Tag: John Coltrane

Ramblings, Records and Rancor, Oh My

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In my real life I’ve been writing what we call an “eBook” for a client. Basically, it’s a long term paper of about 5,000 words. The topic is climate change and, if you want to get really depressed, read the latest report from the United Nations. Anyway, I share this because being buried in work has left little time for the important things in life, like Jazz Collector and, lo and behold, in my absence there are 55 comments, and counting, on the latest post. Surely, they can’t all be about getting happy with Freddie Redd and Jazz Collector, so I am curious about what is going on to inspire such interest and, perhaps, inspiration. So, pardon me while I catch up. Hmmm, now I see that there was a personal, and in my view entirely unfounded attack on Clifford from a new commenter named Gohoos81, who has since apologized and rambled to the point where I am having trouble deciphering whether this was a real diatribe or an attempt to spam the site. Whatever. I see there has been enough pushback without me having to waste more time worrying about it. But Gohoos81, if you are still here, you may find that there are other sites where the community is more welcoming of your rancor and bluster, but you don’t seem to have a very welcoming audience here, including your usually amenable host. Read more

Digging Deeper Into the Jazz Collector Collection

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I was perusing eBay this morning and came upon: Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This is an original New York yellow label pressing with the first cover. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is in the $315 range with more than a day left on the auction. One of the reasons I saved this record on my watch list was to remind myself that, prior to my recent road trip, I had planned to write a post talking about records I had recently been enjoying, and this was among the foremost – or should I say, Fourmost? – on the list. So here is that record, and here is that post. Read more

Jazz Collector In Box: Time Traveling in Jazz

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Time to catch up with the old Jazz Collector in box. My friend Dan sends me cool pictures that he finds somewhere on the internet. This one came in the other day from March 20, 1963, the opportunity to see John Coltrane in New Orleans for an admission charge of $2. Ah, if we could go back in time. What would be your first choice? Bird on 52nd Street; Sonny, Max and Clifford; Blakey with Horace Silver and Clifford Brown; Blakey with Wayne Shorter and Freddie Hubbard; Lester with Basie; Billie Holiday; Miles with Trane, Bill Evans and Cannonball; Evans and LaFaro; Monk with Newk or Trane? Those would be some of my choices, off the top of my head, and certainly Coltrane with McCoy, Garrison and Elvin in 1963 would  be somewhere near the top of the list. If I had to choose one, it would be easy: Bird. Read more

Random and Rare Jazz Vinyl

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Back to my eBay watch list, starting with Helen Merrill, Emarcy 36006. I put this in my queue without really looking at the listing because the price was  getting up there. It finally sold for $710. When I finally did look at the listing, just now, I was pretty surprised to not see the drummer logo. So this was not an original pressing. It was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover, and having this record in M- playing condition would be nice. We are seeing the rise in value of second pressings pretty consistently now, so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, even though, to me, it was. Read more

Autographs, Autographs, Autographs

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I heard back from the reader who sent me the original link to the auction for the autographed copy of John Coltrane Ballads, Impulse A-32. The one that sold for more than $5,000 a few weeks ago. His name is Bill and, it turns out, he has a passion for collecting autographs—as well as an impressive collection. With his permission, here is a copy of our correspondence after I replied to his initial note.

Al:

My jazz collecting the past 25 years has morphed mainly to jazz autographs. There is something about a genuine signature that makes an item come alive: This was actually in the hands of Billie, Bird, Trane, etc. One must be careful to not obtain a fake, but I have mainly dealt with reputable dealers, and over time, I have become more savvy in finds on sites such as eBay.

I did bid on this Coltrane item, but exited the bidding when it went above $2000.

The prizes of my collection are signed photographs, some contracts, some personal letters, etc. To give you an idea of some of my prized items, here is a partial list: Read more

Iconic Autographs and a “Visit” to a Jazz Record Store in 1957

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A reader sent me a link to this auction: John Coltrane, Ballads, Impulse A-32. This was an original mono pressing, I think. It doesn’t actually state the condition of the record, but that’s not what makes this copy particularly interesting, and valuable. It is signed in ink by all four members of the quartet: Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. The record is described as coming from the personal collection of Jimmy Fox, founder of the James Gang. The final price was $5,001.25. Here’s my response to the reader: Read more

A New Year’s Jazz Vinyl Treasure Trove

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Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. It’s been a while. I will spend the next couple of days catching up on eBay, starting today with some items we missed while we were hibernating over the holidays. First up is one of our all-time favorites: John Coltrane, Soultrane, Prestige 7142. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey label. The seller was the Jazz Record Center and the record and cover were both listed in M-, near-new condition. The final price was $902. This was the highest price we’ve ever seen for Soultrane, confirmed by a quick link over to Popsike. Only a matter of time before we see this record in the $1,000 bin. Why not? I mean, it’s Coltrane and, IMHO, the best of all his Prestige records. Read more

Blue Note Temptation

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I haven’t bid on a record on eBay in a long time, so long I can’t remember when, so long that I no longer have access to any sniping software. But today, I am strongly considering making a bid on something. If I was greedy, I wouldn’t share my intentions here, but I don’t have high hopes of winning the record because I don’t think my bid will be nearly sufficient. For the record (pun intended), the record is Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This looks to be an almost original pressing with one New York 23 label and it is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and probably VG+ for cover. Read more

Back To Blue Note, Prestige and Fond Memories

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Just logged onto eBay for the first time in a couple of weeks and my searches led me very quickly to a wide range of Blue Notes and Prestiges currently up for auction, almost all of which seem destined to sell for pretty high prices, indicative that the demand is continuing to be as strong as ever for rare and vintage jazz LPs, particularly for records on these iconic labels. Here are a few that I’ve put into my watch list, starting with Jackie McLean, New Soil, Blue Note 4013. This is an original deep-groove West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover both look to be in M- condition and that cover looks particularly nice, with an important caveat (see the Lee Morgan record below). The bidding is currently at $350 and the auction closes about two hours from the time I am typing this. There are 10 bidders and 24 watchers and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this record enter or approach the $1,000 bin. But what about that cover?

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Vinyl Classics From Riverside and Prestige

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Let’s look at the Jazz Collector watchlist on eBay for an update, starting with Bill Evans, New Jazz Conceptions, Riverside 223. This is an original white label pressing. The record is in VG condition and the cover is also VG. The bidding is in the $294 range with two days left on the auction. As of now there have been 12 bidders and 46 bids. Such a great cover – you wonder what Riverside was thinking when they replace it for the second pressing. The seller for this one is Carolina Soul, which often has nice jazz vinyl on eBay, this week being no exception. Here’s one more: Curtis Fuller, New Trombone, Prestige 7107. This is an original yellow label pressing with the New York address. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is in the $60 range with two days left. The seller mentions a “slight storage warp,” on both of these records, so that may be effecting the bidding, particularly on the Fuller. But , looking closer at the Fuller, the real gating factor is probably the huge writing in black marker on the back cover. When I first started buying jazz records, it was always about the music, but when I became a “collector” my values changed, perhaps not for the better, and the condition of the cover became almost-but-not-quite-as-important as the music. I imagine I am not the only one here was a similar experience. Read more

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