Tag: Miles Davis

Miles and Trane, Big Prices

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One of our readers sent me the results of this auction with a “what the hell is going on here” type of note: John Coltrane, Africa/ Brass, Impulse 6. This was an original mono pressing with the orange label and it was probably in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $294 and there were 17 bids. Indeed, that is quite a bit higher than we normally see for this record, but is it outrageous? I don’t think so. I think it’s a sign of times to come: Coltrane, original Impulse, nice condition, hard to find. It’s got a lot going for it. Plus, it’s a great record, right? And Coltrane’s first on Impulse.

Look at the price of this one as well: Miles Davis, Relaxin’, Prestige 7129. This was an original New York pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It had more than 260 views and wound up selling for $799.10. It’s a great record and an original pressing, and the price is reflective of today’s market, isn’t it?

 

Guest Column: Treasure Hunt — Prestige

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Miles Davis at Prestige in New York

So Don Lucky was asking me offline about something to do with Prestige, and I suggested he contact Rufolf, and Rudolf replied with this fascinating tale of how he ended up at the Prestige warehouse, and Don Lucky and I said Rudolf you have to write this up  for the rest of the Jazz Collector audience, and Rudolf said sure, and here it is. Enjoy.

Treasure Hunt — Prestige
How a Courtesy Call Turned Out to be the Discovery of the Cave of Ali Baba

By Rudolf Flinterman

In the ‘50s/early ’60s a simple catalog of say Prestige, Blue Note or Contemporary could be of invaluable worth. Without, one simply could not know what was in the market. There were no discographies like Jepsen and Ruppli and no Internet, of course. At the time I would regularly write to Prestige, Pacific Jazz, Blue Note, Atlantic and Contemporary requesting to send me a catalog, which they all did. Lester Koenig always wrote a kind letter. Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic was so kind to send me copies of deleted items, for free!

In 1959 Prestige sent me an offer to become a free member of their Jazz & Folk Record Club in Teaneck, N.J. The formula was simple: Pay for two, receive three. Especially for New Jazz, with a list price of $3.98, that was an interesting proposition. I still have the box of the first shipment from Prestige. For three records I paid 2-X-$3.98 plus 89 cents postage, i.e. $2.95 per album, which was the equivalent of 10,75 Dutch florins. At the time the list price in Holland was 18 Dutch florins. No wonder that I became a frequent buyer at Prestige throughout the ‘60s, despite the fact that the sea transport and customs took more than two months.

In 1969 I made my first trip to the U.S. We stayed for one week in Manhattan. I travelled with the then-Mrs.-Rudolf. The first day we made a boat trip with the Circle Line to have a general idea of the city. I then proposed to her to make a courtesy call to a certain Mr. Bob Weinstock – “who would be most happy to make our acquaintance,” I assured. She could hardly object to this great idea. So the next day she found herself in the bus at the Port Authority to go to Bergenfield, N.J.

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Fairly Common LPs, Uncommon Prices

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Many of you in the Jazz Collector audience complain about the seller bobjdukic, but you have to give the guy credit – whatever he does, he is able to get prices that no one else can dream of. I’m watching several of his auctions now and am pretty amazed at where the bidding is going. He must have regular customers who trust him and are well satisfied with what he delivers. Here are a few cases in point: Stan Getz, Getz. Gilberto, Verve 8545. Was there a more popular, more widely produced jazz album in the 1960s? Could you waltz into any record store now (if you can find one) and find a copy of this record in reasonable condition? This one has 11 bids and is currently priced at $219 with more than a day to go.  Miles Davis, “Four and More,” Columbia 2453. Again, this is a great record, but not all that uncommon. This one has been bid up to more than $100. Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This is a stereo pressing. Again a great record, but not that hard to find, even in nice condition. This one has been bid up to $178.50.

Vinyl Tracking From the Jazz Record Center

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Here are a few more results of jazz vinyl auctions by the Jazz Record Center last week. Just in case anyone is interested, I have no vested interest in these auctions or special relationship with the Jazz Record Center. I like to watch their auctions as a bellwether because they are probably the most reputable seller in the market.

Working With the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7166. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey address. It was a review copy in mint condition. The price was $472.35. There was a time when you could get the Miles Prestige records relatively inexpensively, but not anymore.

Here’s another nice one from Prestige: Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, The Brothers, Prestige 7022. This was an original New York yellow label pressing in M- condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. This one has the frame cover. The price was $234.72. How often are you going to find a record like this in this kind of condition? Nice.

Here’s a Blue Note that, surprisingly, did not break into the $1,000 bin.

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French Zoot, Miles Smiles & An LP That Is Hipp

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After all these years of collecting and visiting record stores, I still get a kick out of seeing records I’ve never seen before. Case in point: Zoot Sims All Stars, Barclay 84019. This looks to be an original 10-inch French pressing with a really nice looking cover and label. The seller describes the vinyl as being in M- condition, and the cover is probably VG++. The start price is about $200 and there are five days to go.

Speaking of European pressings, I had never seen this cover of Miles Davis, Porgy and Bess, CBS 62108. Think about how many candid shots of Miles you’ve seen where he’s actually smiling. Here’s one. Very nice cover. This is a stereo pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and cover. So far there are no takers at a mere $19.

From the time I saved the record to when I started writing this post, a gap of about 15 minutes, the price of this record shot up by several hundred dollars: Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume 1, Blue Note 1515. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record is in VG condition and the cover is VG++. The price is now more than $600 and will probably keep on rising.

Today’s Jazz Vinyl Watch: Prestige, Blue Note(s)

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Here’s some of the rare jazz vinyl we’re watching now on eBay:

Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins, Dig, Prestige 7012. This looks to be an original New York pressing with the gray cover as opposed to the blue cover. I would also assume that this is the “frame” cover, otherwise known as kakubushi. I always preferred the gray cover, of course, since it is the original, and I wonder why Prestige chose to change the color on the subsequent release. Perhaps someone out there knows — Rudolf? This one was in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover and is currently in the $150 price range with more than a day to go.

I am no longer in the market for this record, having just acquired an original pressing. Yay! Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This appears to be an original pressing and the condition seems to be somewhere between VG+ and M-. The start price is around $750 and, so far, there are no takers. The second copy, viewed here, looks to be in slightly worse condition, rated as “excellent” by the seller, although he describes light scuffs and the picture shows a back that has some dirt and wear. If I were wagering, I’d say this record and cover are VG+, the way I grade things. This one already has two bids and is at $404 with six days to go.

Labor Day Blues: Kind of Blue, Candy, Monk & Sonny

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Here’s some jazz vinyl we’ve been watching over this Labor Day weekend here in the U.S., the nominal end of summer:

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. This was an original promo pressing with the white and red label and six eyes. For the most part, promo copies of jazz records don’t necessarily add to the value. With Kind of Blue, however, that is not the case: We usually see the promo copies selling for a premium. I can understand why: It looks way cool and has the smell of authenticity of an original pressing. This copy was in M- condition for both the record and the cover, with a very nice picture, and it sold for $555. There were 31 bids. quite a high number.

There’s been a lot of chatter on the Jazz Collector site about the auction last week by the seller bobdjukic, who always seems to generate a lot of interest, partly because of his extensive use of hyperbole but moreso, methinks, because of his ability to generate high prices. Here are a couple of his auctions we were watching:

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Catching Up on Rare and “Megarare” Jazz Vinyl

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Here are some other items we were watching before we got distracted.

Remember that nice batch of 10-inch LPs? They did quite well. Kenny Dorham Quintet, Debut 9. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was near mint. The price was $430.55. Sonny Rollins Quintet, Prestige 186. This one was also VG++ for the record and near mint for the cover. It sold for $510. Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins, Prestige 187. This was in near mint condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $305. I’d take it at that price if, indeed, I was buying records these days.

Even though this was was described as “megarare” — shades of BobD — it didn’t sell at a start price of about $300: John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was a stereo pressing with the bullseye label. The record was VG++ and the cover was VG+.

Tracking Another Batch of 10-Inch Jazz Vinyl

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There’s another really nice set of 10-inch LPs on eBay now, including: Sonny Rollins Quintet, Prestige 186. This is an original pressing with a great cover. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is M-. The start price is about $500 and there are no bidders yet. If I was in a buying mood, which I’m not, I’d consider this for $500. When will you ever see a clean copy of this record again? The same seller has several more beauties. How about this: Miles Davis With Sonny Rollins, Prestige 187. This is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The start price is about $300 and, again, there are no bidders yet. One more: Kenny Dorham Quintet, Debut 9. This one is VG++ for the record and M- for the cover. The start price is around $350 with no bidders as of this post. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with these records. How often do you find such nice collectibles in such nice condition? Start prices are high, but . . . .

High Prices Yes, But Not as High As Before?

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It’s been a few days since I’ve been on eBay or posted on Jazz Collector. So many records, so little time. Here’s an update on some of the ones we were watching last week:

The Jazz Record Center seemed to do well with it’s most recent auction, although careful scrutiny would suggest that prices are down from previous expectations. That copy of Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134, sold for $1,891.88. Last year at this time we logged two copies of this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide at more than $2,000. Miles Davis Volume 3, Blue Note 5040. This original 10-inch LP was in M- condition for both the record and the cover and sold for $565. Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 2, Blue Note 5038. This also looked to be in M- condition. It sold for $359. One more: Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This was an original New York pressing with the frame cover. The record looked to be in M- condition and the cover was probably around VG++. The price was $345. In my view, somebody got a bargain on this one.

There was also that other copy of Conte Candoli, Cool Gabriels, Groove 1003 in VG++ to M- condition. It looked for a while that this one might go cheap, but it sold for $1,705, which, given this one’s condition and recent prices of other copies, was cheap, relatively. This one, of course, has the Andy Warhol cover.

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