Are We Seeing Market Shifts?

If you’re on eBay now, it’s hard not to watch all of those auctions closing today from the seller zero.street. There are all of the later Blue Notes I mentioned yesterday. The prices on these have gone even higher, some in the $300-plus range. How about this one: Dave Brubeck, Time Out, Columbia 1397. This is an original pressing that looks to be in quite nice condition, probably M- or VG++ at the worst. The price has been bid up to $137.50. This is not that rare a record, even as an original pressing. Is it because Brubeck just died? Or will this record achieve some new cachet as a collectible, sort of like Kind of Blue, because it is so iconic. Weird to see this one fetching collectible prices after all of these years.

This one is also of interest from the same seller: Art Farmer Quintet Featuring Gigi Gryce, Prestige 7017. This is an original New York yellow label pressing. The cover is in nice VG++ condition and the record is VG or VG+, with a hairline mark that is said to cause some surface noise. I imagine the condition is a killer on this one, because under normal circumstances I wouldn’t expect it to sell for a price so far below those later Blue Notes, which apparently it will. The bidding now is in the $110 range. Unless the market is starting to shift more to the ’60s from the ’50s? Is that possible?

 

 

Listening is Part of Collecting Too, Isn’t It?

Here’s some jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay:

Gigi Gryce and the Jazz Lab Quintet, Riverside 229. This is an original white pressing that is in what looks like M- condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. I’ve had this record for about 25 years and it’s always had a prominent place in my collection, but I can’t recall listening to it more than once, probably 25 years ago. I know one of our readers had commented earlier that it wasn’t all that great. Perhaps today is the day to finally put it on the turntable and judge for myself. It’s not just me, right? We all have nice collectible records that we’ve either never listened to or listened to just once? This one closes in a few hours and is in the $350 price range.

Dizzy Reece, Star Bright, Blue Note 4023. This looks to be an original deep groove pressing with the West 63rd Street address. The seller has created his own grading schema. If I were to judge the descriptions based on the grading system used by most of us, and certainly used by us here at Jazz Collector, I would guess that this one is in VG+ condition. It closes in a couple of days and is already at around $400.

Here’s a seller offering some nice 10-inch LPs, including:

Read more

Jazz Vinyl Today: A Bevy of Blue Notes

Lots of Blue Notes on today’s watch list, starting with: Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This was an original pressing that was listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,370. We’ve seen this one sell for more than $1,300 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but this is quite a hefty price nonetheless.

Kenny Drew Undercurrent, Blue Note 4059. This one had the West 63rd Street address and, from the looks of the pictures, it had deep grooves on both sides, certainly on Side 2. That would make it original either way, no? This was described as being in VG condition, and the cover certainly looked no better than VG. It sold for $427.

Gigi Gryce/Clifford Brown Sextet, Blue Note 5048. This was an original 10-inch LP that was defined as being in “very fine” condition, which, the seller implies, is actually M- condition. The pictures certainly looked very fine indeed, if not M-.  It sold for $372. 10.

If it’s a Blue Note, and it’s one of the coveted artists, the record or cover does not have to be in great condition to fetch a high price. Case in point:

Read more

Catching Up on Some 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl

Can’t sleep so I’m up early updating the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Here are some 10-inch records that will be going in:

Miles Davis All Stars Volume 2, Prestige 200. This looks to be an original pressing with the yellow label, probably one of the first Prestiges to have the famous yellow label. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $204.50.

I think this was the first LP issued by Blue Note: Mellow The Mood, Blue Note 5001. It features Ike Quebec, Benny Morton, Buck Clayton and others. The record was VG and the cover was VG++. You’d think it would fetch a high price just for the historic value. But, alas, this copy did not: It sold for $28.

I’ve never seen this one and it has quite a cool cover: Bill Jennings/Leo Parker Quintet, Billy in the Lion’s Den, King 527. This was listed in VG condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $81.

Hard to find this one in M- condition, but here was a copy: Gerry Mulligan Quartet, With Chet Baker, Pacific Jazz 5. It sold for $115.52.

And now for some 10-inch Blue Notes:

Read more

Jazz Vinyl This Week: A New High For Shorter

Here is some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching this week on eBay:

Wayne Shorter, JuJu, Blue Note 4182. This was an original New York USA mono pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The price was $537. This is the highest price we’ve ever recorded for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and is, in fact, the highest price we’ve ever recorded for any Wayne Shorter album.

This one was from the same seller: Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 2, Blue Note 1597. This is one of the ones with the Andy Warhol cover. This was not an original pressing — at least not a first pressing — because it had the New York USA labels as opposed to the West 63rd Street labels. We’ve been watching a lot of second and third presses lately, particularly the Blue Notes, because we’ve seen a pretty strong uptick in prices. This one sold for $179.50 in M- condition for both the record and the cover.

We flagged this one when the bidding topped $60 because we’ve never considered it that much of a collectible:

Read more

Jazz Vinyl on eBay: Blue Notes & A Roost

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

Gigi  Gryce – Clifford Brown Sextet, Blue Note 5048. This one had a nice picture with it, as you can see, but the description wasn’t very complete. The seller noted that the record was glossy and had a few light marks and the cover had some wear, but there wasn’t any M- or VG+ or other grading to which we are normally accustomed. Nonetheless, there were bidders attracted to this type of description — optimists I would say — and the record sold for $608. Our previous high for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was $579.

What do you think of records like this next one:

Read more

eBay Watch Resumes: Here Are Some 10-Inch LPs

I went back on eBay last night for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was like a visit with old friends, seeing the Prestiges and Blue Notes and Norgrans all hanging out as if I had never left. After a short visit I put a few on my watch list to see once again. Here are some of them:

Gigi Gryce Big Band Featuring Clifford Brown, Blue Note 5049. This is an original 10-inch record and is being offered by Euclid Records. The vinyl is listed as VG++ and the cover is M-. The current price is $73.85, which seems pretty low, but the 10-inchers no longer seem to have the cachet they once had, even though in many cases they are the original pressings. This one was originally issued on French Vogue, right? Anyway, I’d be tempted to bid on this one myself since I once had a near-mint copy of this record and let it slip through my fingers, although for a price of $200 more than 20 years ago, so I can’t complain too much. In a similar category is this record: The George Wallington Showcase, Blue Note 5045. This one is being offered by Atomic Records, one of the other large sellers on eBay. This one seems to be in

Read more

On eBay Now: Some Nice 10-Inchers, Trane, Evans

Some of the heavy-duty jazz vinyl sellers have auctions closing in the next couple of days, so let’s see what’s coming up. We had mentioned Jazz Record Center and some of the 10-inch LPs. So far, the American 10-inch Blue Note is beating out the original French Vogue: The Gigi Gryce and Clifford Brown Sextet, Blue Note 5048, is currently at $107 with two bidders (it should sell for a lot more), while the original French Vogue, Gigi Gryce and his Orchestra Featuring Clifford Brown, Vogue 173 is at $100 with one bidder (it too should sell for a lot more). Jazz Record Center also has a few nice 12-inch LPs we are watching, including this one: Wheelin’ and Dealin’, Prestige 7131. This is an original New York pressing in near mint condition. It features an all-star sax lineup of John Coltrane, Paul Quinichette and Frank Wess. It is currently in the $300 price range.

Our friends at Euclid Records also have some nice items this week, including:

Read more

New JRC Auction: Nice 10-Inch Blue Notes

Jazz Record Center sent us an email with a new auction on eBay. It’s always interesting to watch their auctions, since they tend to get top dollar because of their strong and well-deserved reputation. One thing I’m noticing with this auction is that some of the starting prices seem a bit lower than usual. Here’s an example: Gigi Gryce and Clifford Brown Sextet, Blue Note 5048. This is an original 10-inch pressing that looks to be in either near mint or VG++ condition. The start price is $100. My sense is, a couple of years ago, JRC would have started this more in the range of $250. I personally think a relatively lower start price is a better way to go for most records, since it gets more bidders involved in the process. In the end, I’ll bet this record sells for at least $300-$400, if not higher. There are some other nice records on this list as well, including Clifford Brown Quartet, Blue Note 5047. I’ve rarely seen that one either on eBay or live and up close. The price on that is also at $100 and we’ll expect it to fetch quite a bit more.

Today on eBay: A Rare Bird Indeed

We spent some time last night perusing today’s activities on eBay, so we figured we’d share some of our findings with you on a bright lovely morning in the New York metro area.

Charlie Parker, The Bird Blows The Blues, Dial 901. This is purported to be the first 12-inch LP ever. It was issued as a promo for Dial. There are reports of only 50 pressings of this record, but, we’re sure that is part of the mythology. We’ve written about it before at Jazz Collector and we’ve also tracked pricing in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Our top price in the past has been $2,850. It certainly does not come up on eBay very often. This one seems to be in pretty nice condition. When we first saw this last night, the price was around a hundred dollars and now it’s around $400 with six hours to go. We’ll see where it ends up. It is quite a rarity and

Read more

1 2 3 4