in VG+ or better condition for the record and M- for the cover. It sold for, ahem, $1,259. Whenever I’ve thought of this record I’ve thought of it as Goin’ Up, Up, Up based on the front cover, but that’s just a design element, isn’t it? Took me a while to figure that out.

John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an original pressing in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Despite the condition, it still sold for $1,113.

Not sure how this one slipped by us from a couple of months ago: Read more

Two for the $1,000 Bin, Two for The Watch List

A couple of albums we were watching this weekend broke into the $1,000 bin: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. This was an original pressing listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $1,150. Also, Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This was a West 63rd Street pressing without the New York 23, which I think is an original, contrary to my previous post. This one was from the same seller and was also listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $1,202.

Here are a few we’re watching now: The Dual Role of Bob Brookmeyer, Prestige 7066. I’m trying to see if there’s something wrong with this one. It looks like an original New York yellow label pressing and it seems to be in pretty nice shape, at least VG+ for both the record and the cover. The auction closes tomorrow and the bidding is only at $30, which seems kind of low for an original Prestige in the early part of the 7000 series. Is there so little interest in Brookmeyer? I mean, Moondog Prestige  records sell for a lot more than Brookmeyer records, it seems.

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Now Hear Thi$$$$$

Sorry to disappoint so many of you who sent me advice and good wishes, but I spent two days in Los Angeles and did not visit a single record store. I did go to the pier at Santa Monica, where the sights were lovely, and I did attend my first baseball game at Dodger Stadium. Perhaps next time the allure of jazz vinyl will be too compelling to pass up. I also apologize once again for the infrequency of my posts. Now that I am back home again and off the road, I will try to be more consistent in meeting my normal objective of at least one post a day. While I was gone, CeeDee was vigilantly watching eBay and sent me a note with a “did you see thi$$$$$” subject matter. The object of thi$$$$ email was: Freddie Hubbard, Hub-Tones, Blue Note 4115. This looked to be an original New York pressing in what looked to be VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $602.25 and CeeDee was obviously quite surprised. To me, this is the new normal. Watching eBay prices soar over the years and, in particular, watching the increasing prices of records in the 4100 series, it is only a matter of time before records such as this start approaching the $1,000 mark. There’s a limited number of these original pressings in nice condition and collectors want them.

A Jazz Vinyl Quartet

Very busy with real work this week, but there’s always time to take a look at eBay for interesting jazz vinyl. Here’s some of the records we’re watching, starting with: Introducing Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1523. This looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in VG+ condition,. The start price is around $250 and so far there are no bidders. You’d think there would be bidding for an original Lexington Avenue pressing at $250: Perhaps it’s condition. The seller mentions “minimal light surface noise” and states “No Skips!” with an exclamation point. I think it’s the NO SKIPS PLUS EXCLAMATION POINT that would have me worried as a bidder. The least you’d expect out of a VG+ record is no skips, right? This one is from the same seller, also has the NO SKIPS! in the listing and also has no bidders: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. This one is listed as VG+++ condition for the vinyl and G for the cover. The start price is around $650.

Atomic Records has some nice vinyl on eBay this week, including:

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Catching Up On Some Rare Jazz Vinyl

Here’s an update on some jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay:

Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Interesting, isn’t it, that we’re no longer surprised when VG+ records sell for more than $1,000. This one fetched a price of $1,009. Interesting to look at the cover of this record, given most of the covers that Blue Note was producing at the time, usually featuring some kind of picture of the artist. Simple graphic of a red suitcase and not sure what that has to do with Peckin’ Time or Mobley. There are also no pictures on the back cover. A little bit strange, no? I wonder if there is a story behind the cover?

Here’s another one that broke into the $1,000 bin: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. This looked to be an original pressing, although the seller put in the wrong catalog number. It was listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and Ex for the cover, which I still take to mean around VG+, although it could be better. This one sold for the same price as the other, $1,009.

I seem to be a bit focused on $1,000 Blue Notes today. Here’s another:

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Rare Jazz Vinyl, Some With Autographs

Sorry for taking such a long break over the Memorial Day weekend. But we are back to our post at Jazz Collector and ready to begin posting regularly again, starting with a catch-up of items we were watching last week on eBay.

First there was that copy of Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants, Prestige 7150, that was autographed by Miles, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. It was offered by the Jazz Record Center so there was some level of credibility attached to the autographs, although the listing didn’t say anything about independent verification. The price for this was $4,305. It’s certainly a one-of-a-kind item, so there is probably no price too high to have surprised us. This seems pretty reasonable for such a rare item. Here are a couple more from the same auction: Art Pepper, Intensity, Contemporary 3607. This was not only signed by Art Pepper, he also put the date and his home address with the signature. The record and cover both looked to be in M- condition. This one sold for $150.27. This one was not signed: Johnny Hodges, In a Tender Mood, Norgran 1059. This was an original yellow label pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $161.50. I was watching this because I like to keep an eye on the original Norgrans, just to see that there is still a collector’s market for them, since they really reflect artists mostly from the pre-bop era, with a few exceptions, of course. This one also has that weird kind of cover from the era, with a picture of a white woman as the sole image on the picture of an album by a black male artists. Is it really possible that

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Tracking Some Rare Beauties on eBay

Couple of interesting jazz vinyl auctions taking place now from sellers who would be quite familiar to the Jazz Collector audience. First up is collossus3: He’s the one who had access to the Leon Leavitt vault and was, he says, able to pick and choose the best copy of each of the rare records. Among those rare records now available on eBay are: Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. This is an original pressing and it is described as being in pristine condition, M- all the way fro the record and the cover.  There is a reserve price, which of course is undisclosed, as well as a buy-it-now price of $2,500. So far the bidding has not yet hit the reserve price and is in the $250 range. We’ve seen this record sell for as much as $1,500 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, so we’d certainly expect the bidding to top $1,000 at some point. Whether that will be enough to hit the reserve price, we’ll see, assuming no one gobbles it up at $2,500. From the same seller comes Horace Silver, Six Pieces of Silver, Blue Note 1539. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the flat edge. It is not only described as being in extraordinary immaculate condition, the vinyl even has  a”jewel-like” finish. Gotta love it. In any case, this one is still under $200 with a couple of days left on the bidding and it hasn’t reached the reserve price either.

The other interesting auction we’re watching is from the seller Sweedeedee from Stockholm, who often has nice pieces for sale on eBay. This week some of his listings include:

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Updating the $1,000 Bin, Thanks To JRC

As I’m catching up on the eBay action I’ve been missing the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that the Jazz Record Center recently made quite a large contribution to the $1,000 bin. Here are some of the choice items, all Blue Notes:

Lee Morgan, Candy, Blue Note 1590. This was an original pressing that looked to be in new, pristine condition. It sold for $2,905.55.

Jutta Hipp With Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was an original pressing. The vinyl appeared to be in new near-mint condition, while the cover had a few minor issues, perhaps VG++. The price was $1,954.49.

Hank Mobley, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. This was an original pressing that also looked to be in near mint condition. The price was $1,580. Where does he find these records in such immaculate condition?

There was also this: Paul Chambers Quintet, Blue Note 1564. This was

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For the $1,000 Bin: Griffin, JJ, Hubbard

It’s been a while since we’ve updated the $1,000, and there are, as expected, a few new entries. Here goes:

Introducing Johnny Griffin, Blue Note 1533. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was listed in M-, pristine condition. The price: $2,651.01.

Also from the same seller were these: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 1, Blue Note 1505. This was also an original Lexington Avenue pressing and it was also in pristine condition. It sold for $1,507, which is way more than we’ve ever recorded in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. In fact, our previous high price for any JJ Johnson record was less than $400. There there was: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume 2, Blue Note 1506. This was

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