The Rise of the Second Pressing?
Tag: Miles Davis
Adventures in Jazz Collecting, Part 4
So I finally got home on Monday after my trip to Trenton and massive traffic on the Belt Parkway through Brooklyn and Queens. I started unloading the records, My nosy neighbor was watching. I smiled. “Records,” I said. I’m not sure she knew what I was talking about. The records filled the front foyer of my house. There were seven crates altogether. I had decided to just take everything that Rob had. This included Christmas records, and Aretha Franklin, and some pretty well damaged jazz records. The first two crates I looked through had nothing. Was it all an illusion? In my rush of adrenaline and musk and mold and dust, did I imagine that there were collectible jazz records in this batch? I went searching for the Tina Brooks record. This I knew was a collectible. I grabbed it. The moldy flakes from the cover fell off in my hands. I grabbed the vinyl, went upstairs and put it on my VPI record cleaner. The dust and dirt and grime and mold came off, but the record was in only VG condition. And the cover? It was pretty bad, and it reeked of mold and musk. I threw it in the garbage. Not a good start.
Miles 1964 Downbeat: The Winner Is . . .
It’s been two weeks since we posted our latest contest to give away a free collectible, so it is now time to put the eligible names into a hat and round up Mrs. Jazz Collector for our drawing. The traffic has been quite high on the site the past two weeks, and there have been quite a bit of comments, but fewer individuals commenting than we’ve had in the past. Perhaps there’s less interest in this collectible because it is not a record. However, I think these Downbeats are great, and this one, with the Miles Davis Blindfold Test from 1964, is a classic. The eligible names this week are Bethellodge, Dave Sockel, Michel, Rudolf, John, Erich Schultz, Luke and Chris Mitchell. And the names are in the hat (actually they are, as always, strewn across my desk) and Mrs. JC is selecting, and the winner is . . . . .
Watching A Miles 10-Inch Not Sell
Here’s one we’ve been watching with some degree of interest:
Miles Davis All Stars Volume 1, Prestige 196. There’s been a lot of discussion on the site about the level of interest in 10-inch LPs and how it may be waning, even among the most devout collectors. I noticed this one a few weeks ago because it’s a great record with a great cover and the vinyl was in M- condition, perhaps unplayed. The cover looked like something we would rate as VG+, with a partial seam split.
This was first up for auction a couple of weeks ago and received a top bid of $107.50, which failed to reach the seller’s reserve price. The seller put it up again this week and got a top bid of $91.03, also failing to reach the reserve price. So, could we conclude, in today’s market this is now a $100 record?
This Week on Ebay: Miles, Clifford, Trane
We haven’t been very active selling on eBay lately: Just life getting in the way. However, this week we found some time to clean and post a bunch of items. It’s a mixed bag, but there are a few nice ones, including:
Miles Davis, Blue Haze, Prestige 7054. This is an original New York yellow label Prestige. It’s in VG+ condition, and sounds quite nice. We put a start price of $30 and it’s already received a bid, so we expect there to be some action.
We also put up a nice-sounding original copy of Clifford Brown, Jam Session, Emarcy 36002. This also has a start price of $30. It’s a great record, with a lot of positive energy.
As you may have noticed on the Jazz Collector site, we’ve been going through some old Downbeat Magazines, looking for collectibles (we’re even giving one away). We’ve put a few up for sale in our eBay story, and we put a very interesting one up for auction yesterday. It is:
Free Collectible: 1964 Downbeat Featuring Miles Davis Blindfold Test
We’ve been looking through our collection for something interesting for our next give-away contest and this is what we’ve come up with: A copy of Downbeat Magazine from June 18, 1964, featuring a really interesting Blindfold Test with Miles Davis. I’ll give you a few teasers from the interview:
On Eric Dolphy, Mary Ann from Far Cry, New Jazz 8270: “That’s got to be Eric Dolpy — nobody else could sound that bad! The next time I see him I’m going to step on his foot. You print that. I think he’s ridiculous.” Sadly, Dolphy passed away just two months later.
On Cecil Taylor: “Take it off! That’s some sad shit, man.” (Although, of course, Downbeat did not print the word ‘shit’).
There was one track that Miles actually liked and rated with five stars. That was:
Price Updates: Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Duke Pearson
Some more for the Jazz Collector Price Guide:
Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This was an original pressing in M- condition, both record and cover. The price was $610.
Phil Woods, Pairing Off, Prestige 7046. This was an original pressing with the New York label. The record and cover were M-. The price was $338.
Bill Evans, Moonbeams, Riverside 428. This was an original pressing with the blue label.
Price Updates: Duke Jordan, Miles, Gonsalves
Here are some new items for the Jazz Collector Price Guide:
Kenny Dorham and the Jazz Prophets Volume 1, ABC Paramount 122. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition. The price was $405.
Introducing Wayne Shorter, VeeJay 3006. This was an original pressing. The record was M-. The cover was VG++, with a cutout hole. The price was $141.50.
Gil Melle, Gil’s Guests, Prestige 7063. This was an original New York pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $200.
Miles Davis, Dig, Prestige 7014. This was an original New York pressing with the grey cover. The record and cover were VG+. The price was $125.95.
Duke Jordan, Flight to Jordan, Blue Note 4046. This was an original West 63rd Street
Price Updates: Kenny Drew, Hawk, Hank, Pres
We’ve been adding records to the Jazz Collector Price Guide and came upon another beautiful 10-inch LP that sold recently: The Ideation of Kenny Drew, Norgran 29. Look at this beautiful cover illustration by David Stone Martin. This record was in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $393.
Also for the Price Guide are:
Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This was a New York pressing with the second cover. The record and cover were in VG+ condition. The price was $165.20.
Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 84091. This was a stereo pressing with the New York USA label. The record and cover were M-. The price was $179.02.
Latest Prices: Lee Morgan on Blue Note, Art Pepper, Bird
And here are still more items for the Jazz Collector Price Guide:
Lee Morgan Sextet, Blue Note 1541. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The price was $565.
Miles Davis, Steamin’, Prestige 7200. This was an original pressing with the New Jersey label. The record and cover were M- and the price was $123.50.
Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowin’ in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This was an original