Two for The $1,000 Bin, Plus Two More

Mobley copyBack in business, back on eBay, back to posting more regularly. First let’s catch up on some of the items we had been watching, starting with Hank Mobley Sextet, Blue Note 1560. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The seller had described the record as Ex and the cover as VG++, but it was clear from the pictures that the condition was less than VG++. At the time we first posted this record, the start price was around $500 and there were no bids. In the end there were four bidders, six bids and a final price of $1,075. I’m sure the seller was quite pleased. Hopefully, the buyer was as well.

Bill Evans, Explorations, Riverside 351. This was an original mono pressing with the blue label, deep grooves and reels/microphone logo. The record was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG+ and the final price was $504.90. It looks like this record, and a few others we were watching, were purchased by one of our readers, so congratulations. Here’s another one of his scores: Miles Davis, Relaxin’, Prestige 7129. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New York address. The record and cover were both listed in M- condition, and the pictures accompanying the listing certainly made it look quite pristine. The final price on this one was $1,037.99. Welcome to the $1,000 bin.

Read more

Catching Up on Jazz Vinyl Auctions

Paul Chambers Jazz Vinyl copyI’m actually cleaning out my eBay watch list in preparation for finally doing a modest updating of the Jazz Collector Price Guide. So, as I clear out records, I will just post some random results for the next couple of days, starting with one for the $1,000 bin: Paul Chambers Quintet, Blue Note 1564. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address. The record looked to be in VG++ condition and the cover was probably VG. It sold for $1,203. This came from the same seller: Kenny Burrell at the Five Spot, Blue Note 4021. This was an original West. 63rd Street pressing that looked to be in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $334.

Another Blue Note: Horace Parlan, Headin’ South, Blue Note 4062. This was

Read more

Not Out of the Blue Quite Yet

Sonny Red copyThe eBay watch list for jazz vinyl is still pretty full with interesting stuff. Let’s start with one that is not an original and will not even make it to the Jazz Collector Price Guide, if and when I ever get around to updating it again: Sonny Red, Out of the Blue, Blue Note 4032. This is an odd pressing: It has the West 63rd Street address on the labels, but no deep grooves and no ears. It also has shrink wrap, with a stamp that notes the record can be played on stereo players. I’m thinking this may be an early Liberty pressing when they still had old labels left over, although I don’t recall ever seeing other later and/or Liberty pressings of this record. There is a bid on the record at $40, but the seller also has a reserve price that hasn’t yet been met. I’ve had my eye on this record for a long time because I once owned a copy and traded it away about 30 years ago and have never been able to replace it. I can’t see replacing it with a non-original such as this, so the search goes on. Trading away an original copy of this record in beautiful condition was not one of the brighter things I’ve ever done in the world of jazz collecting.

Read more

A Wailin’ Session (And More)

Art Taylor copyI was piling a bunch of very nice records into my Watch List folder and noticed that many were from the same seller, including Art Taylor, Taylor’s Wailers, Prestige 7117. This is an original New York yellow label pressing that looks to be in at least VG++ condition for both the record and the cover, and perhaps even better. The auction closes in three days and the bidding is close to $500. Interesting coincidence: Just a couple of days before noticing this listing I put this record on the turntable and gave it a close listen. I don’t think I’d ever listened to it and I was expecting one of those Prestige jam sessions. It’s not. It’s a well arranged, carefully conceived album with tremendous playing all around. The main group has Donald Byrd, Charlie Rouse, Jackie McLean, Ray Bryant and Wendell Marshall, in addition to AT. I have no idea why Prestige threw in another track by a separate group with John Coltrane, Red Garland and Paul Chambers, but of course it’s wonderful that they did. Coltrane is in nice form, but it’s the rest of the album that is also quite impressive. I highly recommend giving it a listen for those of you lucky enough to own a copy.

Read more

Miles Way Ahead

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?

Would You Pay $5,000 For This Record?

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailAs promised, here is the original DownBeat review of Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568, perhaps the most valuable and treasured of all the Jazz Collector collectibles. This is from Oct. 30, 1958 and the reviewer is John A. Tynan:

“Hank Mobley — Blue Note 1568: Might Moe and Joe; Falling in Love With Love; Bags Groove; Double Exposure; News.

“Personnel: Mobley, tenor; Curtis Porter, alto, tenor; Bill Hardman, trumpet; Sonny Clark, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Taylor, drums

“Rating — Three and a half stars

“One of the nicer things about Al Lion and associates at Blue Note is that they don’t hesitate to present new talent they consider worthwhile. On this set is presented 29-year-0old Philadelphia saxman Curtis Porter, who is equal to the company. Although it is Mobley’s date, the leader allows generous space for the wailing of his fellow reedman, which makes for a high degree of hard blowing.

Read more

Not-So-Cool Struttin’

cool struttin'I happened to be perusing old DownBeats yesterday when I casually opened up the issue of Oct. 30, 1958. The “jazz record reviews” listed on the cover were for Harry Belafonte, Terry Gibbs, Benny Goodman, Earl Hines, Shorty Rogers and Bob Scobey. Nothing too interesting, and I almost passed up on reading the reviews. So I was a bit surprised to see that this issue contained reviews of two of the rarest and most highly treasured records in the entire Jazz Collector pantheon: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588 and Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568.

 

Let’s start with Cool Struttin’. The reviewer, Don Gold, gave it two and a half stars out of a possible five stars. To put it in perspective, Cool Struttin’ had a lower rating than these records, also reviewed in this issue: Steve Allen All Stars Featuring Terry Gibbs; Danny Alvin and His Kings of Dixieland Play Basin Street: Belafonte Sings the Blues; Paul Horn Plenty of Horn, and Moe Koffman, The “Shepherd” Swings Again. This is what the reviewer had to say about Cool Struttin’:

Read more

New Jazz, Prestige, Blue Note: Covering Some Bases

RoyLet’s take a break from label picking today and go back to watching some rare jazz vinyl on eBay.

Speaking of New Jazz, this one sold recently in eBay: Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn and Paul Chambers, We Three, New Jazz 8210. This looked to be an original purple label pressing with the deep grooves. It was listed in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The seller was very stingy with information and there was only one bid, which always makes me suspicious. The price was $299.99.

Maybe I should have bid. I was watching that copy of Jackie McLean, Jackie’s Pal, Prestige 7068. This one was in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover and looked quite nice. I figured it would sell for more thna $1,000. It didn’t. It sold for $535. Worth it? Just look at the cover.

I also had my eye on this one but, considering the condition, the price was too high:

Read more

And The Bidding Is . . . . WHAT?

ChambersOK, I could use a good explanation for this one: Paul Chambers, A Jazz Delegation From the East, Score 4033. This is a reissue of the album originally released on Jazz West. The record is in G condition, described by the seller as “rough.” The cover is in VG- condition, with tape and wear clearly visible in the picture. Not necessarily a record to display proudly on your shelves and, in this condition, probably not one to place on your turntable either. Someone wants it, pretty badly, though. There are 11 bids, three bidders and the price is already more than $100. Because . . ?

From the same seller is this: Kenny Drew, Undercurrent, Blue Note 4059. This is possibly an original pressing with the deep groove on one side, although the seller is only showing one label. Without seeing the other label, I have my doubts. Also, there seems to be an issue with the condition. The seller lists the record as VG and the cover as VG+. However, if you look at the picture of the back cover, it is clearly not close to VG+, with a really bad stain. If that is VG+, you kind of wonder what the VG vinyl looks like. I imagine others have similar concerns. The bidding is at $89 with 12 hours to go. If bidders were confident in the condition and the provenance, the bidding would likely be a lot higher.

 

 

 

Listening Again to The “New” Miles Davis Quintet

One of the great things about having so many collectible records is that I can always dig somewhere into my collection and find a classic record I haven’t listed to in a while. I did that last night, putting The New Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7014, on the turntable for the first time in a number of years. It’s a classic and, of course, the first Miles record with John Coltrane. A few things struck me about this record. Miles and Trane were the same age, both 29 when the album was recorded, yet they were at much different points in their careers and in their development. Miles was fully formed and his playing was absolutely confident. Trane’s playing was much more tentative and his style was not nearly as developed as it would become in the ensuing years. You can hear elements of his budding genius, but just elements and otherwise you hear someone still working on finding himself. For the hell of it, right after listening to this LP, I put on A Love Supreme and, obviously the difference was quite stark. Another thing about this record is Read more

1 4 5 6 7 8 11