Needless to say, I did not bid on that copy of Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. I was convinced that there was enough difference of opinion on the cover to avoid taking the risk. In any case, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have bid enough to win the record anyway. The final price was $1,624, and who knows how much higher the winning bidder actually bid. Perhaps if it had been a mint copy, but I’m guessing that mint copies will now only be available in the $2,000 or even $3,000 bin. In any case, time to move on. The Jazz Record Center has a copy of Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. This is an original pressing. The record looks to be in VG++ condition and the cover probably around VG+. The bidding is in the range of $2,250 and the auction closes in a little more than a day. I would love to replace that record in my collection, and I like the fact that it is from the Jazz Record Center, but the price is beyond my reach, financially and philosophically.
Tag: Freddie Redd
More Adventures . . . Or Just Misadventures?
Today we have various jazz vinyl that has caught my eye for various reasons, starting with Miles Davis, Miles, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014. This looks to be an original New York pressing with the green cover, although it’s hard to tell if it is the frame cover from the picture, but the seller says that it is. The seller also says the cover is VG++, which doesn’t look quite accurate to these eyes. The record is listed in VG+ with “a touch of light surface noise in spots.” The start price is around $280 and there are nearly five days left on the auction. So far there are no bidders. When I started collecting, this was considered a real rarity, John Coltrane’s first recording with Miles. And, indeed, this record has made it into the $1,000 bin several times. I’m wondering if there will be interest in this record. If not, will it be because of the condition or will it be because it is not on Blue Note? I’m sensing it may be a combination of the two. But I could be wrong and the bidding will become heated at the last minute, as it so often does on eBay. Read more
Top Prices for Jazz Vinyl Rarities
Back to the real world after a lovely Thanksgiving break, which means it’s time to look at auctions of rare jazz vinyl on eBay, starting with Jerome Richardson, Roamin’ With Richardson, New Jazz 8226. This was an original deep-groove purple label pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,575, in what looked like a bidding war between two buyers who must have really wanted this record. Taking a quick look at Popsike, the previous high price for this record was in the $640 range. I owned a copy for about two weeks after I purchased a small collection back in 2009, which I wrote about here at Jazz Collector. I wanted to sell a few of the records in order to make my money back quickly, and this was one of the ones I sold, probably for about $250 or so, back when I was still selling records on eBay and trying to get traffic to the Jazz Collector web site. There are very few records with Richardson as the leader, so I guess it has some cachet for that and for the fact that it is an original New Jazz. But nearly $1,600 for a VG+ copy seems like a bit of a stretch.
A Misadventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 4
Back on the phone with Debby. She’s reading titles, again. I can’t stop her. She doesn’t listen when I talk, she talks over me. So I listen. I’m hardly paying attention. But this I hear.
“Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd on Blue Note.”
“Which one?” I ask.
“Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd on Blue Note.”
“What’s the address on the label?”
“47 West 63rd. That’s an original, right?”
“Right.”
The collection just got more interesting to me. I realize there is no logic to this. As I’ve said before, I can go on eBay any time, now, this minute, and buy a copy of this record. I can listen to it on vinyl right now in either my house in the country or my studio apartment in the city. So why do I care that it is in this collection that I may or may not be interested in purchasing?
It’s the existential question for many of us, isn’t it? What is it about the pursuit that makes it better, more intriguing, more rewarding? Why do I want to find and purchase this record the hard way, rather than the easy way? Read more
Back in Action: Rare Newk, Redd, Jackie
I’m back. Haven’t looked at eBay in a couple of weeks, so that’s where I’m going to start: Sonny Rollins Quintet, Esquire 20-080. This is a 10-inch British version of the 10-inch U.S. LP Sonny Rollins Quintet Featuring Kenny Dorham, Prestige 186. I’ve never owned either the U.S. or U.K. pressing, so this copy looks extraordinarily cool to me. It is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is in the $200 range and so far there are no bidders, with five days left on the auction. Tempting, I must say.
And then there is my old nemesis:
Shades of Tommy Flanagan Overseas
When I began collecting jazz vinyl as a serious (obsessive?) endeavor, sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, the record that was identified as the “rarest” or “most collectible” was Tommy Flanagan Overseas. There was no internet in those days and I had never even seen a copy of this record for years, and didn’t hold a copy in my hand until maybe 20 years later, when it was part of a collection that I did not buy. I never owned an original until the Bruce W. West collection back in 2013, so it was a long wait of more than 30 years for me. I’ve always kept an eye on this record on eBay because of its early mythological aura, at least as I experienced it. Over the years I’ve seen as this record has moved into the $3,000 price range on occasion, which is certainly quite a high price, but the aura of this record as the height of jazz collectibility has been eclipsed by other records, particularly Blue Notes, and most specifically Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. Yet Tommy Flanagan Overseas is still high up on the list of valuable and highly sought-after jazz collectibles. I mention all this as a prelude to this listing on eBay now: Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This auction for this copy
A Rare Jazz Vinyl Quartet
Here zre are some of the rare jazz records that have been sitting in our eBay watch list, starting with Eric Dolphy, Outward Bound, New Jazz 8236. This was an original pressing with the purple label and the deep grooves. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was Ex, equivalent to VG++, according to the seller’s description. The final price was $837. High, but certainly not surprising for an original classic such as this. From the same seller, there was Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This was also an original pressing with the purple label and the deep grooves. The record was listed in VG+ condition, as was the cover. The final price was $1,083. And one more from the same seller, this one a tease for me, but not in a comfortable price range, although certainly a fair price range based on the final bid:
DG, or Not DG
I’ve been off eBay for a few days and I would once again thank Clifford for filling in. It’s always great to see so much interest in his posts, particularly since he covers an area of the jazz collector world that is pretty foreign to me. Anyway, before I left I had a watch list on eBay, and here are some of the items I was watching, starting with: Herbie Hancock, Takin’ Off, Blue Note 4109. This one had a comment in the listing that caught my eye. It looks like an original pressing with the New York USA label, ears, Van Gelder in the deadwax, et al. The seller says that there is a deep groove on side 2. I had thought the pressings after around this era no longer had deep grooves, but apparently I was mistaken. I looked at my copy and there seems to be some kind of groove, although not nearly as pronounced as the one in the picture on this listing. I looked it up in Fred Cohen’s book and it does seem that an original pressing of Takin’ Off does have a deep groove on side 2. Anyway, it’s very hard to get all of the DGs straight, even, apparently, when you’ve been blogging about this stuff for nearly 10 years. Anyway, this one was probably in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $521.
Eric Dolphy in Europe, Volume 1, Prestige 7304. This was an original pressing with the yellow label and New Jersey address. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover looked to be about VG+, based on the picture, with some ring wear and fraying at the bottom. The record sold for $344, about what you would expect, right? Read more
Another Stupid List: Favorite Blue Note Tracks
This will be fun. Last night I had another one of those very pleasant listening sessions up in The Berkshires, fueled by a few beers, a few vapes and the knowledge that I could play my music as loud and late as I pleased with no neighbors or anyone else to complain. I was watching politics on television as I do so often these days, taking particular delight in the latest polls showing that the blowhard, maniac, crazy man at the top of the Republic ticket is in steep decline and, IMHO, may not even make it to election day without having some kind of collapse/mental breakdown, if, indeed, we could even tell the difference between a nervous breakdown and the behavior he exhibits every single day on the campaign trail. After a couple of hours of this I had enough and decided to enjoy some music. Read more
Of Blue Notes and Want Lists
Sorry for the long, unexpected delay between my posts, and thanks to Clifford for jumping in. While I’ve been missing . . . . One of our readers sent me a link to Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address, deep grooves, Van Gelder, etc. The record was VG+, the cover was VG++, the final price was $565.55 This is a pretty good price for this record and under some circumstances a price I might consider, although, in the end, I tend to wait. My feeling is I do have a Japanese copy of Shades of Redd, so if ever I want to listen to it, I have it. And I do believe that somehow, someday, I will find an original pressing at a price that does not offend my sensibilities. That’s just my approach to collecting, and it’s served me pretty well through the years although, to be honest, I’ve been looking for an original copy of Shades of Redd for at least 40 years and haven’t found one yet. I do also tremendously appreciate it when our Jazz Collector readers point me to records that they know are on my want list, so don’t hesitate to drop me a note.
April is Jazz Month
