Of course. The same invitation is open to anyone. Stuart reminded me that it is almost 10 years to the day since we published an earlier article – Adventures in Jazz Collecting, Tokyo Style. Couldn’t help but notice that there were 54 comments on that article. Bravo to Stuart and all of the commenters. Ah, the good old days.

Anyway, the article arrived the other day, along with the title Stuart suggested title, so, without further ado, may we present:

The Records (But Not the Music) Are Over

By Stuart Levine

Well, I did it. I sold my jazz record collection. Now approaching 70, I’m trying to downsize and just not finding the opportunity to listen to my LPs. You see, for years I’ve been living in Japan with my wife and two daughters, while all this time storing my records and audio equipment back on the West Coast. The irony is that I’m in the land (or rather, on the island) whose people love our American art form of Jazz, yet I, myself, can’t listen to my own records. I don’t want to bore anyone with details as to why not, but suffice it to say that living quarters are tight there and sound travels easily.

I’ll miss visiting the record stores – the crate digging and conversations with fellow vinyl enthusiasts. It had all started during my college days with CTI and fusion. But later, I discovered Hard Bop and “watch out” – I was hooked! Good thing I started making some decent money because as you know, those Blue Notes are expensive. So gone are roughly 400 LPs; however, I did keep a few. They are Somethin’ Else, Maiden Voyage and Kind of Blue.  All are first pressings. My copy of Kind of Blue is very early.  Just couldn’t part with these three.

As far as sales went, I did pretty well with my treasured vinyl. A VG++ Cool Struttin’ came in at a cool $4,283. A near mint Wahoo did a whopping $1,725 and even a VG+ Juju sold for $900, netting me $630. Yep, further evidence of Blue Notes’ cachet. On the other hand, Impulse didn’t do so well. My pristine mono copy of Blues and the Abstract Truth disappointed at 75 bucks. Gosh, darn it … wish I could have that one back as well as other gems in my collection such as Saxophone Colossus and A Love Supreme. Oh, stop it, Stuart! You’re done! There are always cds.

But before I close, I’d like to give shout outs to Charles Pearlman of Strictly Headies and Jason Perlmutter of Carolina Soul (thanks to Al for recommending Jason). They did such a professional job of listing my records on their eBay sites. With Charlie, who sold most of my jazz records, I got to visit Portland, Oregon, enjoying the greenery I don’t get in the Las Vegas desert where my parents live. And for the first time, I flew to Durham, North Carolina to meet Jason with a few jazz LPs and a good number of rock records. So, thanks guys … you represented my collection well, and I’m sure my records are spinning right now on worthy turntables. As for me, I think I’ll give a listen to “Stolen Moments” from my laptop computer.

This week’s theme: Welcoming in 2025, Part 2. Featured artists include John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Ella Fitzgerald, Oliver Nelson, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Shorty Rogers, Art Pepper, Miles Davis, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and many more.

This week’s theme: Roy Haynes Memorial, Part Two. Featured artists include Roy Haynes, Roland Kirk, Tommy Flanagan, Henry Grimes, Sarah Vaughan, Richard Davis, Thad Jones, Jackie McLean, Phineas Newborn Jr., Bill Evans, Oliver Nelson, Freddie Hubbard, Paul Chambers, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and many others.

This week’s theme: A tribute to the late Roy Haynes. Featured artists include Roy Haynes, Lester Young, Sarah Vaughan, Phineas Newborn, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jackie McLean, Leon Thomas, Oliver Nelson, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, and many others.

This week’s theme. Welcoming in 2024, with 24-related jazz vinyl. Hint, Swing, Swang, Swinging’ and A New Perspective on Blue Note. Featured artists include Jackie McLean, Donald Bird, Herbie Hancock, Hank Mobley, Al Sears, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, John Coltrane, Oscar Pettiford, Oliver Nelson, Kenny Dorham.

Herbie Nichols Trio, Blue Note 1519. This is a weird pressing with the New York USA address on both sides and what appears to be a deep groove, at least on Side One. To try to identify the provenance – third pressing, fourth, whatever – would  be a challenge; suffice to say, it one one end of the spectrum it is not an original, and not a Liberty or reissue at the other end. The record and cover are in VG++ condition and the bidding is around $85 with more than a day left on the auction.

Our friend Bill from San Francisco sent us a note under the subject “crazy Hank Jones bid on eBay,” with a link to Hank Jones and Oliver Nelson, Happenings, Impulse A 9132. This was a white label promo copy, listed in VG+ condition for the record and with a cutout hole on the cover. The craziness is that Popsike recorded this one selling for $2,500 with one bid. I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe it is legitimate for a second. Bill, do you? Anyone else?

A couple of more pieces you may have missed while I was away:

Nice interview with Sonny Rollins in The New Yorker, Sonny Rollins on the Pandemic, Protests, and Music.

Nice story on Ella and The Apollo Theater in The New York Times Style Magazine, in support of the new documentary that just came out, Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things. Haven’t seen the documentary yet, but it is on my watch list for this week.

This is new, too, Palo Alto, a newly discovered concert by  Thelonious Monk from 1968.

John Coltrane, The Believer, Prestige 7292. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey address. The record looked to be in M- condition and the cover was M- as well. The final price was $144.37. I’ve always felt this later Prestige original Coltrane pressings were a potential bargain. It was all original material, it was just issued after Coltrane had moved on to record for Atlantic. These are all excellent records, with Trane playing a lot of standards, often in quintet settings. Getting an original Trane Prestige for less than $150 seems like a good deal to me.

Oliver Nelson, The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Impulse 5. This was an original white label mono pressing that looked to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $182.50, another potential bargain, IMHO. Jazz at JJ’s. We wrote about this one the other day, so you can click that link for details (my Internet is running slow, so I can’t link to it now). This one sold for $525.55. Dave Bailey, Bash, Jazzline 33-10. This one was in M- condition for the record and probably VG+ for the cover. It sold for $616.69.

Oliver Nelson, The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Impulse 5. This is an original mono promo copy with the white label. The record is listed in M- condition and the cover looks to be about VG++. The bidding is at $100.

This is one that is completely new to me:

Jazz at JJ’s. This is a three-record boxed set that doesn’t really have a label. It’s a limited edition pressing and, if the Jazz Record Center listing describes it as “very rare” you know that it is, indeed, very rare because they are not given to hyperbole. It features Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Hank Jones, Kenny Burrell, Milt Hinton and includes a personal letter from the record’s producer to Milt Hinton. Looks like a pretty interesting collectible, one I’ve never seen. The start price is $200 and so far there are no bidders.

Here’s another classic album that fetched a nice price: Oliver Nelson, the Blues and the Abstract Truth, Impulse 5. This was an original mono pressing with the first cover, orange label and Van Gelder in the dead wax. This one was listed in M- condition for both the record and the cover and it wound up selling for $265. Pretty nice when you can have both Bill Evans and Paul Chambers in your rhythm section, as both of these albums can boast.

I took a shot at this record, but my bid wasn’t high enough: Elmo Hope Meditations, Prestige 7010. This was an original New York pressing that looked to be in VG+ condition for the record and the cover from a very reputable seller who, in my opinion, would be more prone to under grading condition rather than over grading. When I looked at this record, the bidding was well less than $200 and I put in a snipe in the $250 range. It wound up selling for $393, which seems like a fair price. I would suggest it may be below market value, but, because it sold on eBay, it sold at precisely its market value. eBay, like it or not, makes the market these days.

As mentioned on an earlier post, I had my eye on this one as well, but didn’t wind up bidding because I suspected it would sell for a price beyond my comfort zone: Lou Donaldson, Quartet, Quintet, Sextet, Blue Note 1537. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing in M- condition for the vinyl and probably VG for the cover. When I looked at it the top bid was in the $250 range. It wound up selling for $622 and, yes, that is out of my comfort zone. Not saying the record isn’t worth that much or more. Just saying that I still like to hunt for bargains and I’m okay not owning every single record I desire. The thrill of the hunt is still quite alive for me, thank goodness. It’s one of the things that makes collecting so much fun. Just paying top dollar to own every record, even if I could afford it, would change the nature of the game for me. But I don’t at all begrudge anyone who takes that approach. I’m fortunate to have been at this for 45 years or so, and I remember being able to walk into a used record store on a lucky day and buying original Blue Notes for $5 a pop.

Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, Diz and Getz, Verve 8141. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG+, although it seemed to have original shrink wrap. The start price was $29.95. There were no bidders. Really? When I started collecting this would have been a nice commodity, hard to find, great artists, great collectible label. And it’s got quite a nice cover to boot. Now it’s not worth thirty bucks? Wow. How about Stan Getz and Chet Baker, Stan Meets Chet, Verve 8263. This one says “trumpet logo” in the headline, but there’s no picture of the label so I actually have to wonder if it is original. The record was listed in VG++ condition, close to M-, and the cover was VG+. The price was $57.

Sal Salvador, Frivolous Sal, Bethlehem 59. This was an original pressing in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $75 and, frankly, I didn’t think it would get that much. Is there really still interest in Sal Salvador? Probably not. But there is interest, deservedly so, for Eddie Costa, and he’s a sideman on this LP. I would think Costa’s presence is the bigger interest here.

Oliver Nelson, The Blues and the Abstract Truth, Impulse A-5. Interesting that the seller listed it as a Bill Evans album. I guess there’s some logic, if you don’t really know the album. Evans is listed first on the cover. It’s not alphabetical — it looks like a graphic decision: The names are listed in ascending order in size, smallest to largest, so they stack like a pyramid. Anyway, this was VG+ for the record and cover and it sold for $140.50.

I didn’t realize this was a $200 record: Dorothy Ashby, Afro-Harping, Cadet 809. This was still sealed, had 12 bids and sold for $200 on the nose. Can’t recall that I’ve ever seen a Cadet record get that kind of price. Do collectors really want/value this record so much more than Diz and Getz? Guess so. Never been that big a fan of the jazz harp myself.