Another Adventure in Jazz Collecting, Baltimore Part 6

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailSo now some of the best records from the Uncle Bruce Baltimore collection were in my apartment and it was about 1 in the morning and, of course, I couldn’t sleep knowing the records were sitting there waiting to be perused. I moved the records from boxes to crates and began just looking through them one more time, this time with no hurry, no rush. It was a great moment, a man, a dog and his score. I didn’t listen to any of the records at this point. There was just something about keeping them as a whole and letting the feeling linger that I didn’t want to disturb.

When morning came I had to get ready for the WFMU Record Fair. I already had 14 boxes of other records in my cramped apartment. I started looking through the Baltimore collection to see if there was anything obvious I could pull out and possibly sell at the record show. I found a few items: There were three Sonny Rollins Blue Notes I now had in triplicates; the copy of Mating Call was an upgrade from my copy; I already had two mint copies of Study in Brown, so I could sell a spare. Same with John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, Prestige 7123, and one of the Bud Powell Blue Notes

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Catching Up On a Jazz Vinyl Quintet

dolphyLet’s catch up on a few more jazz vinyl auctions we were tracking, including: Eric Dolphy, Out There, New Jazz 8252. This was an original pressing with the purple labels and deep grooves. The record looked to be in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $416. I like the covers on this one and Outward Bound. Very cool, and reflective in their way of the music.

This one from the Jazz Record Center wound up selling and fetching a pretty nice price: Lester Young, The President, Norgran 1005. This was an original yellow label pressing in what looked to be M- condition for the cover and the record. The final price was $365.

Here are a few other items from the Jazz Record Center auction:

Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This was an original purple label deep groove pressing in M- condition for both the cover and the record. It sold for $449.

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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

Feeling Groovy?

Now that we’re back home catching up, here’s an update on some jazz vinyl we were watching on eBay, starting with: Red Garland, Groovy, Prestige 7113. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. The record and the cover were in M- condition. It sold for $516, quite a large number for a Red Garland Trio record. Does anyone out there have knowledge and/or a theory why this one would be so highly prized by collectors. The seller was Atomic Records, so I could have visited the store and waved goodbye to this one last week.

The Amazing Bud Powell Volume 2, Blue Note 5041. This was an original 10-inch pressing. The vinyl as probably VG, based on the seller’s description, and the cover was VG+. Great cover. It sold for $317.

Cliff Jordan, Blue Note 1565. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $799.99. I mentioned that I was perhaps interested in bidding for this, and I do believe $800 is a fair price. But paying top dollar is not how I’ve ever chosen to build my collection, and no sense starting now.

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It’s Quite A Prestige-eous Day At Jazz Collector

Here are a couple of nice Prestiges, closing soon, ready to take their place in the $1,000 bin: Hank Mobley, Mobley’s 2nd Message, Prestige 7082. This was an original pressing, yellow label, deep grooves and New York address, and it looks to be in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It closes within the next couple of hours, as of this posting, of course, and is already at $1,025. From the same seller is Red Garland, All Mornin’ Long, Prestige 7130. This too is an original yellow-label New York pressing and it is in M- condition for both the record and the cover. The bidding has reached $1,000. One more from the same era and the same seller: Ray Bryant Trio, Prestige 7098. This is also an original and also in M- condition for the record and the cover. The bidding is close to $700. Will this too enter the $1,000 bin. Stay tuned.

On eBay: Dex, Garland, Trane

I wound up taking a six-week hiatus from selling records on eBay after my mom passed away, but I am back now and have been busy posting records by the armful the past couple of weeks. Some of the items are records I’ve written about on Jazz Collector, so we can see whether my investments were wise or not so wise. Here are a few:

Stan Levey, This Time the Drum’s on Me, Bethlehem 37. This is a record that features some very rare Dexter Gordon from the 1950s. It’s amazing to think how infrequently Dexter was recorded during this period, when you would have expected him to be quite prolific. Anyway, I bought this record in a batch of other records and wrote about it under the title: Taking a Chance on Junk Vinyl. It was among a group of 25 records and the whole batch cost me $30. This is already at $40 on eBay and should sell for a bit more than that.

Red Garland with John Coltrane, High Pressure, Prestige 7209. This was one of the ones I purchased in the

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Adventures in Jazz Collecting, The Auction Part 4

OK. The auction records are here, in a newly created bin on the floor of my music room/office. It’s fun looking through the records, of course, encountering pleasant surprises, but what I am most looking forward to is listening to them. That’s the best thing about getting new records, or even getting new copies of old records: Exploring and discovering (or rediscovering) the music. As I type this I’m listening to Wes Montgomery Full House and it’s probably the first time I’ve listened to this LP in 10 years or more. With 10,000 records a lot of great LPs wind up sitting on the shelf. I remember the first time I heard this record. I was in a car with my friend Dan and we had the radio on and we heard a Wes solo and we knew immediately it was Wes and then the tenor player starting playing and we were both blown away because he was really cooking and we couldn’t figure out who it was. It was, of course, Johnny Griffin. And now I am listening to this beautiful near mint copy of this record again and, ah, what a nice way to start a gorgeous Sunday morning. Anyway, back to the auction items:

The next one I purchased was listed as: Stan Getz, Three Verve LPS with Trumpeter labels. Price $40.95. These turned out to be For Musicians Only with Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Stitt;

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Prestige Price Update: Miles, Red & More

Yesterday we updated some Blue Notes for the Jazz Collector Price Guide, this morning let’s turn to Prestige.

This one looked quite nice: Miles Davis, Relaxin’, Prestige 7129. This was an original pressing with the yellow label and New York address. The record and cover both looked to be in VG++ condition. The price was $294.

Jackie McLean and Company, Prestige 7087. This as an original New York pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG+. The price was $265.

Red Garland, All Mornin’ Long, Prestige 7130. This was an original New York pressing with the original cover. It was in M- condition for the vinyl and the cover and it sold for $449.

This is another favorite:

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On EBay Now: Griffin, Red, Blakey, Bird

EBay is loaded with nice jazz vinyl this weekend. Some of the top sellers are back in action, it seems. Here are some of the items we’re watching:

Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing that is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. When we looked at this item last night the top bid was only $99. We thought we might be able to steal it for a decent price and we put in a Bidnip bid of about $230. Alas, no such luck for Jazz Collector today. The record is closing in a couple of hours and it is currently at about $425.

This seller has been selling some very nice records that seem to be in absolutely beautiful condition, including this: Red Garland, High Pressure, Prestige 7209. This is an original pressing in near mint condition and, from the picture with the listing it looks absolutely pristine, the cover as well. The current

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Another $1,000 Item, Plus A Few More

We were right in predicting that this record would surpass the $1,000 barrier:  It was in near mint condition and it is a rare Blue Note and it was being sold by Euclid Records. We’ve seen it sell for more than $900 previously in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, so it was no surprise that this copy sold yesterday for $1,563. 

Here are some of the other items we’ve been watching that will be entered into the Price Guide:

Wes Montgomery, Full House, Riverside 434. This was an original blue label pressing. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $255. This is always one of the higher priced Montgomery collectibles, ostensibly aided by the presence of Johnny Griiffin on tenor. 

Bobby Hutcherson, Happenings, Blue Note 4231. This was an original New York USA pressing. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $221.40.

Paula Castle, Love Lost, Bethlehem 1036. This was an original 10-inch pressing in M- 

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