Tag: Jazz Record Center

The Rise and Rise of Blue Note Reissues

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I sometimes keep an eye out for the United Artists Blue Notes from the early/mid 1970s. I bought most of these releases when they first came out and my friend Red Carraro stocked them in his basement in Malverne, NY. I recall paying $10 each and I loved having them because they were able to fill in major gaps in my collection that I didn’t have the money to fill in with original pressings. I must have bought 20 or 30 of these pressings. I never thought they would be worth much money, being reissues, but I loved the music and they sounded fine, particularly on the inexpensive equipment I had at the time. It opened up a lot of music to me that I had never heard before, including the Thad Jones, Cliff Jordan, Johnny Griffin and Duke Jordan Blue Notes of the 1950s. Read more

Tracking Rare Vinyl From the Jazz Record Center

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Whilst we were away our friends at the Jazz Record Center had an interesting auction loaded with Blue Notes, including this one straight from my wish list: Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4032. This was not only an original West 63rdStreet pressing, but it had a stamp on the label that read: PROPERTY OF DONALD BYRD, which you would assume would make it straight from Donald Byrd’s personal collection, unless you are a conspiracy theorist and believe someone nefarious would go to the trouble of creating a PROPERTY OF DONALD BYRD stamp and press it on an original Blue Note record to try to hike the value. As for me, I would trust the provenance of this record and would probably pay more for an LP with this stamp, because it’s kind of cool knowing that Donald Byrd owned the record. In any case, however, I would not pay the $1,600 price that this one sold for, albeit in M- condition for both the record and the cover. I did own an M- copy of this record once, which I purchased for $5 at the old Titus Oaks record store in a former Wetson’s fast-food hamburger joint in Hicksville. But, alas, I traded it for a few records of far less value more than 30 years ago, and have never been able to replace Out of the Blue  at a price I was comfortable paying. Read more

Of Market Value and Music Value

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Back on eBay and wanted to first catch up on some of the items we were watching last time, starting with George Wallington, New York Scene, New Jazz 8207. This was the one from the Jazz Record Center and the bidding was at close to $800 when we wrote about it. The record wound up selling for $2,000, well surpassing the previous top price paid for this record, according to Popsike. I still find it fascinating that certain records have a strong appeal to collectors, i.e., value, while other records of the same era, perhaps by more prominent artists, have less of an appeal. Off the top of my head, I’ll use Sonny Rollins Plus Four as an example. This is a great record, featuring ground-breaking artists in their prime, on Prestige, yet it has never come close to the $1,000 mark, let alone $2,000. I’m sure I can come up with other examples, but you get the drift. I’m sure it has to do with supply and demand and all of that and perceptions of what is “rare” and what isn’t, which, I guess, is one of the nice things about having sites like eBay and Popsike to monitor the market and see on a daily basis what actual market value looks like. Back in the dark ages before the Internet, most of us were probably operating in the dark, not quite understanding the market value of what we were collecting. I guess we were focusing on the music that we loved.

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Rare Jazz Vinyl, For Thousands of $$$ or, Perhaps, 25 Cents

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I have more stories to tell, including a return engagement at Spike’s Record Rack in Catskill, but I feel I must get back to the business of looking at collectible vinyl on eBay before I do so. Nothing too exciting — no new collections — just some random stuff. So let’s get on with some eBay watching first and do the story-telling later in the week. If it’s eBay, there must be an expensive Sonny Clark record selling for thousands of dollars somewhere. This week it is Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588, courtesy of our friends at the Jazz Record Center in New York. This looks to be in really nice condition. Based on the description, my grade would be M- for the record and VG++ for the cover. There are nearly two days left on this auction and the bidding is now in the $1,100 range. We have consistently seen this record in the $3,000 bin and, at least once in the rarified $5,000 bin. I’m setting the over/under on this copy arbitrarily at $4,100.

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Into the Woods (At the Right Price)

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I was watching a few items from the Jazz Record Center auction that closed yesterday, including Phil Woods, Woodlore, Prestige 7018. This was an original yellow label New York pressing that looked to be in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $493.88. In looking at this auction, I realize I’m still somewhat of an old-school collector whose attitudes haven’t changed all that much, even as the value of the records has increased over the years. I love this record and have never owned an original pressing. As you know, I’ve been collecting jazz records for nearly 50 years. Still, as much as I would want an original pressing of this record in may collection, I would prefer to go without it at this kind of price — even though the market value will likely increase — and continue to wait until I get lucky and find it for a price I feel is reasonable. It’s not the money and it’s not even the principle. It’s more like the ingrained habit and the ethos of “this is how I choose to collect.” If I want to listen to Phil Woods, I have a lot of other great Phil Woods records to listen to. If I really want to listen to Woodlore, I have my Japanese pressing. That’s good enough for this collector.

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Heavy Hitters, Day Two

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Let’s get right to it: The Hank Mobley Blue Note 1568 from the Jazz Record Center sold for $7,600. Is that a record for a jazz vinyl record? I think it is. There was an earlier copy of Blue Note 1568 that sold for $11,000, but we later ascertained that was a bogus bid and the sale didn’t actually go through as described. Unless I get better information from someone in the Jazz Collector universe, I’ll assume this is now our apex. Not a surprise, although I had the record pegged more in the $6,000 range. I actually placed a rare bid on the auction, not for the Mobley record, since I knew that would be WAY out of my price range, and it was. No, after seeing Joe L’s comment on the previous post I became somewhat enamored with the idea of owning that test pressing of Horace Silver, Finger Poppin’, Blue Note 4008. Test pressings have never been my thing, but

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Heavy Hitter Day

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Lots of heavy hitters on eBay this week, including a high-end Blue Note auction from the Jazz Record Center that includes this beauty: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This is an original original pressing, meaning side two has the New York 23 address, which makes it the one most prized by the most avid collectors. The record is probably in VG+++ condition and the cover looks to be M-. The auction closes tomorrow and the bidding is now in the $4,000 range with 18 bids and eight bidders. Anyone want to take a guess on the final price for this baby? We’ve seen $9,000 in the past, but my memory is that was not a legitimate bid or sale. I’m guessing this one sells for somewhere in the $6,000 range. Here are a couple more from the same auction:

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A Fine Array From Blue Note and Prestige

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We were watching a bunch of items from the Jazz Record Center auction that closed yesterday and here are some of the results, staring with Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This was an original pressing. It was probably in VG++ condition for the record. The JRC doesn’t use our normal grades, just a description. This one had a single mark that is audible seven times. I know that precludes it from M-. Does it preclude it from VG++? Otherwise, the record sounds immaculate. The cover was probably VG+ or VG++, depending upon how you feel about a “professionally repaired” spine and bottom seam. Also, the picture looks more VG+ to me than VG++. The final price was $1,247. My sense is that a different seller would have been less meticulous in his description and received a higher price. In any case, I still don’t own an original copy of this record for any of you out there who may be interested in a trade.

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The Best of Hank Mobley?????

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Our friends at the Jazz Record Center have a very nice auction underway now, including: Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note 4031. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing, probably in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The bidding is in the $700 range as I type this, and I would expect the final price to be quite a bit higher, much closer to the $2,000 bin. This is a record that I never owned in original condition until i was fortunate enough to get a copy in the Bruce M. West Baltimore collection four years ago (has it really been four years?). Anyway, like a lot of the records in that collection, I put them on the shelves and promised myself I would get around to listening to them one day. And, a few nights ago, I finally kept my promise with Hank Mobley Soul Station. And it was quite a revelation. Read more

And Four Blue Notes, For a Price

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Since I was away for so long, I’d like to catch up on some jazz vinyl auctions I missed, starting with a few from our friends at the Jazz Record Center. Let’s start with John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This was an original pressing that looked to be in M- pristine condition. The final price was $1,382. This may sound weird, but that price seems a little low to me, considering the condition and the reputation of the seller. Just did a quick check over at Popsike and, indeed, this record has sold for more than $2,000 in the past. I have no theories to offer on this, particularly now that the Jazz Record Center accepts Pay Pal, but the market is the market and it often simple reflects who is bidding against whom at that particular time.

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