This week I indulge myself with a show for my very own birthday. In the past I’ve played tracks recorded on Feb. 4, including Miles Davis Milestones. But two years in, I’ve dipped into that well too often. So this year, the focus is on the year I was born, 1953. As I say on the Podcast, it was a very good year for jazz and boys from Queens. Also a great chance to focus on 10-inch records from the collection. Featured artists include Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Percy Heath, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Curley Russell, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Shavers, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis, Gerry Mulligan, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Joe Dodge, Ron Crotty, Jay Jay Johnson, Jimmy Heath, Gil Coggins, Tadd Dameron, Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Gigi Gryce, Charlie Parker, Red Garland, Roy Haynes, Chet Baker, Russ Freeman, Carson Smith, Larry Bunker, Shelly Manne, Art Pepper, Bob Cooper, Jummy Giuffre, Bob Enevoldsen, Marty Paich, Curtis Counce, Phil Woods, Jon Eardley, George Syran, Teddy Kotick, Nick Stabulas.

This week’s theme: Celebrating the New Year with jazz vinyl featuring the number 26 in the catalog number. Featured artists include Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Jack Sheldon, Herb Geller, Loraine Geller, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, Tommy Flanagan, George Morrow, Clifford Brown, Gigi Gryce, Art Blakey, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Joe Morello, Eugene Wright, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Nelson Riddle, Sonny Stitt, Kenny Drew, Lawrence Marable, Curtis Counce, Harold Land, Jack Sheldon, Billie Holiday, Benny Carter, Sweets Edison, Count Basie, Buddy DeFranco, and more.

This week’s theme: A tribute to the late Benny Golson. Featured artists include Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Lee Morgan, Harold Mabern, Bobby Timmons, Addison Farmer, Milt Jackson, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Curtis Fuller, Barry Harris, Jamie Merritt, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Abbey Lincoln, Percy Heath, Ray Bryant, Winton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Charlie Persip, Gigi Gryce, Sahib Shihab, James Cleveland, Julius Watkins, Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobb, Grachan Concur III, Roy McCurdy.

Then again, perhaps there are some bargains left on eBay, if you consider something like this to be a bargain (I do): Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet, Riverside 229. This was not a first pressing, which would have had a white label. But it was an early pressing with the blue labels, reels and mic logo and deep groove. The record was listed in VG condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $34.33. If this same record, in this, was a second pressing on Blue Note, the final price would have been quite a bit higher than $34.33 don’t you think?

Finally, I always get a kick out of seeing records I’ve never seen before. I’ve been going to record stores looking for jazz records for more than 50 years, plus I’ve been watching eBay closely for 20, so it doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve never seen this record: Curtis Counce Quintet, Exploring the Future, Dooto, 247. I assume this is an original pressing. The cover is pretty trashed and the record is graded VG. The start price is $320, the auction closes later today and so far there are no bidders. Interesting sidemen with Harold Land and Elmo Hope. Per Popsike, the top price for this record was $471, and that was for a copy still in its original loose seal. That one sold in 2021. Do you think the buyer broke the seal and listened to the record, or preserved it in its original packaging? Knowing what I know about collectors, my educated guess is that the record has never been opened or played.

Donald Byrd, Byrd’s Word, London C15039. This is the UK version of the U.S. Savoy. The record and cover are listed in VG+ condition. Bidding is in the $80 range with more than two days left on the auction.

Lee Konitz, Jazz at Storyville, Volume 1, Vogue LDE 129. This is a U.K. pressing of the 10-inch LP. The record is listed in VG+ condition and the cover as VG. The start price is about $60 and so far there are no bidders with nearly two days left on the auction.

Finally, I received a note and some pictures from a reader who is looking to sell a couple of early Miles Davis songbooks. I don’t know anything about these, but I’m sure they would be of interest to some Jazz Collector out there. Pictures are below. You can let me know if you are interested, and I’ll pass it on to the seller.

Here are a few more:

Art Taylor, Taylor’s Tenors, New Jazz 8219. This is an original purple label deep groove pressing. The record and cover are in VG condition and the bidding is at about $100.

Bill Evans Trio, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Riverside 9376. This is an original black label stereo pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and cover. There are 94 bids on this record by 14 bidders. As of this writing, the bidding is at $400.

Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um, Columbia 1370. This is an original white label, six-eye promo copy listed in VG+ condition for the record and cover. Bidding is in the $275 range.

Donald Byrd-Gigi Gryce, Jazz Lab, Columbia 988. This is another white label, six-eye promo copy. Condition is VG++ for the record and cover. Bidding is in the $130 range. I had never recognized this record as being highly collectible, so I’m wondering if it is the allure of the promo copy or just the fact that it’s great music, a great record and right in the wheelhouse of the era as far as the artists and the style of music.

The Magnificent Thad Jones, Blue Note 1527. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in VG Condition for the record and VG- for the cover. Bidding is in the $430 range.

Here’s one from the Jazz Record Center that ended up in the $1,000 bin: Mal Waldron, Mal-1, Prestige 7090. This was an original New York yellow label that looked to be in M- condition for the record and M- or VG++ for the cover. The final price was $1,009. For the record, pun intended, we checked with Popsike and that is the highest price recorded for this particular record. Mal 2, Prestige 7111, the one with John Coltrane, has sold for a high price of $1,400. Left Alone, the Mal Waldron record on Bethlehem, has sold for a high price of $1,625.

We were watching this kind of weird copy of Herbie Nichols Trio, Blue Note 1519. The consensus seemed to be that this was a Liberty pressing using older labels. When we spotted the record on Jazz Collector the bidding was in the $85 range. It wound up selling for $233.28. I have one of similar vintage but with Lexington Avenue labels. It has no deep groove, but it does have the ear and the RVG stamp. Wonder what that would sell for?

I meant to write about this earlier: McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy, Blue Note 4264. This was an original Liberty pressing with the Van Gelder stamp. It was probably in M- condition for the record and cover and was sold by the Jazz Record Center for $810, which seemed quite high to me. I checked the Jazz Collector archives and came upon this article from 2014 “Really, McCoy?”  in which readers were surprised that a copy sold for as much as $171. I will say that the $810 is a new high point for The Real McCoy, nearly double the previous high. Must be inflation.

Speaking of inflation, I also saved a few from an early June Jazz Record center auction because I couldn’t believe the prices. Here are:

Wardell Gray, Los Angeles All Stars, Prestige 147, 10-inch LP, VG++ condition or so for the record and the cover. Price: $799.

Art Farmer Quintet, Prestige 181, 10-inch LP, VG++ condition or so for the record and the cover. Price: $850.

Finally, to close the book on a crazy auction we were watching a couple of months ago,
Gigi Gryce and His Big Band, Jazztime Paris featuring Clifford Brown, Blue Note 5049. Final price: $1,253.44

The same seller has this nice 10-inch Blue Note that is getting quite a lot of attention: Jazztime Paris Volume 1, Gigi Gryce and his Big Band Featuring Clifford Brown, Blue Note 5049. This is a Lexington Avenue pressing listed in Ex condition for the record and the cover. The bidding is already more than $925 with four days left on the auction. I just looked over at Popsike and the previous top price for this record was $265, so I don’t know what is going on with this particular copy. The original recording was issued on Vogue, so while this is an original Blue Note, it is not the first release of the music. I was doing some research and this great post from Jazz Collector, January 2009 came up: The Blue Note Story. If you read the article, also take some time to look at the comments: Our long-time reader Rudolf offers some great research on these Blue Notes and French Vogue records from the era.

This record has been sitting in my queue for a few weeks and I want to clear it out: Thelonious Monk, Brilliant Corners, Riverside 12-226. This is a blue label third pressing. When I bought a copy last year I valued it at between $100 and $200 in VG+ condition, and I’ve been checking other copies to see if I overvalued it, which I probably did, based on current market. If you look at Popsike, white label original pressings of Brilliant Corners often sell for several hundred dollars, with a high of $1,251. Blue labels, not so much. This one had a start price of $110 in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. It was a third pressing and didn’t sell at all. And now it is out of my queue. Mission accomplished

Speaking of Monk, there is this: Thelonious Monk Quintet, Prestige 7053. This is an original New York yellow label with the first cover, which is a photo. The second cover was the one designed by Andy Warhol and my bet is that the second cover is the one more valued by collectors. Let’s take a look . . . click to Popsike . . . and . . . indeed, the Warhol cover is, by far, the one that collectors seem to prefer, with one aberrant copy actually selling for $2,350 in 2009. The top price for the photo cover was $665. I’ll take either cover, and definitely the entire record, which is a classic. This one is graded in Ex condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. There is less than a day left on the auction, the start price is about $300 and so far there are no bidders.

At the time I placed my bid, close to the end of the auction, the bidding was pretty low, maybe $30 or so. I figured no one else had spotted this record, buried among some Zoot Sims Pablos, and a bunch of other later pressings. I bid $111.11, a nice round number. The winning bid was $116.11. Clearly that was the next top bid, and just as clearly someone else found the hidden gem. I’ll never know what it would have taken to win the record but, really, I didn’t need it. I was happy with the 10-inch records I did get and I do own the record and only wanted to buy it just so I could feel like I got a bargain. Oh, the things we think when our collecting compulsions get the best of us.

Speaking of compulsions, let us close, once again, with Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This time our friend, sometime poster and frequent commenter Clifford sent me a link to this copy from Academy Records. Apparently it was in pristine condition. The price was $1,200 and it was sold by the time I opened Clifford’s email. No matter, I wouldn’t have bought it at that price. Not that it wasn’t a fair price – in fact, Academy probably would have gotten more on eBay. It’s just that I have so many records and I still enjoy the hunt more than any other aspect of collecting. So, I am happy to say, the hunt will continue. Someday I will find a copy at a price to my liking and I will smile a big smile and show the picture of me holding the record here on Jazz Collector. And, if I don’t, then I have my lovely Japanese pressings whenever I want to listen.

Coincidentally, I had done that – listen to Shades of Redd – just a couple of days before Clifford’s email arrived. After all of these years of obsessing and boring all of you, I just wanted to confirm once again that it, indeed, is a great record. As if I needed another listen to confirm what was and always has been real: Yes, IMHO, Shades of Redd is a great record. If you have a copy, check it out for yourself. If not, please join the hunt.