Random Vinyl with Random Musings

Time to clean out my watch list in time for the holiday weekend. Some of this stuff goes  back a few weeks (or more) but I kept them in the queue thinking that someday I would do exactly what I am doing now. Here goes, starting backwards, from May there was Howard McGhee, Dusty Blue, Bethlehem 6055. This was an original mono pressing that was listed in VG condition for the record and G for the cover. It was in pretty bad shape, yet it sold for nearly $500. I don’t understand what it is about the record or condition that warranted that kind of price, with a bidding war to boot, so perhaps someone here can elucidate me. Read more

Random Rare (And Not So Rare) Jazz Vinyl

Back on eBay and here are a few that caught my eye: Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 1, Blue Note 1596. This is an original West 63rd Street, deep-groove pressing and, of course, it has the Andy Warhol cover. The record is listed in VG+ condition and the cover is VG++.  The bidding closes in about a day and the price is at $405. The seller is one of my favorite record stores, Round Again Records in Providence, RI. My son went to undergraduate and grad school at Brown, so I used to visit the store quite often and always had a nice conversation with the owner Steve, and always walked away with a few nice records. It’s been a while – Michael finished grad school in 2010 – so it’s nice to see that Steve is still buying and selling records and finding those occasional lovely Blue Note scores. Makes me think about taking a drive over there. Hey, it’s only a couple of hours. One of these days. Read more

A New Year’s Jazz Vinyl Treasure Trove

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 Notes Galore, For a Price

Catching up on a recent interesting Blue Note auction from the Jazz Record Center. Lots of items for the $1,000, $2,000 and even the $3,000 bin, starting with Lee Morgan Volume 3, Blue Note 1557. This was an original New York 23 pressing that looked to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The final price was $3,248. This was not the highest price ever for this record, but it’s close. A couple of years ago a similar copy sold for $4,177, according to Popsike. We’ll keep going on these for a bit, continuing with Curtis Fuller, The Opener, Blue Note 1567. This was an original West 63rdStreet pressing that was listed in Mint condition for the record and “virtually new: condition for the cover. This one sold for $2,638, also close to a record high, but not quite reaching the $3,051 for a copy in 2015.

Sonny Clark Trio, Blue Note 1579. Original West 63rdStreet pressing, Mint condition for the record and the cover, $2,425.

Walter Davis Jr., Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. Original West 63rdStreet pressing. Mint condition for the record and the cover, $2,413.

Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan, Peckin’ Time, Blue Note 1574. Original West 63rdStreet pressing, Mint condition, $2,137.

Sabu Martinez, Palo Congo, Blue Note 1561. Original West 63rdStreet pressing, promo copy, Mint condition, $1,580.

Kenny Burrell, Blue Lights Volume 1, Blue Note 1596. Original West 63rdStreet pressing with the Andy Warhol cover. Mint condition for the record, perhaps slightly less for the cover, $1,221.

Lou Donaldson, Wailing With Lou, Blue Note 1545. Original New York 23 pressing, probably VG++ condition for both the record and the cover, $1,225.

That’s it for now. I could go on, but my fingers have gotten sore from typing in all of those numbers.

 

 

 

 

Vinyl Musings and a Plea to Help Kenny Burrell

I spent the last three weeks galivanting around Europe. Alas, no record stores or scores on this trip, not even any live jazz. But, I’m back and checking up on some of the things I missed whilst away, including an auction from the Jazz Record Center that featured Art Pepper, Modern Art, Intro 606. This was an original pressing that looked to be in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $2,225. The same auction also featured Bill Evans Trio, Portrait in Jazz, Riverside 315. This was an original pressing with the small blue and silver reels logo. The record and cover both looked to be in new, pristine condition. The final price was $1,385. Finally, this is not music I am familiar with, but I’m sure it will be of interest to Clifford and other readers: Maulawi, Strata SRI-104-74. This looks to be an original pressing in M- condition. The final price was $910.

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Are You Ready for the $6,000 Bin?

Got a note from our friend Japhy yesterday pointing me to this: John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an original pressing with the New York 23 labels and “Review Copy” stamp on the labels. It was listed in Ex+ condition, which I would imagine to be VG++, and the sellers points at that there are some “slightly audible” tics. The cover is listed in M- condition. Not that it matters, but it had a Blue Note inner sleeve with the Tina Brooks album Back to the Tracks, which, to my knowledge, wasn’t released until sometime in the 1980s. In any case, this record sold for $6,343, which is certainly why Japhy would have forwarded it to me. According to Popsike this copy of Blue Train, tics and all, sets a new price record and is the first to surpass $5,000, let alone $6,000.

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Jazz Vinyl to Ring in 2019: Happy New Year

Happy New Year jazz lovers. Of course we will ring in 2019 with some rare jazz vinyl on eBay, starting with Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, Riverside 201. This was an original white label pressing with the original cover. When we first looked at this a couple of weeks ago it was sitting in the $250 range. It wound up selling for $1,730.55, which is the highest price, by far, yet recorded by Popsike for this record.

Curtis Fuller, Blues-ette, Savoy 12141. This is an original red label pressing. The record is listed in VG++ condition and the cover is VG. The auction closes in a couple of days and the bidding is in the $380 range. I had a sealed copy of this record in perfect condition. I opened the seal and, surprise, it was an original pressing. For some reason I sold it and the price was less than the $380 that’s already bid on this copy.

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Warhol, Blue Notes, Sun Ra: An Eclectic Day at Jazz Collector

It’s not often that you go onto eBay and find $40,000 items in a search of Jazz records and think that, yes, perhaps that is a legitimate price someone would pay. What do you think of this: Original Study Andy Warhol RCA Records Kenny Burrell Blue Note 1543 Jazz Album? From the listing it looks like an original pen and ink drawing from Warhol’s own hand. It seems to be that there is enough certification to assert that this really is a Warhol original. I’d hang it in my home. Not for $40,000, but I’d still hang it in my home. This has already gone through one eBay cycle that I know of and is back again at the same $40,000 start price. There is a “Best Offer” option as well, so you never know.  Read more

A Trio of Rare Jazz Vinyl For Your Perusal

Back on eBay catching up on a few items, starting with Teddy Charles/Mal Waldron, Coolin’, New Jazz 8216. This was an original purple label deep groove pressing. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++, although the former owner’s name stamped three times on the back lessens the grade for me. The final price was $478, which is quite a lot for a session led by Teddy Charles. Is this now just the going rate for original New Jazz pressings, or is there something in the personnel — Mal Waldron, John Jenkins, Idrees Sulieman — that makes this record a bit more of interest to collectors than some of the other Teddy Charles dates? This is not a record I have ever owned, so I can’t vouch for the music, but the music seems to hold less sway these days in determining how much collectors are willing to pay. Not a big fan of the cover, BTW, so that wouldn’t helping in piquing the interest of this collector.

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Heavy Hitters, Day Two

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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