Speaking of 10-inch Blue Notes, here is Jutta Hipp, Jutta, Blue Note 5056. This looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is a bit over $500, with more than three days left on the auction. The seller is The Jazz Record Center, which is back with another cool auction, this one focused on 10-inch LPs, including a copy of Miles Davis Volume 2, mentioned above, but without added attraction of the blue note story insert. The JRC version looks to be in very nice condition, probably VG++ for the record and cover. No takers so far at $100.

Whilst on the subject of The Jazz Record Center, let’s get back to some of the records we were watching previously, specifically those lovely Sonny Clark’s:

Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579. Final price: $4,49.44. A new record. Well, not a new vinyl record, but a new record high, topping the previous high by more than $1,000, according to Popsike.

Sonny Clark, Dial S for Sonny, Blue Note 1570. Final price: $4,052. Another record high.

Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 4091. Final price: $2,703. Surprise: Not another record high. Popsike had a copy selling for $7,300 back in 2018, but I seem to recall that one was in dispute as to whether it sold and at what price. But there was also a copy that sold for $3,601 in 2022.

Sonny Clark Trio, Time 70010. Final price $1,525. Not quite the highest price ever recorded for this record, but the second highest. In 2013 a copy sold for $1,875, again according to Popsike.

Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. This was not an original pressing, lacking the New York 23 on the label. Still, a lovely pressing to own. The final price was $1,247. A few years ago, I traded a similar copy, in lovely condition, for an original copy of Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd. And I wrote about it here Shades of . . . . . I do remember being slightly admonished by one reader (Mark, if you are still out there) for not getting the right value for my trade, but I think time has shown that they were both of probably equal value based on condition, not to mention that I had two copies of Sonny’s Crib (including an original) and had been searching for an original of Shades of Redd for 40 years.

Moving on . . . as I mentioned at the top, my watch list runneth over, so I should be doing another post over the weekend. I should say that I’m enjoying being back on eBay and posting more regularly, and not just the Jazz Collector Live as I was doing for a while. BTW is anyone listening to the podcasts? I hardly get any feedback.

A couple of other items before I bid adieu. A reader recently sent me a note asking if the listings in my Price Guide are actual sales or just listings. Here is my reply: “They are actual sales. I haven’t updated the Price guide in years because there is a much better site for that.

If you are not familiar with Popsike, you should check them out. They track everything on eBay and are current. I was doing it manually for years, but they have developed software that is far more efficient.”

I also heard from a young reader (age 22), who is looking to make contact with jazz fans who saw live jazz in the 1950s. If you are interested in sharing your experiences – Rudolf? – you can comment on this post or send me an email, or, if you’d like, write a post about your highlights and I will happily publish it here at Jazz Collector. I was born in 1953, and while I did see some jazz in the 1950s — because my Dad was a bit of a nut and took me to jazz clubs before my seventh birthday — I have no real recollections, other than seeing George Shearing and wondering how anyone blind could play the piano, and possibly seeing Miles Davis, which would have meant I may have also seen John Coltrane. But who knows if that is a real memory or just wishful thinking.

The post Lots of Cool Stuff in this Post first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]> https://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/lots-of-cool-stuff-in-this-post/feed/ 4 9559 https://jazzcollector.com/features/the-great-jazz-vinyl-countdown-ad-infinitum/ https://jazzcollector.com/features/the-great-jazz-vinyl-countdown-ad-infinitum/#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2023 15:23:21 +0000 https://jazzcollector.com/?p=9163 To answer some of your post pressing questions. Yes, those are many of my records on the current Carolina Soul eBay auction. Seeing the actual [...]

To answer some of your post pressing questions. Yes, those are many of my records on the current Carolina Soul eBay auction. Seeing the actual listings makes it pretty clear to me one of the reasons why Jason and I weren’t able to strike a deal: We were grading the condition of the records on a different curve. That wasn’t the only reason, but it must have played an important factor. As a collector and former seller on eBay, I was grading the records quite a bit differently than Jason and his team, who are admittedly more in touch with today’s marketplace. Some of the obvious examples are ones I’ve written about here. Like the Jutta Hipp and Zoot Sims record on Blue Note and the Donald Byrd on Transition. I know that I got those records from the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore, and I am pretty sure those records weren’t played more than two or three times. When I listened to them, once each, they were clean. In my collection, I had graded the vinyl condition at M- or VG++ at worst.

On the current auction, the condition of the Jutta Hipp vinyl is listed as VG. So is the Donald Byrd. Yes, I was surprised. My sense is that overall Carolina Soul is much more cautious and conservative in their grading than I would be, both as a collector and a seller on eBay. I don’t question them because they know their business, they are much closer to the market, and they know what issues other collectors may have with certain records. So, if I were to offer advice to anyone thinking about bidding on the records, go with their grading and not my descriptions here at Jazz Collector. But I think it is safe to assume that they are pretty conservative graders so, hopefully, auction winners will be pleasantly surprised.

The other factor in our failing to make an outright deal was that I modified the package that I was offering. To be clear, we had never made an agreement on the phone or on email. It was always going to be based on me deciding on the final package and Jason and Nate coming to view the records personally. It was conceivable they could have driven all the way from Durham to The Berkshires and driven back with nothing. It was also conceivable they could have driven back with a van full of records.

In the final package, I pulled out some of the Blue Notes and Prestiges that I had originally intended to sell, including most of the 10-inch pressings. Got cold feet looking at the covers. I also pulled back all of the Mosaics after The Lovely Mrs. JC reminded me that many of them were birthday presents and, also, she thought they looked really nice on the shelves in our living room. So, what I originally thought would be 6,000 or even 7,000 records, was probably around 5,500. And the balance between original collectibles from the 1950s and 1960s vs very nice records from the 1970s and 1980s (as well as nice reissues), skewed a bit differently than I had originally expected.

To answer some other questions and comments:

I have never talked about specific prices, either buying a collection or, in this case selling a portion of my own collection. I feel like it would be disrespectful to the people I’m doing business with. Perhaps I’m going too far in even talking about the amounts of records in the way that I do. The reality in this case is that the only people who know what was in the package are Jason, Nate and me, so I don’t even see how the asking price would be illuminating or even relevant. But, either way, I’m not talking about it.

Similarly, I feel like I share quite a lot of myself here on the site. I go as far as I feel comfortable and I generally try to be honest with my feelings and not too guarded. Sometimes I realize I’ve shared more than I wanted and I pay the price for being too open. That’s why I appreciate supportive comments such as the ones by Daryl, Lennib, Peter, Clifford and others. Thank you. It’s also why I try to take the high road when someone is consistently negative.

Regardless of my feelings about being open or being guarded, the records are on sale for all of the public to see and for Popsike to record for all eternity. Except that not every record in the current auction is from my collection. Plus, there are some records that have been held back and will be on future auctions.

I still love Moanin’. Great solos, and I’ve always liked the way that Lee Morgan hands off to Benny Golson with a phrase that he repeats. I mention this on the radio show I taped last week. Still waiting for final approval from the station on when/if it will air and when/if it will be available on the internet so I can share it here. Stay tuned.

In his way, KC Ken finally apologized. Apology accepted.

I am not going to be obsessively watching the auction or writing about it obsessively. I feel comfortable that I am in good hands with Carolina Soul and feel like I’ve built a nice rapport with Jason. But when I do write about it again, which I will, at least the pictures I use will be from the actual collection, such as the picture of Byrd Blows Beacon Hill that goes with this post.

Finally, Shades of Redd. I may be going through an existential crisis, but I haven’t lost my mind quite yet. So, yes, I am keeping my original pressing of Shades of Redd. My Japanese reissue as well. And a United Artists pressing.

The post The Great Jazz Vinyl Countdown, Ad Infinitum first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]>

. . . but we couldn’t agree on the price. It was as simple as that and it was all very amicable. Jason and Nate were great and we had a nice, easy rapport. Jason shared pertinent information about his business model and what he and Nate thought they could get for the records. I didn’t want to let the records go for the amount they offered and we were too far apart for a compromise. So, sitting in my living room with Jason, Nate and The Lovely Mrs. JC, I suggested we turn to Plan B. I would go through the records yet again, this time with the idea that we would do a consignment deal.

If I haven’t done so already, I should make perfectly clear that money was not the primary motivation for me. If I wanted to maximize the value, I could sell the records on eBay myself, or even do something here on Jazz Collector, where I could avoid paying eBay fees. But one of the main decisions I made was that I don’t want to be in the jazz vinyl retail business. What I really wanted was to pare down the collection and reduce it by a significant amount. This meant including a lot of really valuable records, but also a lot of records that would not necessarily be worth the effort on Carolina Soul’s part to sell on eBay. I understood.

When I realized that I wasn’t go to pare down the collection in the amount I wanted, I reset my priorities. I was never looking to make a financial killing, but when I was hoping to sell a large part of the collection outright, I loaded the package with a significant amount of the real high-end stuff. A few examples: Thad Jones and Sonny Clark on Blue Note. I had original pressings and later pressings, either Japanese or United Artists. In the original package, I included the originals for Carolina Soul. In the revised consignment deal, it was the later pressings. Blue Train: I had a New York 23 and a West 63^rd. For the package deal I included the New York 23; for the consignment deal it is the West 63^rd. Miles Davis on Blue Note: in the original package I decided to keep the 10-inch and sell the 12-inch. When it became consignment, I kept them all.

I was willing to sell a bunch of high-end records because it will give me a sense of how well the consignment process works. It was a hard call, but I included all of my doubles. I tell you, when you are holding an original copy of Soultrane, Blue Train or Saxophone Colossus in your hands and you know that you searched for years for those records, it is very hard to part with them, even if you have another copy. I’m sure Ruldolf can attest to that as well. Also, there were very rare collectibles that I just don’t listen to: The Donald Byrd on Transition and Jutta Hipps and Grant Greens on Blue Note are examples of that. My Jutta Hipp with Zoot is so clean, I’m hoping we may be able to set a new high for that record.

What’s next? I haven’t heard from Jason for a few days, but per our last email, the records may be going up for auction this week. I gave him carte blanche to list them as he wants, to grade them according to his standards, to use whatever language he wishes to describe them. After all, he’s the one in the business of selling rare jazz vinyl on eBay, and he’s done pretty well without me so far. Stay tuned.

The post A New Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Part 6 first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]> https://jazzcollector.com/features/a-new-adventure-in-jazz-collecting-part-6/feed/ 18 9161 https://jazzcollector.com/features/a-new-adventure-in-jazz-collecting/ https://jazzcollector.com/features/a-new-adventure-in-jazz-collecting/#comments Mon, 10 Apr 2023 13:57:46 +0000 https://jazzcollector.com/?p=9149 Sometime over the next few weeks the seller Carolina Soul Records will be running an eBay auction that will include many really, really nice original [...]

Sometime over the next few weeks the seller Carolina Soul Records will be running an eBay auction that will include many really, really nice original jazz collectibles. These will include a beautiful copy of Jutta Hipp With Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530, along with nice copies of the other 12-inch Jutta Hipp Blue Notes; a really nice original New York pressing of Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus, as well as Blue Note 1542, 1558 and 1581; a West 63^rd copy of John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1557, plus more than a dozen additional original Tranes; a bunch of Miles originals; Donald Byrd Blows Beacon Hill on Transition, Kenny Dorham Blue Note, Lou Donaldson Blue Note. I could go on.

How do I know so much about this upcoming auction?

These are records from my collection.

The Jutta and Zoot record I got when I purchased the Bruce M. West collection in Baltimore from November 2013. The Saxophone Colossus and Donald Byrd on Transition came from the same collection. They are, for the most part, pristine, with just the ink marker for the date on the back corner of the cover. Cannonball Adderley Somethin’ Else, Blue Train and many of the others, including many of the Miles, came from the Irving Kalus collection from July 2012.

Many of these records are duplicates from my collection, specifically all of the Rollins, Coltrane, Miles, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley, etc.  But some, such as the Jutta Hipps, are not.

Why am I doing this? Why did I choose to partner with Carolina Soul? How did I decide what to sell and what to not sell? What does this mean, if anything, for Jazz Collector? The answers to these and other questions will all be answered over the next few days, in the serial tradition of these Adventures in Jazz Collecting. Stay tuned.

The post A New Adventure in Jazz Collecting first appeared on jazzcollector.com.]]>

From the same seller was Eric Dolphy, Out There, New Jazz 8252. This was an original purple label pressing with the deep grooves. The record and cover looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $760. This looks to be the highest price yet recorded for this record. Popsike’s previous high was $618. Speaking of Dolphy, this one from the Carolina Soul auction is getting some heavy action: Eric Dolphy, Out to Lunch!, Blue Note 4163. This is an original New York USA mono pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. The bidding is at $570 and the auction closes today.

Monica Zetterlund and Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Philips 08222. This was an original Swedish pressing listed in Ex+ condition. The final price was $383.

Finally, Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was a United Artists pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG-. The final price was $91.

Dexter Gordon, A Swingin’ Affair, Blue Note 4133. This was also in VG++ condition for the record and the cover. I had predicted that this copy would set a new high for A Swingin’ Affair. The final price was $707. And the final answer? Yes, it did set a new high. The previous high, per Popsike,  was $705.

There are a bunch of records from the $1,000 bin sitting in my watch list. Some of these go back a couple of months. Let me clean those out as a first step in shrinking the list:

Dizzy Reece, Star Bright, Blue Note 4023. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record and cover were both rated in M- condition. The final price was about $1,091.

Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019. This was also an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record and cover looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $1,175.

Grant Green, Idle Moments, Blue Note 4154. This was an original New York USA pressing, probably in VG+ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $1,302.

John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing that looked to be in VG+ condition for the record and VG for the cover. The final price was $1,915.

Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068. This was an original New York yellow label. The record and cover looked to be in about VG+ condition, with a promo stamp on the back. The final price was $1,137.

Jutta Hipp With Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record looked to be in VG+ or VG++ condition, and the cover was graded as VG+. The final price was $2,247.

Introducing Johnny Griffin, Blue Note 1533. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record looked to be M- and the cover was VG+. The final price was $2,045.

Sonny Clark, Dial S for Sonny, Blue Note 1570. This was an original West. 63^rd Street that looked to be in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The final price was $2,605.55.

Donald Byrd, Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill, Transition 17. This was an original pressing without the booklet. The record was graded in VG++/M- condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $1,775.

Hank Mobley Quartet, Blue Note 5066. This was an original 10-inch Lexington Avenue pressing. The record and cover both looked to be in VG+ condition. The final price was $1,625.

Horace Parlan, Us Three, Blue Note 4037. This was an original West 63^rd promo copy. The record was VG and the cover was VG+. The final price was $1,200.

Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This was an original New York yellow label. The record sounded like VG+ condition and the cover VG, based on the seller’s descriptions. The final price was $2,862.

BTW, I got an email from a guy who has a collection that belonged to Bob Scobey, the Dixieland trumpeter who died in 1963. He sent me pictures that were mostly 78 RPM records, with a few 10-inch LPs sprinkled in. He says he has a lot more photos. The collection is in the Los Angeles area. If anyone is interested, send me an email and I’ll put you in touch.

Booker Ervin Quintet, Cookin’, Savoy 12154. This was listed as an original pressing with the dark red labels. They looked somewhat maroonish to me, but that could just be my screen and the light in the room. The seller is highly reliable and experienced, so we’ll assume the issue is at my end and the record is, indeed an original. It was listed in VG++ condition for the record and Ex for the cover and sold for $209.51

Here’s an email exchange between a reader and myself:

Subject: An Overpriced Record
“Just in case you had not seen, there is a copy of Work by Monk With Sonny Rollins on eBay. The seller has it listed at over $100. Love our web site and read it often.”

My reply: Thanks for the heads up. I typically don’t write about over-priced records on eBay. If I did, I wouldn’t have space to write about anything else. 🙂

Here’s another:

“Just discovered your site, while I was googling Jutta Hipp Vol. 2. I guess I’ve had this record for 15 years, but never paid any attention to it, because I never heard of this artist.  Recently, I was flipping through my boxes looking for classical stuff, and came across it. This time it dawned on me that this was a valuable record.

My copy has a really nice cover, but the vinyl is just so-so.  But it sounds great—nothing beats the Blue Note jazz sound.  I would never sell it, but it’s fun to look up what it’s  going for.  Just finished listening to the whole thing for the first time—it ends much too soon.  Guess I’ll have to pick up reissues of the other Jutta albums.

I got this at a tag sale in Westchester, where I got all of my good jazz records.  I started collecting very late in the game, 1993.  But if you were really persistent and creative you could find things. It’s also pretty cool that I used to live in Queens in the 1970’s, probably in a neighborhood much like where Jutta lived.  I can just hear her say “Mein Gott” when she was told that she had $35,000 in royalties waiting for her at Blue Note.  My God, I’m sure she really could have used that money many times in the last 40 years of her life.

As to my background, I was a classical saxophone major at Juilliard, and had Hall Overton as my music theory teacher one year.  During that year, Lee Konitz sat in on the class—he never went to college and wanted to catch up.  He helped to start a little student jazz group—this was way before Juilliard started its Jazz program—this was 1972. One thing Lee had us do was play Parker transcriptions in unison. Anyway, I’m really excited to have found this site.”

I read this note and had no idea what he was talking about with the Mein Gott and $35,000 in royalties. So, back to Google and there was this: The Brief Career and Self-Imposed Exile of Jutta Hipp, Jazz Pianist. Thanks to Aaron Gilbreath for the great article, and thanks to our new reader for the reference.

Here’s another email:

“I’ve been looking for an album called archipelago on and off since the 70s when I heard it. A great jazz fusion disc, very colorful cover. Ever heard or heard of it? Please email when you have time. Thanks!”

The answer is I don’t know the record, or the cover, but rather than sending an email, here’s the question in a post, where it is very, very likely to get an intelligent factual answer.

And another:

Subject: Blue Train US Blue Note 1577 63^rd

“It would be very kind if you could help me with some information of what makes this record 1st or 2nd edition. I have read a lot of speculative or unclear information on different pages and I would love to just have the facts. Thank you soooo much.”

My reply:

Here’s a post from a few years ago: Blue Train: Honing in on the Original Labels

My understanding is that collectors view the New York 23 label on one side as the original first pressing, and the West 63rd Street on both sides as the second pressing. When you look at the prices in auctions, the New York 23 on one side seems to hold more interest for the hardcore collectors.

Here‘s another:

Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby, Riverside 9399. This looks to be an original black label stereo pressing. This is an album for which I prefer the stereo version and I was actually thinking of bidding on this, with a start price of $199. I have an original mono and a Japanese stereo and typically when I listen, which is often, since this is The Lovely Mrs. JC’s favorite record of mine, I listen to the Japanese pressing. But when I looked closely at this listing, it mentioned minor surface noise. On some records, minor surface noise is only a minor distraction, but Waltz for Debby is a record I want to be clean, no pops, clicks or static if it can be avoided. So, I shall pass.

Here’s one more with slight surface noise and a high price tag: Sonny Rollins, Worktime, Prestige 7020. This is an original pressing with the New York label. The seller mentions the pink color on the cover. Is that definitely a thing? I have a copy with the pink cover, and I have another copy with a yellow cover. The pink is the one without the spine, so I guess that one is the original original. In any case, this listing mentions surface noise on both sides, and is still looking at a minimum bid of $1,200. So far there are no takers with more than two days left on the auction.

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. This is an original white label promotional copy. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover is Ex or Ex+ condition. There are more than four days left on the auction and the bidding is in the $170 range, with 13 bids. Curious to see where this ends up. We were watching a promo Kind of Blue a few weeks ago that had a $600 start price and no bidders — but it also had some condition questions. We have seen promo copies sell for as much as $2,700 in the past, but this one will not get to that level.

Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims, Blue Note 1530. This looks to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the frame cover. The record is listed in VG+ condition, based on a mark on one track. The cover is listed as VG+. Bidding is in the $800 range with nearly five days left as of this writing.

Joe Henderson, Inner Urge, Blue Note 4189. This is an original New York USA mono pressing with the plasylite ear. The record and cover are both listed in M- condition and the price is in the $100 range with more than five days left. Given what we’ve seen with Blue Note prices lately, would anyone be surprised if this one came close to (or into) the $1,000 bin? We’ll keep an eye on it.

The outcome is mixed, so far: The Curtis Fuller sold in one day for $700 in less than mint condition. The Jutta Hipp, in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for the cover, is still sitting on eBay with a price of $725. Anyway, Daryl asked if we ever focus on buy-it-now auctions, which we rarely do, and why not, for which there is no logical answer other than the fact that we like watching auctions. Anyway, Daryl posed the question as follows and asked what readers see as the pros and cons, so I figured it was worth a discussion for a day or so here:

“Jazzcollector.com focuses on auction purchases. Has your column ever focused on “Buy Now” purchases of great jazz lp’s… or the broader experience of buyers regarding the process–not just the outcome– of the auction experience?  What do readers see as pros/cons of one vs. another? While I can’t say it is a question that had previously crossed my mind, with the exception of being shut out of auctions the last minute as the autobot bids kick in, I find it of interest this week given our discussion and my experience. Perhaps you find it interesting, too.”