Once Again, The Familiar Allure of Rare Jazz Vinyl

Cliff Jordan Jazz VinylNo I know I am truly back from vacation. Got up early this morning and went right to eBay to look for rare jazz records. Here are a few that I found, starting with: Cliff Jordan, Cliff Craft, Blue Note 1582. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing with the deep grooves, ear, etc. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG+. I still don’t have an original pressing of this LP. This one is now in the $300 range with more than four days to go. It will surely sell for a price outside of my comfort zone, so I’ll keep looking.

Hank Mobley, Hank Mobley Sextet, Blue Note 1560. This is also an original deep-groove West 63rd Street pressing. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG+. This one closes today and the price is in the $500 range.

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Back in Business Watching Jazz Vinyl

ornette colemanI’ve been so busy with real work I haven’t even looked at eBay in more than a week. But today is a holiday here in the states, and then a weekend, so perhaps I will be able to refocus once again on happenings within the whacky world of jazz vinyl. In the meantime, let me clean up some of the sold items on my watch list, starting with some of those records from the Jazz Record Center auction.

Ornette Coleman, Change of the Century, Atlantic 1327. This was an original pressing with the black label. I haven’t seen that many black label pressings of this record, but I never considered it to be that much of a collectible. Perhaps I need to change my perspective. This copy was in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $449.

I had mentioned these two in an earlier post: Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This was an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,291. Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else, Blue Note 1595. This was also an original pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $751.

This one, from a different seller, fetched quite a nice price:

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Tracking Trey Blue Notes

curtis fuller on blue noteThe Jazz Record Center has an auction closing tomorrow and, as is usually the case, there are some interesting records worth watching, including Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original pressing that looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is now in the $520 range. In the past I would have said that the Jazz Record Center auctions get top dollar, which makes watching them valuable in tracking the market, but I don’t think that is the case any longer. I think not taking Pay Pal eliminates a portion of the buyers, but it probably eliminates some of the risker potential buyers as well.

This one is from the same auction and the action, so far, is surprisingly subdued: Cannonball Adderley, Somethin’ Else, Blue Note 1595. This is an original pressing that looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. With the auction closing tomorrow, there is only one bid at $200. We’ve seen this record sell for more than $1,000 several times in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, so we’ll see what happens with this copy.

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Vinyl Collectibles, Collectible Prices

miles davisLet’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with: Miles Davis Volume 1, Blue Note 1501. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing in Ex condition for the record and Ex+ for the cover. The final price was $579.

Jackie McLean, Lights Out, Prestige 7035. This was an original pressing in Ex condition for the record and Ex+ for the cover. It sold for $698.88. I thought it would fetch a higher price, but there’s definitely  difference between Ex condition and M- condition.

The condition of this one left something to be desired, but it didn’t have much impact on the desirability of the record: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This was in VG- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $1,375. Will buyer even listen, or is it just to fill in a gap in the collection?

 

 

 

Tracking a Trio of Jazz Classics

Jackie JpegHere’s some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching now on eBay, starting with a familiar face: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This looks to be an original pressing, albeit without the NY 23 that makes it more original in the minds of some collectors. Interesting thing about this one is that the record is only VG-, while the cover may be VG++ or even better. The seller including some sound clips and there’s definitely some background noise, although for my ears this would be fine. There are more than two days left on the auction and the price is in the $460 range. I would still expect this to sell for close to $1,000 or more, even in VG- condition.

Jackie McLean, Lights Out!, Prestige 7035. This is an original New York pressing. The record looks to be in VG+ condition and the cover VG++, but both could be better, based on the seller’s description. The seller certain did well by himself with a very clear and nice picture of the cover. This one has five days left and the bidding is already close to $400.

I’m still getting used to seeing this one pop up regularly as a high priced collectible:

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Condition Counts — Doesn’t It?

Wayne ShorterSorry I haven’t posted for a few days. Things have been quite hectic here — my daughter got married on Saturday night. But things are starting to get back to normal, which, for me, means perusing eBay for interesting jazz vinyl to share with all of you here. So, today let’s start with Wayne Shorter, JuJu, Blue Note 4182. This looks to be an original New York USA pressing with the ear and the Van Gelder in the dead wax. The vinyl is listed in M- condition and the cover is VG++. Bidding is in the $230 range and the auction closes later today. I’m surprised the bidding isn’t a little higher for this record and I’m surprised that the seller either didn’t have a reserve price, or that this record already surpassed the reserve. In any case, I would expect the bidding to get quite a bit higher for this record, given what we’ve seen lately for original Blue Notes of any stripe.

These sellers have some decent collectibles on eBay this week, including:

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A Story Of Blue Notes (And One New Jazz)

hank mobley jazz vinylHere’s some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching on eBay, starting with some Blue Notes:

Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. I’m not sure what pressing this is. There are so many Blue Note permutations to consider. This one has deep grooves and ears and RVG and the West 63rd address. One side has no Inc. and no R, the other side has the Inc. and the R. What does that make it? Probably not a first-pressing original, going by the bidding so far. This on is in Ex condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. There are three days left on the auction and bidding is in the $250 range.

This seller has some nice records, including Hank Mobley Sextet, Blue Note 1560. This has the deep grooves and the West 63rd address, which would seem to make it an original pressing. The record is in VG- condition and the cover is VG. Bidding is in the $400 range and the auction closes in three days. VG- condition, to repeat. Not making any judgments. Just pointing it out for future edification.

Here’s a pretty pair:

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Not-So-Cool Struttin’

cool struttin'I happened to be perusing old DownBeats yesterday when I casually opened up the issue of Oct. 30, 1958. The “jazz record reviews” listed on the cover were for Harry Belafonte, Terry Gibbs, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Shorty Rogers and Bob Scobey. Nothing too interesting, and I almost passed up on reading the reviews. So I was a bit surprised to see that this issue contained reviews of two of the rarest and most highly treasured records in the entire Jazz Collector pantheon: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588 and Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568.

 

Let’s start with Cool Struttin’. The reviewer, Don Gold, gave it two and a half stars out of a possible five stars. To put it in perspective, Cool Struttin’ had a lower rating than these records, also reviewed in this issue: Steve Allen All Stars Featuring Terry Gibbs; Danny Alvin and His Kings of Dixieland Play Basin Street: Belafonte Sings the Blues; Paul Horn Plenty of Horn, and Moe Koffman, The “Shepherd” Swings Again. This is what the reviewer had to say about Cool Struttin’:

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A Few More For the Jazz Collector Price Guide

flanaganHere’s some more jazz vinyl from the watch list, then we will attempt to put some of these into the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Is this yet another copy of Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134 from Atomic Records? Someone mentioned that they had seen feedback on the previous listing, so the assumption that this is a second copy. Hard to believe. It took me 42 years to find one copy, and they end up with two. This one was in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $2,850.

John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This looked to be an original West 63rd Street deep groove pressing. The record was in VG+ condition and so was the cover. The price was $676.66.

Jackie McLean, A Fickle Sonance, Blue Note 4089. This was an original mono  pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $338.

This one did not sell and has been relisted:

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Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Baltimore Part 5

jackie3So I was carefully handling the first record in the first box, Miles Davis Volume 2, Blue Note 5022. I had once owned this record in poor condition. It was so poor, in fact, I didn’t even want it in my collection, so I sold it on eBay. This one in my hands, under the light, an original pressing, 767 Lexington Avenue, I don’t think it was ever played. Maybe once, on the day that Uncle Bruce purchased the record, which was August 20, 1954. I know that because Uncle Bruce clearly marked the date in pen “8-20-54” on the back of the record, in the upper left corner. There was also the original price of the record in pencil on the upper right corner in the back: 3.75.  Otherwise, the cover was quite clean, a little bit of splitting at one seam, a little wear on the front. For eBay I would grade it as VG++. For me, as a collector, I would grade it as very sweet.

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