Tag: Julius Watkins

Rare Blue Notes in All Shapes, Sizes and Formats

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Record temptation came and went. The Blue Note 78s from the Jazz Record Center sold for $910 and, by the time the auction came around, I had forgotten all about them. I seem to be less obsessive in my old age. I think this is a good thing. The Lovely Mrs. JC certainly does. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have topped $910 even if I had remembered. There was also this odd item from the same auction: Rare Blue Note Salesman’s Folio. This was a spiral-bound portfolio with promoting Blue Note releases from August 1967, with a “salesman’s demonstration record.” I have to admit, I’ve never seen one of these. It sold for $1,009.99. Imagine if there was a pre-Liberty portfolio, or one from the ‘50s? Read more

A Misadventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 5

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Five hundred thousand. Dollars. Half a million. That’s what Debby told me her collection was worth. After all the research she’d done, the piles she had pulled together, the broken dining room table, the $250 Woody Hermans and Benny Goodmans, the Japanese reissues and Blue Note originals, after all of that, the grand total was $500,000. And that’s not all. She’d had several subsequent conversations with the Big Shot Record Dealer From Chicago, who shall henceforth be known here as the BSRD from Chicago. He told her that he would pay her half of the retail value for her records.

I tried not to choke. I tried to remain calm and cool as I explained to her, for at least the tenth time, how things actually work in the real world. That what she thought the retail value of her collection was worth, would not be the same as what the BSRD from Chicago would think it was worth. That dealers are in business to make money and they need margin, they need to account for their time, they need to clean the records, put them on eBay, pay the fees, deal with fickle buyers who return items for no reason at all. That any buyer would have to transport the records, ship them, rent a truck to haul them, who knows. Read more

Old Jazz Collector Habits Die Hard

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Now that I’m sort of settled in from my month of moving, I’m resorting back to some old habits, browsing eBay page by page by page and even occasionally throwing in a bid, even though I really don’t want to be buying records and would much prefer to be selling records. But some habits are hard to break and, when I see what may be a bargain on eBay, it is hard to resist swinging over to the sniping software and placing a bid. There is a mindlessness to it and, as they say, idle hands are the Jazz Collector’s tools. In any case, I didn’t win last night’s snipe, thank goodness, which was this: Jazz By Matthew Gee, Riverside 221, which looked to be an original white label pressing with what may have been original plastic wrap. The record was M- and the cover was VG+ and with two hours to go on the auction there was only one bidder and $9. I figured I could possibly get the record cheaply, so I put in a snipe at about $45, but I didn’t come close. It wound up selling for $126.17.

I was also considering a bid on this one because it wasn’t getting much action:

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Bye, Bye Freddie, and Other EBAY UPdates

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Just to catch up on a few items we’ve been watching at Jazz Collector, before we head into Manhattan for the WFMU Record Fair later today. That test pressing of Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040, is no longer available. After being on auction and failing to meet the seller’s reserve price, it sold for $1,500 as a buy-it-now item. Two of the other items we were watching from that seller are still available: Sonny Rollins Quartet, Prestige 137. This 10-inch LP can be had for $99.99; and The Julius Watkins Sextet, Volume 2, Blue Note 5064. This can also be had for $99.99. 

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Another Chance at Some Choice Items

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A few of the items Jazz Collector was watching the past few days have now been re-listed with Buy-It-Now prices. These include the test pressing of Freddie Hubbard, Open Sesame, Blue Note 4040. If you want this, it is now priced at $1,500. We’ll keep an eye on it to see if it sells. As we mentioned yesterday, a similar copy of Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 4091, sold for $1,950.  Other newly reslisted “Buy-It-Now” items from this reseller include Sonny Rollins Quartet, Prestige 137. This 10-inch LP is priced at $99.99. Also, The Julius Watkins Sextet, Volume Two, Blue Note 5064. This 10-inch LP featuring Hank Mobley is also available for $99.99.