Just catching up with my eBay watch list after a lovely Christmas weekend here in the lovely Berkshires Mountains of Western Massachusetts, where I am looking out of my window at a frozen lake and a gorgeous winter scene straight out of Normal Rockwell. And, of course, there are also records to be perused and evaluated on eBay. Today we will start with The Paul Chambers Quintet, Blue Note 1564. This was kind of a weird pressing. It had the West 63rd Street address, the deep grooves and the Van Gelder stamp, but it did not have the ears. It seems like an early pressing to me, especially since this was not a record I ever saw issued once Liberty took over. It also had shrink wrap and a later “27 years of Blue Note” inner sleeve, which would place the issue at around 1966. In any case, this was listed in Ex condition for both the record and the cover. There was a start price of about $300 and there were no bidders, which surprised me.
Tag: Paul Chambers
Temptation, Thy Name is Blue Note
Does a listing like this one tempt you: Collection of 40 RARE Original Jazz Albums LP’s All on the Blue Note Label? The seller states clearly that the records are all in VG condition or below. He also shows pictures with a lot of damaged covers. Yet . . . I see that picture of Lou Donaldson, Quartet, Quintet and Sextet, Blue Note 1537, and I think: Maybe it’s not that bad, maybe if I clean up the record, it would play nicely on my turntable and sit nicely on my shelf. There are also some other nice potentialities in the listing, such as Hank Mobley Roll Call, Whims of Chambers, Bass on Top, and a bunch of Blakeys, among others. There’s also a lot of junk. Anyway, my answer to the question is “Yes I am tempted.” At what price? That remains to be seen. So far the bidding is at $743.
Three For The Road
This may be my last post for a couple of weeks. Taking holiday in Italy with The Lovely Mrs. JC. I still may do a post from there, you never know. In the meantime, Clifford has the keys to the kingdom until I return, and I do have a bunch of records I’m watching on eBay, starting with this one, which has already been mentioned by one of the commenters on the previous post: Duke Jordan Trio, Swing 32 323. This is an original 10-inch French pressing and it looks to be in M- condition all the way around, cover and vinyl. The bidding is now at about $1,000 and, as recently as last week we saw another copy sell for nearly $3,000. There are three days left on this auction, so there’s every chance this copy will approach or surpass that one. As you can see, it has a very Stone Martin-esque cover? Anyone familiar with the artist and his other work? Rudolf?
This one surprises me:
The $1,000 Bin (And Beyond)
Let’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with Paul Chambers, Whims of Chambers, Blue Note 1534. This was an original Lexington Avenue Pressing that was listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It wound up selling for $1,136. It’s amazing how the prices for these original Blue Notes have gone up in the years we’ve been doing Jazz Collector. A few months ago we saw a copy of this record sell for more than $2,700. Back in 2004, I gave myself a hard time for spending $300 on a M- copy of the same record.
This one did not sell because it did not meet the seller’s reserve price: Red Rodney, Signal 1206. This was an original pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. The top bid was $1,501. It’s hard to imagine that any of us, collectors or sellers, would have ever thought that $1,500 was too low a price for a single jazz record, but that day has certainly arrived.
This one made it into the $1,000 bin and actually did sell, despite the condition:
What’s it Worth to You: Kind of Blue Signed by Miles, Trane and Paul Chambers?
Perusing eBay this morning and came upon this very interesting, and very expensive, item: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. This is described as a limited edition pressing of Kind of Blue, with the back blank. The seller says this was issued for record executives and promoters, which seems possible, although I’ve never seen one before, and I’ve been looking for 45 years. The thing with this one is that the back isn’t exactly blank — it’s been signed by Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Paul Chambers, with a “Best Wishes” thrown in by Trane. It looks pretty authentic, although I’m not an expert on autographs. It is listed in VG++ condition for the record and the cover looks pretty nice, although not actually graded. The seller says it came from her husband’s collection and original priced it at $25,000. It is now up for auction with a start price of about $5,000 and a buy-it-now price of $12,500. Who among us wouldn’t want to own this one? But at what price?
Catching Up On Some Rare Jazz Vinyl
I know I haven’t posted in a while when every item in my eBay watch list is no longer active. Here are some of the highlights that I’ve missed, starting with Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd address, deep grooves, etc. The seller listed the vinyl in VG++ condition and the cover as VG+/VG++, but the picture clearly shows that it’s not VG++, so that might cause some concern about the vinyl grading as well. It would concern me, that’s for sure, particularly at that price, which was $2,524. Not that I would ever pay that price anyway, nor would I pass judgment on anyone that would
Here’s another Blue Note that ended up in the $1,000 bin: Lee Morgan, City Lights, Blue Note 1575. This was also an original West 63rd Street pressing. The vinyl was listed in M- condition and the cover was VG++. The final price was $1,081.
The $2,000 Bin (and Up); Rediscovering Some Confessions of a Jazz Vinyl Addict
Time to catch up on some of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching from eBay, starting with this whopper: Donald Byrd, Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill, Transition 17. This was an original pressing with the booklet. Everything seemed to be in M- condition. The final price was $3,839.10. Definitely a new high for this record for the Jazz Collector Price Guide, although I was surprised to see that this record has sold for more than $2,600 in the past.
This one is destined for the $2,000 bin and perhaps even joining the Byrd record in the $3,000 bin: Sonny Clark, Cool Struttin’, Blue Note 1588. this is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in VG++ condition for
Hush and Go: A Pearson and PC Day
Just spent some time perusing eBay and added a few more items to our watch list, which is not the same as our wish list. Here’s some of the jazz vinyl we’re watching, starting with The Duke Pearson Quintet, Hush, Jazzline 3302. This is an original pressing of a record that you hardly ever see posted on eBay. This one is in M- condition for the record and probably VG+ for the cover, depending upon your level of discernment. For me, it’s VG+. The bidding is in the $300 range and there are still more than two days to go. If you check out this record, check out the seller’s other listings. It is one of the dealers from Italy who often has very nice listings. In addition to Hush, for example, you will see Paul Chambers, Go!, VeeJay 1014. This is an original pressing with the maroon label and deep grooves. It looks to be in M- condition for the record and the cover. The price is
Kind of Blues & The Abstract Truth
Let’s catch up on some rare jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay, starting with Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. This was an interesting one because it looked to be an original first pressing and the record had never been played. When this album was first issued, Columbia used a plastic inner sleeve that had a seal. I know that from a couple of albums I purchased in the Baltimore collection. On this particular copy of Kind of Blue, the seal had never been broken. The cover also looked to be quite pristine and was graded in M- condition. The record wound up selling for $510, a fairly hefty price for the highest selling jazz record of all time. The question is, what will the buyer do with the record? Will he/she open it and play it, thus potentially lowering the value? Or will he/she put it on the shelf for posterity and listen to a different copy of the record, which is so readily available?
Two for The $1,000 Bin, Plus Two More
Back 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.
April is Jazz Month
