Tag: Jimmy Smith

For the $1,000 Bin: Jimmy Smith, Blue Note

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I entered this one into the Jazz Collector Price Guide the other day and I had to give it a special call out: Jimmy Smith, A New Sound, A New Star, Blue Note 1514, Volume 2. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the flat edge, deep groove and all of the other markings that would guarantee that this would have been an original pressing. It was sold by a reputable seller and it was listed in M- condition and, in fact, was noted to be in “superb” condition. I cite this record because of the sales price, which was $1,074. It was quite a surprise to us to see one of the Jimmy Smith records, even an original Blue Note, in the $1,000 bin. In addition, this is a record that does not feature any of the Blue Note hornmen, so that this would be the Jimmy Smith record to break the $1,000 barrier was equally surprising. But, there it is. Just goes to show the power of original Blue Notes in today’s market.

Here’s another that came up just short of the $1,000 bin:

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More Blue Notes, More Record Price Tags

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Prices for Blue Notes — at least those in near mint condition — are continuing to rise, based on some of the latest eBay sales. Take a look at these:

A Date With Jimmy Smith, Volume 2, Blue Note 1548. This was in near mint condition and it was sold by the same seller who sold those pristine JJ Johnson records the other day. This one sold for $792. The record features Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson and Donald Byrd, but this is still a new high price tag for it, at least for the time we’ve been watching it.

This one was from Euclid Records: The Fabulous Fats Navarro, Volume 1, Blue Note 1531. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. It was listed as M- condition for both

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More Blue Notes, More Big Price Tags

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Catching up on some recent eBay sales.

Here’s one that was quite a surprise: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Blue Note 1525. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++.  Normally the Jimmy Smith Blue Notes have not fetched huge dollars, but something is changing in the Blue Note market: All of the originals are going up in value and even later pressings are starting to sell at collectible prices. This one sold for an eye-popping $511.

May as well stick with some more Blue Notes: Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 1. This one, of course, has the cover illustration by Andy Warhol. The record was

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More Confessions of a Vinyl Act, Part 3

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OK. The crisis has passed. As relapses go, it was relatively harmless. I did not log onto eBay and search for every missing Blue Note and bid like a madman. I did not head into Manhattan armed with enough cash and credit cards to buy out the Jazz Record Center. I didn’t really do anything except lose a night’s sleep and move a bunch of Jimmy Smith records from one shelf to another.

As I am left to ponder this latest chapter in my ongoing struggle with vinyl addiction, I believe what I had was not a relapse of vinyl addiction but something more akin to a full blown existential crisis. Why am I here, what am I doing, why do I have 10,000 records, why do I care if a single one of those records has a New York USA address on the label rather than a 767 Lexington Avenue address? You know, the usual kind of existential crisis.

The trigger was the cataloging of the Blue Notes and the process of

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Keeping Track of Some High-End Blue Notes

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Another Warhol Cover

Another Warhol Cover

As we’re updating the Price Guide, we’ve been inputting some very nice Blue Note LPs from the past few weeks, so here are a few highlights to whet your appetite. When you do look at the Price Guide and want to see the most recent items, click the Timestamp button on the far right and have it sort the items by those most recently entered. Remember, you can sort by artist (last name, first name), label, condition, price and time posted. Anyway, here are some of the Blue Notes going into the Price Guide this weekend:  We’ve been writing a bit lately on Andy Warhol covers. Here’s one that’s familiar to most collectors: Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This was an original pressing in very nice condition. Price: $1,225 Read more

Today on eBay, September 26

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Here are some other interesting items on eBay today. This first one is a beauty: Lee Morgan, Sextet, Blue Note 1541. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing in very nice condition. The current price is $360, but it should go for quite a bit more.  Our friends at Euclid Records have a few nice Blue Note originals selling today, including this one: Jimmy Smith, New Sound – New Star, Blue Note 1512.  This one is an original Lexington Avenue pressing and is already more than $120. Here’s a seller with a large number of items, including this one: Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume Two, Blue Note 1522. This is an original Lexington Avenue in VG condition. Price now is $56. When you look at this seller’s other items, make sure you check the condition. Finally, here’s one I like a lot, but doesn’t seem to be generating too much interest, based on the price and lack of bidding: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook, Verve 4010-4. This is the boxed set edition, including four records and the booklet. Current price is $19.99.

Song For My Father

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A Jazz Memoir By Al Perlman

Jazz was always in my life. It was my father’s great love. I grew up in a tiny first-floor garden apartment in Bayside, Queens, five of us with one bathroom, a small kitchen, two bedrooms, two closets, a living room and another family living in equally cramped quarters directly above us. There wasn’t much space and my mother made it even smaller by banning us from the living room. This was our “show” room to be kept in pristine condition and used only when we had guests: We weren’t permitted to sit in it or talk in it or eat in it or do anything in it. My mother kept plastic on the furniture and took it off only when there was company. The one exception was when my father was home and wanted to listen to jazz. That’s where he had his great big Fisher console with the hi-fi and radio.  Read more

Dexter On Dial, Jutta On Blue Note

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We’re putting together a new price guide and entering new entries into the database. Here are a few interesting items that won’t make it into the next newsletter. More of these tomorrow.

Dexter Gordon, Dial 204. This was the original 10-inch pressing in just VG condition and still sold for $232.54.

Stan Getz, West Coast Jazz, Norgran $217.50. Admittedly, this was in nice condition, but it still sold for a very high price, compared to other copies we’ve seen: $217.50 Read more

More on the Great eBay Debate

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Jazz Collector Newsletter, June 2002

 

We have some positive changes coming at Jazz Collector. We’re updating the Jazzcollector.com Web site and starting Monday we’ll be posting new items each weekday. Plus, we’ll be giving away free collectibles from the site periodically. Finally, we’re going to post more articles and commentaries from readers and increase activity on the site’s Forum. The hope is to create a hub for the Jazz Collector community, so please use the site and offer up any suggestions. The site upgrade won’t affect the newsletter, which will still come out once a month. We have more than 800 subscribers now and the roster keeps growing. Obviously, jazz vinyl is alive and well.

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