Tag: Max Roach

Pandemic, Prestige, Impulse, Blue Note

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How are you all doing out there in the midst of a global pandemic? I’m doing well, despite the fact that I haven’t posted here at Jazz Collector since August 3, which is one of  the longest inactive stretches for me since I started doing this as a blog site nearly 12 years ago. These are crazy times. I’m home more than ever, which would seem to be an opportunity to listen to my records more frequently. But that hasn’t been the case. I’m still working full time. My son was here for nine weeks. My wife, The Lovely Mrs. JC, is now working from home, so she is around all the time. My daughter and son-in-law just moved into a new house right near mine up here in The Berkshires. Frankly, while the music, the record collection and the blog have often served as an escape in the past, I haven’t turned to them as frequently as I would have expected throughout the course of this pandemic. Read more

How Do You Listen?

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Lots of philosophical/existential comments on the previous post, which we all love, or at least some of us, or at least me.  I have another one: What do you actually listen to and how do you listen? For myself, I have two primary listening modes. One is really listening, which is sitting down with no other distractions, no devices, no cell phones, no iPads, no books or magazines, putting a record on the turntable, actively listening and concentrating solely on the music. When I do this, vinyl is the only choice and I would say, at this stage of my life, I don’t do this as often as I would like and, when I do, my choices are typically records that I already know and music I am familiar with. I can’t tell you exactly why, but I think it is because I don’t do this frequently enough and, when I do listen to my favorite records, it feels like I am reuniting with old friends, and it’s a great feeling. The other night, for example, I had about three hours I was able to devote to listening, which was a somewhat extraordinary event. I didn’t put a single record on the turntable that wasn’t an old friend. I started with Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street; moved on the Sonny Rollins Plus Four; Roland Kirk, Volunteered Slavery, the live side at Newport; Thelonious Monk, Criss-Cross; Dave Brubeck plays Bernstein, the West Side story side; then I was in the mood for a vocal, so I went with Ray Charles and Betty Carter. It was a lovely way to spend an evening and, after doing so, I vowed to myself to do it more often. Read more

Old Jazz Vinyl and a Young Jazz Singer

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Catching up on eBay, starting with Paul Chambers Quintet, Blue Note 1564. This looks to be an original West 63rd Street pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding is in the $250 range with three days left on the auction. How about Art Taylor, Tailor’s Wailers, Prestige 7117. This is an original yellow label with the New York address. The record and cover are both listed in VG+ condition, although the seller does mention “minimal noise,” which is better than lots of noise, but you do have concerns when there is mention of any noise at all. To be fair, I guess minimal noise does relate to some VG+ records, since VG+ is somewhat of a catchall description. Anyway, the start price for this record is $250 and so far there are no bidders. Read more

Jazz Vinyl, Autographs, Questions, Obits and Memories

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I’m watching a few items from the Jazz Record Center eBay auction that is closing later today, starting with Max Roach, Jazz in ¾ Time, Mercury 80002. This is an “original” Stereo pressing, quotation marks to signal that the original stereo pressing is not the same as the original album. The Stereo pressing was issued later than the original mono, and with two fewer tracks. What makes this more interesting to me is the Max Roach dated autograph on the cover. Pretty nice. It’s also a favorite record of mine. My father had a copy that he played often, and, of course, look at the personnel, Roach, Rollins, Dorham, Ray Bryant, George Morrow and another pianist named Billy Wallace, whose credentials, I have to admit, I had to Google. Here’s an interesting thread. Anyway, I’m thinking of even bidding on this record in honor of dad, who would have been 94 next week. Read more

Some Jazz Vinyl for Our Files

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Just looking at some random items from my watch list, starting with Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Study in Brown, Emarcy 36037. This was described as an original pressing, but clearly it isn’t, with the black writing on the back cover instead of the blue. Also, the cover was graded at M-, but it’s not that either, with both a sticker and writing on the back. So perhaps it was not surprising that the record did not sell at a start price of $300. But it’s back again. I just wanted an excuse to run a picture of the cover. And pose a quick question: I keep all of my Brown and Roach records filed under Brown, and I assume those that file by artist do the same. Does anyone file these under Roach? Drummers, anyone?

This one did sell:

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Shock and Awe!!!!!!

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duke copyReaders continue to express shock and awe at the prices on the funkyousounds auction of the Dr. Herb Wong collection. One missive comes in from Dylan concerning this record: Duke Pearson, The Right Touch, Blue Note 84267. This is a Liberty pressing. An original Liberty, but a Liberty nonetheless. And it is a stereo pressing. This one had a promo stamp. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $560. And then there was Gerry Mulligan, Night Lights, Phillips 600-108. This is the one we mentioned the other day. Stereo pressing, promo stamp, VG++ condition. We were surprised when the bidding had reached $60. The final price was $434. If anyone has a viable explanation for this one, I’d love to hear it: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges, Blues Summit Verve 8822. This is a reissue — the type that is very hard to sell on eBay for even $10 or $15. This was a sealed copy and it sold for $349.67. Or this one: Miles Davis, Milestones, Columbia 40837. This is just a plain old reissue. I remember seeing these all the time in $2 or $5 bins. This one sold for $278. I’m going to do a few more, just because I’m sitting here absolutely stunned as I go through the list:

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The Stupid List

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Dexter copyI was watching that Clifford Brown autograph (as well as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, et al), but didn’t have enough interest to actually bid on it. To my surprise, there were only five bidders altogether, which would seem to indicate minimal interest at that price, which turned out to be $482.11. I did casually mention when I wrote the earlier post that Clifford was probably among my top five musicians of all time and that I would ponder that and do another post on it this weekend. Sometimes, as we all do, I say and do stupid things. It was stupid to even suggest that I could create a list of top five favorite musicians, when there are so many musicians I love and each musician brings something different and special to my life and my enjoyment of music. Last night I was listening to the Dexter Gordon record, Getting’ Around, Blue Note 4204, and I was thinking about how much I love Dexter and how much I treasured seeing him as often as I did in the early and mid-1970s, particularly his very first club date when he began playing again in the United States. And, goodness, what an amazing ballad performance on “Who Can I Turn To.” And then I put on two Miles Davis records, Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain, and I thought

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Prices Rising, Regardless of Condition, It Seems

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clifford copyLet’s catch up on some of the jazz records were were watching on eBay before we were so rudely interrupted by life.

Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Study in Brown, Emarcy 36037. This is, of course, one of the classic records of the era. I haven’t noticed it selling for big prices in recent years, but perhaps that’s just me not noticing. Looking in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, I see we have several instances of the record selling for between $400 and $700. This looked to be an original pressing in just VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. I was surprised to see that it sold for $280.55, which is why I was watching it. I thought it would sell for less.

I thought this would sell for less as well: Thelonious Monk Plays, Prestige 189. This was an original 10-inch LP in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $504.99. That seller did well not just with the Monk and Clifford records, but also with the Sun Ra records he had and some of his other 10-inch LPs, including Dexter Gordon Quintet, Dial 204. This was an original pressing listed in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $333.

Here’s one for the $1,000 bin:

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Some Surprises From Jazz Record Center Auction

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gerry mulligan jazz vinylOur friends at the Jazz Record Center had an auction last week and here are some of the results:

Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges, Verve 8367. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo and it was in M- condition for both the record and the cover. I was surprised to see this one sell for $148.37. Neither Hodges nor Mulligan is typically all that collectible, and this is one of the later Verves among those with the trumpeter logo. Any theories as to why this would sell for nearly $150? Is the market shifting back to Verves a little?

I’ve never seen this one before: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, A Nite at Carnegie Hall, Black Deuce. This was the full set of 78s capturing the historic September 29, 1947 concert. As noted in the listing, this was a pirated record release, but it was the first of the issues in any form. The set looked to be in excellent, near mint condition. They sold for $688.

This one almost made it into the $2,000 bin:

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Potpourri: Kenny Burrell, Max Roach, Roland Kirk

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maxJazz Collector is on the mailing list for a number of news releases and updates from record companies, such as Mosaic, although we never seem to be able to get on any lists for review copies of anything (hint, hint if anyone from Mosaic is paying attention). Anyway, a few things that have come into the mailbox have intrigued us lately, so we will depart from our usual eBay watching today to share some stuff.

Kenny Burrell — To Preserve ‘America’s Gift to the World’ A Jazz Elder Becomes a UCLA Professor

This is an interesting article on Kenny Burrell and his longtime commitment to jazz education. Definitely worth a read.

Max Roach — Relevatory Archive of a Giant of Jazz

Interesting stuff. At their peak the Brown-Roach Quintet was making $500 total for two nights at Basin Street, $900 for six days at the Cafe Bohemia. Today, there are single copies of records recorded at the Cafe Bohemia that sell for more than that.

Roland Kirk — The Limelight/Verve Years

This is a limited edition LP box set. The email containing the reminiscence by Michael Cuscuna caught my eye. I, too,  Read more

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