Tag: Miles Davis

Alas, Condition Counts

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lee morganBack to the business of watching records on eBay, starting with: Lee Morgan, Search for the New Land, Blue Note 4169. This is not typically thought of as one of Morgan’s collectible albums and, indeed, it only shows up twice in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and in neither case did it break the $100 barrier. In this listing, however, the seller adds an interesting twist. He claims he bought the album sealed, never played it or opened it, and then broke the seal to list it on eBay to determine whether it was an original pressing, which, surprise, it actually is. So, if the seller is to be believed (I say, why not), then this is truly a mint record. The price has been bid up accordingly and is now at $200 with more than two days to condition.

Here’s another from Lee: Lee Morgan, The Cooker, Blue Note 1578. This looks to be an original pressing with the West 63rd address, deep grooves, ears, etc. It is listed in VG+ condition for the record and M- for the cover. I’d expect that the bidding would reach at least into the $500 range, given what we’re seeing with VG+ Blue Notes of this era, and perhaps

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Tracking a Trio of Jazz Classics

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Jackie JpegHere’s some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching now on eBay, starting with a familiar face: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This looks to be an original pressing, albeit without the NY 23 that makes it more original in the minds of some collectors. Interesting thing about this one is that the record is only VG-, while the cover may be VG++ or even better. The seller including some sound clips and there’s definitely some background noise, although for my ears this would be fine. There are more than two days left on the auction and the price is in the $460 range. I would still expect this to sell for close to $1,000 or more, even in VG- condition.

Jackie McLean, Lights Out!, Prestige 7035. This is an original New York pressing. The record looks to be in VG+ condition and the cover VG++, but both could be better, based on the seller’s description. The seller certain did well by himself with a very clear and nice picture of the cover. This one has five days left and the bidding is already close to $400.

I’m still getting used to seeing this one pop up regularly as a high priced collectible:

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Cool Jazz Art, Record Collector Photos, Candy

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milesTime to clear out the email inbox.

For those of you interested in jazz art work, photography and ephemera, there is an auction coming up next week of works collected by the former Blue Note president Bruce Lundvall. The collection is being auctioned by Doyle New York, and parts of it can be seen here, including this pretty cool picture of Miles at the right. Cool stuff. Not necessarily my thing, but cool. Now, if he were to sell of his vinyl, that would be another story.

Speaking of artwork, I find this to be cool as well: A photographer by the name of Eilon Paz has spent several years photographing record collectors with their collections and has recently published them in a book titled “Dust and Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting.” You can check out the article here and the Web site here. The photographer is in Brooklyn. Surprised he hasn’t found me yet. Perhaps now he will.

CeeDee sends me random notes and listings of records that are typically out of both his price range and mine as well. Here’s a recent one:

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Miles Way Ahead

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milesHere’s an interesting one I seemed to miss: Miles Davis, Miles Ahead, Columbia 1041. This is an original pressing but that’s not what makes it interesting. On the back cover are six signatures: Miles Davis, Julian” Cannonball” Adderley, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. The signatures are all in blue ballpoint pen. The seller admittedly had no idea of the provenance of the signatures or whether they were legitimate. Seems that he picked up the record at a yard sale or estate sale.  The cover was probably in VG+ condition with a seam split on the bottom. There were 39 bids on the item and in the last hour it went from about $2,000 to its final price of $3,100.99. Imagine if the signatures aren’t legitimate? Or, on the other hand, imagine what this would have fetched if the signatures were 100% verified. I do have a question, however. Why would Jimmy Cobb sign his name “Jimmie Cobb?” Are there other circumstances where he went by Jimmie, as opposed to Jimmy or, as on Kind of Blue, James Cobb?

Spreading the Insanity

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miles DavisSo here it is — now we have sellers ripping off bobdjukic to make their auctions look like his and, apparently, to try to weave the same brand of black magic that apparently results in insane prices. And perhaps it works. Take a look at this auction: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. It’s not exactly laid out like one of the bobdjukic auctions, but it’s clearly evocative. And the listing starts with the oh-so-familiar phrase “INSANELY RARE” in all caps, of course. This must be the most widely circulated insanely rare record of all time. The record is graded at near mint minus, whatever that means, and the cover is graded at VG+, which seems highly generous given the obvious ring wear on the front cover and the big signature of a previous owner on the back. But despite whatever flaws we may see in the record and/or the listing, it seems to have that black magic sheen to it and the bidding has already surpassed $260. We didn’t think insanity was a contagious condition, but perhaps we were wrong.

Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Baltimore Part 7

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Blue TrainSo I was back on the phone with Dan and poring through a box of Charlie Parker 78s. There were a bunch of Dials, some Mercurys and Savoys. I had never had much luck securing Charlie Parker Dials, so this would be a very welcome addition to my collection. Then I went into another one of those Capital mailers and it was filled with Blue Notes. A bunch by Miles Davis and Lou Donaldson, including “If I Love Again,” which Dan put on in the background to accompany me. These, too would be a welcome addition to the collection and they made me realize how pleased I was that this collection ended up in my hands because I would really treasure and appreciate these records. There aren’t that many people who collect and appreciate 78s anymore and I, fortunately, happen to be one. They also seem to fit quite nicely into my collection, filling in a lot of the gaps.

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Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Baltimore Part 6

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailSo now some of the best records from the Uncle Bruce Baltimore collection were in my apartment and it was about 1 in the morning and, of course, I couldn’t sleep knowing the records were sitting there waiting to be perused. I moved the records from boxes to crates and began just looking through them one more time, this time with no hurry, no rush. It was a great moment, a man, a dog and his score. I didn’t listen to any of the records at this point. There was just something about keeping them as a whole and letting the feeling linger that I didn’t want to disturb.

When morning came I had to get ready for the WFMU Record Fair. I already had 14 boxes of other records in my cramped apartment. I started looking through the Baltimore collection to see if there was anything obvious I could pull out and possibly sell at the record show. I found a few items: There were three Sonny Rollins Blue Notes I now had in triplicates; the copy of Mating Call was an upgrade from my copy; I already had two mint copies of Study in Brown, so I could sell a spare. Same with John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, Prestige 7123, and one of the Bud Powell Blue Notes

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Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Baltimore Part 4

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MilesI was all set to drive down to Baltimore on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013. But there were a few problems. First, I couldn’t sleep. My mind could not shut down from thinking about the records. Were they originals? Would they be in good condition?  Was I paying too much? How would I pay for them? Did I want to carry all that cash to Baltimore? Which car would I use to get them? Would it be big enough? What if it wasn’t? Would I need to bring boxes for the records? Where would I put the records when I got home? How would I sort them out? How would I get them into the car if the car were already filled with records from the WFMU Record Fair? These were just a few of the thousands of questions swirling inside my brain.

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Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Baltimore Part 2

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailI had thought I was finished buying collections. I had gotten so much joy out of buying the Irving Kalus collection last year, I thought nothing else would compare. It was such a nice collection I didn’t think I’d ever be able to top it, so why try? I’d hardly bought a record at all in more than 18 months. I had passed on every inquiry coming in to Jazz Collector. I was happy and content with the collection I had amassed during the past 40-plus years of being a jazz collector. I am not a dealer, I am a collector, proudly so, and I have no aspirations to be a dealer. My site is Jazz Collector, not Jazz Seller.  It’s been about three years since I even sold a record on eBay. So what would I do with even more records?

Yet here I was with this list of records sitting in front of me. And it was an odd list.

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Not So Comical, but PRetty Expensive

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DexterAs I was writing yesterday’s post with some ruminations on the strength of the market for jazz collectibles, I got two notes from our friend CeeDee indicating with quite clarity that the demand for high-end collectibles is, indeed, continuing to rise. To wit:

There was this note under the subject “geez” with a link to: Dexter Gordon, Dexter Calling, Blue Note 4083. This looked to be an original New York USA pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $1,045. Welcome to the $1,000 bin, Dexter Calling. Wow, or, as CeeDee says, geez.

The second missive came under the subject “hmmm” with an accompanying note that said “big bucks for a listing with such a minimal description, don’t you think.” The listing in question was: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue. This looked to be an original 6-eye stereo pressing but, as CeeDee notes, the description was minimal, although the condition was listed as M- for both the record and the cover. The price was, ahem, $798.

 

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