Tag: Gene Ammons

A Visit to A Record Store, Upstate NY Edition

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Sometimes you are lucky enough to  find a decent jazz vinyl score where you would least expect it. Here’s one for you. The other day I was scheduled to pick up The Lovely Mrs. JC at the Amtrak station in Hudson, NY, for a weekend in The Berkshires. I’ve already checked out the record store in Hudson more times than I can count, so not much interest there. But I happened to do a search of record stores in the region and, voila, there was a complete guide to them all, courtesy of an online publication called Chronogram. I have wanted to check out the one in Beacon, NY, called Hudson Valley Vinyl, because our friend and sometime-contributor Clifford has recommended it to me in the past. Not to mention that it is on the way when I drive up from Manhattan to The Berkshires. But, alas, timing hasn’t worked out, yet. In the meantime, I noted one of the stores was a new one, just opened in April of this year. It is called Spike’s Record Rack and it is in Catskill, NY, just 10 minutes or so from the Hudson Amtrak station. The listing in the article was quite sparse because the store was quite new when it was written, but I had some time to kill before The Lovely Mrs. JC’s train was due to arrive, so, I figured, what the hell. At the very least I would get a lovely drive over the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and the Hudson River during the peak of fall foliage up here in the mountains. Read more

On the Menu: Classic Blue Notes and Prestiges

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We’ll start today with a few from the Prestige label, opening with Zoot Sims Quartets, Prestige 7026. This is an original New York pressing that looks to be in about VG+ condition for the record and similar for the cover. It’s not a record that we’ve written about much. We don’t see it on eBay that often and it doesn’t typically command high collectible prices, compared to other original pressings from the era. This one has a start price of $200 and so far there are no bids, with the auction closing in two days. I happen to own a copy of this record, but haven’t listened to it in like 30 years. Maybe I’ll try it later. Zoot is always worth a listen, IMHO. Read more

Quite a Waltz

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LeeWait a second. How did I miss this one: Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Riverside 399. This was an original white label promo copy. The vinyl was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+. The price was, get ready, $3,050.

Here are a few we’re watching on eBay now, starting with Introducing Lee Morgan, Savoy 12091. This is an original red label pressing listed in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The price is about $190 and the auction closes later today.

Art Blakey, The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia, Volume 2, Blue Note 1508. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG++. The auction closes today and the bidding is in the $280 range.

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Nice Records, Quite High Price Tags

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Let’s catch up on some rare jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching, starting with: Gene Ammons, HiFi Jam Sessions, Prestige 7060. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. The record and cover were in M- condition. You may recall I posted on this last week when there were no bids and a start price of $200. I was speculating about whether it would sell at all for that start price, and my prognostication was that it would sell. Indeed, it did: for $607. Quite a nice price for a Gene Ammons Prestige, which don’t often sell for such quite a lofty figure. The seller SweeDeeDee had quite a week, with several of his records selling for quite high prices. Here are a couple more: Horace Silver and Spotlight on Drums with Art Blakey and Sabu, Blue Note 1520. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing in VG++ condition for the record and M- for the cover. It sold for $681. Thelonious Monk with Sonny Rollins, Work, Prestige 7169. This is a New Jersey yellow label pressing, but the record is a reissue, an early reissue, but a reissue nonetheless. It was in M- condition for both the record and the cover and sold for $293. Wow.

 

 

A Few Jazz Vinyl Delegations

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Lots of nice jazz vinyl sitting on eBay now. This is one you really don’t see very often: Paul Chambers, A Jazz Delegation From the East, Jazz-West JWLP-7. This is an original pressing listed in Ex condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It’s closing in about four hours and is now in the $900 price range. Here’s another rare one on the same label from the same seller: Kenny Drew, Talkin’ and Walkin’, Jazz-West JWLP-4. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. It closes in about seven hours and is in the $340 range. I do have a question looking at these two listings from Atomic Records. Which one of the records is in better condition? I’m assuming Ex is better than VG+?

Gene Ammons, Hi Fi Jam Session, Prestige 7060. This is an original pressing with the New York address and yellow label. The record and cover are in M- condition. There are four days to go and the start price is around $200. Think it will sell? I do.

And now for some Blue Notes:

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A Few Favorites From the Jazz Collector Era

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Here are a few jazz vinyl records we are watching on eBay from our perch up here in the beautiful and snowy Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. Let’s start with Gene Ammons, Jammin’ in Hi Fi, Prestige 7110. This is not one you see very often. It’s a nice session, featuring Jackie McLean, Idrees Sulieman, Kenny Burrell and a great rhythm section. This one is in M- condition for the record and probably M- for the cover as well. It closes later today and is in the $115 price range.

I was perusing the list and found a few very nice records from fiftiesjazz, which is our friend and frequent guest Rudolf, so you know the records are well taken care of and carefully graded. Here are a couple: Hank Mobley and His All Stars, Blue Note 1544. This is another nice session, featuring Horace Silver and Milt Jackson. This one is rated VG+ for both the record and the cover. This one also closes today and is in the $250 range. Also, Sonny Rollins Volume 1, Blue Note 1542. This is a West 63rd Street pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It closes tomorrow and is now in the $220 range.

One more nice Blue Note while we’re at it:

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Jazz For A Snowy Saturday

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Up here in The Berkshires, where it’s snowing and quite lovely. Anyway  . . .  The folks at jazz5060/Music Matters have been posting quite the jazz vinyl collection on eBay in recent weeks. They have a bunch of nice items up there now, and a bunch more that already sold for very nice prices this week, including: Lou Donaldson, Lou Takes Off, Blue Note 1591. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover.  This one sold for $909.99. I finally, finally, got an original copy of this record for my own collection in that collection I purchased from Canada a few weeks ago. These guys at jazz5060/Music Matters seem to be doing quite well with their prices. Perhaps I need to charge them more (charge them something, actually) for the ad that keeps running here on Jazz Collector.

Sometimes you see these Prestiges go for top dollar, sometimes they go relatively cheaply. This one was top dollar: Gene Ammons All Stars, Prestige 7060. This one was in M- condition for the record and cover and sold for $707.

Going Up . . . Up . . . Up . . .

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Here’s some interesting jazz vinyl auctions that closed this week.

We need a new explanation for this one: Horace Silver, Song For My Father, Blue Note 4185. Admittedly this is a great, classic record and this was an original mono pressing in near mint condition for both the record and the cover. Why is there a new explanation needed? Conventional wisdom has said that because of the initial popularity of this record, there has always been a relatively abundant supply of original pressings in decent condition. Conventional wisdom may be changing. This particular copy sold for $405. Our previous high for this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was $334 and, at the time, we considered that to be an aberration. What’s this?

And this? Gene Ammons, Blue Gene, Prestige 7146. This was from the same seller and it was also in near mint condition for the record and the cover. You’d normally expect this in the $40-$50 range, maybe a drop higher because of the condition. This copy sold for $164.50.

This next one got quite a high price, but not a surprising one:

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Jazz Vinyl Prices, Running The Gamut

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

Someone got a nice record at a nice price with this one: Stan Levey, Grand Stan, Bethlehem 71. I’d have thought this would be more collectible, what with the presence of Sonny Clark as well as Richie Kamuca. This copy was in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover.  It sold for $43.

Here’s a nice, original, New York yellow-label Prestige that also didn’t command top dollar: Gene Ammons, All Star Sessions, Prestige 7050. This one was in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $76.01.

This one, on the other hand, had no problem fetching top dollar: Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This was an original pressing and it looked to be in M- condition, although the terminology used by the seller was different. Some people clearly agreed that it was M-: This one sold for $1,252.

 

Updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide

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I’ve been spending time updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. I hope you guys use it: It does take up a bit of time to keep it going. In any case, as I’ve been going through older watch lists on eBay, here are some of the odds and ends I’ve been seeing.

I would classify this as a bargain: Gene Ammons, The Big Sound, Prestige 7132. This was not an original pressing with the New York address, but it was an early yellow label with the New Jersey address. The record and cover were ion VG+ condition and the price was $32. What makes this record interesting, in my opinion, is the presence of John Coltrane as a sideman. I have to admit I haven’t listened to this record in years so perhaps that will be one of my chores for the day to report back to you on the quality of the music.

There was a seller a few seeks ago with a bunch of autographed records, including: Art Farmer, Modern Art. This was a reissue, worth about $3 without an autograph. With the autograph it sold for $47. There were also a couple of records signed by Dizzy Gillespie, including: Dizzy Gillespie, Perceptions, Verve 8411. This was listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. Without the autograph this would be maybe $10: With the autograph it sold for $60. Did I ever tell you about my copy of AT’s Delight signed by Art Taylor?

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