Phil Woods & eBay Existentialism

I have a friend who is a big fan of 10-inch LPs and a big fan of 1950s Phil Woods. I was looking at eBay today and sent him this photo and this listing: Phil Woods New Jazz Quintet, Prestige New Jazz 1104. This one is only in VG condition, but I knew he would love it. Sure enough he wrote a reply: “You know me too well.” I love this one too, particularly the red and white New Jazz label, which you don’t see too often and, if I recall, doesn’t appear on 12-inch LPs at all. It is now in the $50 price range. So I’m picturing my friend now sitting at home pondering: To bid, or not to bid. The essential existential e-Bay question on a sultry summer day in New York. My bet on the answer? To bid.

A $1,000 Bill Evans & a Few More For The Price Guide

We’ve been quite busy selling some nice records on eBay and posting a few more, but we’ve still made time to keep an eye on some of the interesting collectibles that other people are selling. Here’s an update, all of which will be entered into the Jazz Collector Price Guide sometime over the weekend:

Bill Evans, New Jazz Conceptions, Riverside 223. This was an original white label pressing with the original cover. The cover is one of the things that makes this so collectible, since subsequent versions were released with another cover. For this copy, the record was in M- condition and the cover was listed as VG/VG+. The price was $1,136.

Phil Woods, Warm Woods, Epic 3436. This was an original pressing with the yellow label. The record and the cover were both in M- condition. The price was $555.

Helen Merrill, Emarcy 36006. This was the original pressing of this LP, which features

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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.

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Bargains? It’s All The Eyes of the Beholder

Based on a suggestion from one of our readers, we tried to point out a few potential bargains on eBay this week, as we always do. How’d we do? Mixed, I would say. The first one was Phil Woods, Warm Woods, Epic 3436 (you can find the link if you just do a search on the site, which is that little gray bar at the top right). When we spotted this record it was priced at just $30 with only a few hours left in the auction. But, clearly, there were some major bidders waiting in the weeds. The record eventually sold for $434.77. The vinyl was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. Yesterday we pointed out a copy of Count Basie, RCA 1112. This one has a cover by Andy Warhol and has sold for more than $160 in the past. When we spotted this one, it was at $1.99 and sold a few hours later for just $20, so that seems like a bargain in our book. It’s always dangerous for us to go bargain-hunting on the Jazz Collector site: Once we point out the record, it’s no longer a hidden gem but out there for the world to see. So we’ll try our best to be fairly discrete in our pronouncements.

Today on Ebay, February 10, 2009

Pretty quiet on eBay today, although there are a few nice items, as always. We at Jazz Collector have a few auctions closing today, including: Art Farmer with Sonny Rollins, Prestige 177. This is a 10-inch LP. It’s in VG/VG+ condition and is currently in the $30 price range. We’re also selling this nice jazz guitar LP: Johnny Pisano and Billy Bean, Take Your Pick, Decca 9212. This is an original pressing that’s in VG+/VG++ condition and it’s also in the $30 range as of now. We’re also selling LPs with autographs by Woody Herman, plus George Barnes and Bucky Pizzarelli, so please, take a look. 

Among other items, there’s an original pressing of Sonny Clark, Sonny’s Crib, Blue Note 1576. This one looks to be in VG++ condition. the current price is $282, but it has yet to meet the seller’s reserve. As a buyer, I’m not a big fan of reserve-price auctions. I’d rather the seller set a high base price if he

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Kenny Dorham, Art Farmer, Phil Woods for the Price Guide

Here are some items we’ve just added to the Jazz Collector Price Guide. 

Kenny Dorham ‘Round Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia, Blue Note 1524. This was a Lexington Avenue pressing in VG+ condition, both record and cover. The price was $447.

Art Farmer Quintet, Prestige 7017. This was a New York pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG. The price was $130. Also, Art Farmer, Prestige 7031. This was an original New York pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG. The price was $151.

Curtis Fuller Volume 3, Blue Note 1583. This was an original West 63rd Street

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Summer Doldrums?

If it’s Monday, it must be time to check in on the weekend’s activity on eBay. A few high-priced items sold over the past few days, but my general sense is that activity is beginning to slow down for the summer. At the bottom, I’ve listed a few items that failed to meet reserve prices this weekend. In some cases, the reserve prices may have been a bit high, but in others the items were selling for bigger prices just a few weeks ago. We’ll continue to monitor pricing and keep you posted. Anyway, here are some of the items we’ve been watching:

 

Sonny Rollins, Worktime, Prestige 7020.  This was an autographed copy in VG++/M- condition. Price $482

 

Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4081, in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $1,625. Of course $1,625 is a high price for any record, but we anticipated this one might break the $2,000 barrier, considering its rarity and the condition.

 

Curtis Fuller Volume 3, Blue Note 1583. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address on the label in VG++/VG++ condition. Price: $401.88

 

Jim Chapin Ensemble featuring Phil Woods, Prestige 213. This was a 10-inch LP in VG+/VG++ condition. Price: $202.49

 

Sonny Rollins, Sonny Boy, Prestige 7207. This was an original yellow-label in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $79.99

 

Sonny Stitt, 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds, Roost 2219.  This was an original pressing in VG+/VG+ condition. As we anticipated, the price was not too high. Price: $39

 

Miles Davis, Steamin’, Prestige 7200. This was an original yellow label in VG++/VG+ condition. Price: $34.33

 

Mal Waldron, Mal-1, Prestige 7090. This was an original yellow label with the New York address in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $274.99

 

The following items all failed to meet their reserve prices:

 

Richie Kamuca Quartet, Mode 102, in VG++/M- condition. High bid: $178.49

 

Horace Parlan, Speakin’ My Piece, Blue Note 4043, in M-/M- condition. High bid: $158.50

 

Gil Melle Quartet Featuring Lou Mecca, Blue Note 5054. This was an original 10-inch LP in M-/M- condition. High bid: $178.50

 

Sabu, Palo Congo, Blue Note 1561. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address in M-/VG++ condition. High bid: $338

 

We’ll spend some time today looking ahead at eBay for the coming week. We’ll post the results tomorrow on Jazzcollector.com. See you then. — Al

Hot Records, High Prices

Back home after a weekend away. Let’s see what happened on eBay the past few days.

 The seller JBLD44000 out of Seattle, who has been selling some nice records the past few weeks, had a bunch of items up this weekend, with mixed results. A few of the records sold for high prices, including:

Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note 4031, for $1,337.28

Kenny Drew, Walkin’ and Talkin’, Jazz West 4, for $532

This dealer also had several high-ticket items that didn’t get bids at all. Based on our previous experience watching his auctions, we anticipate that these records will be back on eBay in the near future with somewhat lower start prices and, perhaps, Buy-It-Now prices. Among those records are: Read more

Signed LPs By Phil Woods, Tal Farlow

Today we’ll spend a little time watching eBay.

Here are some of the interesting items from the past couple of days. I especially like the LPs autographed by Woods and Farlow, not just because of the signatures, which are cool, but also because the records seem to be in nice condition.

 Phil Woods, Warm Woods, Epic 3436, in M- condition and autographed by Woods. Price: $395

 Tal Farlow, Fascinatin’ Rhythm, Verve 8011, in M- condition and autographed by Tal. Price: $149.95

 Here’s another interesting guitar collectible. I know there are stories out there about Dick Garcia, so maybe one of our guitar collectors can help us out. We have a Guitar Corner section in the Forums section of the Website, but so far the traffic’s been pretty light. Read more

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