Once in a while I run into albums I’ve never seen before and here’s one: Bob Gordon, Moods in Jazz, Tampa 26. I know this is a record from the 1950s, but I have to ask about that cover: Is that Sarah Palin doing who knows what to a moose? Click the link for a better view, but this is definitely one weird cover.

Roost seems to be an under-valued label, but we’ve seen this one go for decent prices in the past: Beverly Kenney with Jimmy Rowles and the Basie-ites, Roost 2218. This one is currently under $20, in decent condition.

This is a record that seems to be as much an audiophile collectible as it is a jazz collectible: Bill Berry, For Duke, M+K Real Time Records RT 101. I happen to have a copy and it not only sounds great, the music is top-flight as well. Also, in look at the records on sale this weekend, I noticed a couple of other copies, so you can just do a search if you’re interested in buying one. 

Here’s a favorite: Sonny Rollins With The Modern Jazz Quartet, Prestige 7029. This is a New York pressing, with an orange cover. I have a New York pressing with a yellow cover. Does anyone know the difference — did one come first and, if so, which one? Also, this is a dealer who has other nice records on eBay this weekend, so you might want to view his other items.

That’s all for now. I’ll be back with more items later today or tomorrow.

So this is what my life has come to: It’s 4 o’clock in the morning and I am sitting in front of my computer entering record prices into a database. The things we do for love. Or obsession. Sometimes I have trouble telling the two apart.

Anyway, here are some of the items I’ve been watching on eBay the past few days:

Billie Holiday, At Jazz At The Philharmonic, Clef 169. This is a 10-inch LP with a beautiful cover by David Stone Martin. This copy was in M-/M- condition and sold for $610. This is a higher price than I’ve seen this record sell for in the past and I’m wondering if there’s anything about this record, aside from the condition, that drove the price up. There’s one Billie record that supposedly had an illustration by Andy Warhol, but I don’t think this is the one. Does anyone out there want to speculate on an answer?

The dealer selling the Billie Holiday LP had a batch of other nice 10-inch records as well. He had a mint copy of Bird and Diz, Clef 512 that sold for $200. I would have loved it, but I’ve just been spending too much money lately. Maybe some other time. The other ones that caught my eye were: Art Farmer, Work of Art, Prestige 162. This was M-/VG+ and sold for $103.50; and Illinois Jacquet, Clef 112, in M- condition for $130. I didn’t save the links, but you can just do a search on eBay of completed items.

Here’s another interesting 10-inch LP that sold on eBay this week: Dizzy Gillespie, Horn of Plenty, Blue Note 5017. It was in VG+/VG+ condition and sold for $45. I don’t recall seeing another Dizzy LP on Blue Note and I don’t recall seeing a 12-inch version of this LP. But, then again, as we learned earlier this week, I am not the ultimate authority on Blue Note. I’ll pose it to the question to the proper authorities and post the answer in a future newsletter.

There are many great records that are not among the rarest of collectibles and can be added to a collection for a reasonable price. A record I love is Sonny Stitt, 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds, Roost 2219. A nice copy sold on eBay this week for $41. Not bad.

Finally, there was a copy this week of The Cats, New Jazz 8217, with John Coltrane, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Idrees Sulieman, Doug Watkins and Louis Hayes. I once made a great trade to acquire this record, but I don’t remember what I gave up. I do remember that I was in the basement of a friend’s house and I had a broken leg and he had to leave and he locked me in there with all of his records. It was a strange experience, but it was worth it to get an original pressing of The Cats. Of course, I no longer have that original pressing, but instead have a Status pressing. But that’s another story for another day. The copy of The Cats that sold on eBay this week went for $1,403.11. Take a look.

Anyway, the reason I’m looking at all these records on eBay is to update the Price Guide on jazzcollector.com. We’ve been adding about 100 to 150 entries each week lately. If you go to Latest Prices, those are the prices that we entered last week, up until Friday,
April 23. We generally post the new version of Latest Prices over the weekend and update the entire Price Guide at the same time. It’s an interesting exercise compiling the guide and I hope it makes for interesting reading. 

See you tomorrow. — Al

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 63^rd 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 63^rd 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

For those of you keeping score at home, here are some of the items we’ve been watching on eBay:

Tal Farlow, The Tal Farlow Album, Norgran 1047. This is an autographed copy in M-/M- condition. Price: $249.95.  This was one of those records I planned to bid on but figured the price would go too high because of the condition of the LP and the presence of the autograph. The first bid was $249.95 and I expected it to go way up from there. But nobody else bid, including me.

The Farlow record was from the seller Jazz5060. We’ve been watching this seller because he consistently has good records on eBay. Here are a couple more, one already sold, one that failed to meet its reserve price and one coming up over the next day or so.

Sonny Stitt, Jazz At the Hi Hat, Roost 418. This was an original 10-inch LP in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $224.50

This is one from Jazz5060 that failed to meet its reserve price:

The Rene Thomas/Bobby Jaspar Quintet, RCA 10324. This was in M-/VG++ condition and fetched a top bid of $493 but did not sell.

Also, Jazz5060 has some great items coming up, including this one:

Dexter Gordon, Doin’ Allright, Blue Note 4077

Here are some other items we were watching:

Billie Holiday at Jazz At the Philharmonic, Clef 169. This is a 10-inch LP with the Andy Warhol/David Stone Martin cover. Price $329. This failed to get many early bids and was in the $70 range about an hour before it closed.

Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes, The Jazz Couriers, Tempo 15. This is an original pressing in near mint condition. Price: $669.76

Freddie Redd, The Connection, Blue Note 84027. This is a stereo pressing with the West 63^rd Street address in M-/M- condition. Price: $225

Another seller we’ve been closely watching is JBLD44000. Here are a couple of items he did not sell. You can expect to see these back on eBay with lower start prices.

Donald Byrd, Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill, Transition 17. This is an original pressing in M- condition with the booklet. Start price was $875 with no bids

Fran Thorne, Piano Reflections Volume 2, Transition 27. This is an original pressing in M- condition without the booklet. Start price was $550 with no bids

Here are some items from JBLD44000 that did sell:

Art Pepper, Modern Art, Intro 606. This is an original LP in M-/M- condition. Price $2,150.60

Jutta Hipp at the Hickory House Volume 2, Blue Note 1516. This is an original LP with the Lexington Ave. address in M-/M- condition. Price: $900

Cecil Taylor, Jazz Advance, Transition 19. This is an original pressing in M-/VG+ condition with a mint booklet. Price: $765.50

Jazz At Columbus Ave., Transition 2. This is an original pressing in M-/M- condition with the booklet. Price: $812

We’ve got a lot more records to watch for you this weekend. Keep an eye out for our newsletter tomorrow. See you then. — Al

Review of:

Sonny Stitt, The Complete Roost Sonny Stitt Studio Sessions, Mosaic Records MD9-208

By Al Perlman

I am an unabashed fan of Mosaic records. No company does a better job mining and repackaging the treasures of recorded jazz. From Mosaic’s beginnings in 1983 the company has focused on producing comprehensive boxed sets that document periods or styles of music from either specific artists or record labels.  From the comprehensive liner notes to the annotated discographies to the intricate remastering of the original recordings, each set is a gem.

What I also appreciate as a Jazz Collector is that the Mosaic releases have always represented a great investment: The company produces limited editions of all its releases (with one or two exceptions) and once the designated number of copies are sold, that’s it, no more are released. This has created a strong resellers market for Mosaic sets, particularly those that are no longer in print. If you peruse eBay you’ll see that almost every out-of-print Mosaic set sells for a fairly strong premium over its original purchase price. My only complaint with Mosaic is they stopped issuing their sets on vinyl a couple of years ago. For new sets, such as this one, only CD formats are available.

I was particularly enthused when I heard that Mosaic was releasing this set of recordings by Sonny Stitt, one of my all-time favorite musicians. Stitt was a master of both the tenor and alto saxophones who never seemed to get his due for a variety of reasons: He was unfairly dismissed on alto as merely a mimic of Charlie Parker; he recorded prolifically, sometimes not always at his best or most inspired; he was not viewed as a pioneer or creator of a specific style in the manner of a Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane or even a Cannonball Adderley. Still, he was a brilliant musician whose technique, tone and musicality were equal to anyone who has ever played jazz.

This 9-CD set provides ample evidence of Stitt’s brilliance. It covers the period from 1952 to 1965 and shows off Stitt’s talents in a variety of formats: From large ensembles let by Quincy Jones and Johnny Richards to an all-Latin set to a series of small group recordings that are among the best that Stitt produced in his life.  My personal favorites are the series of quartet recordings released in the late 1950s under the original titles “37 Minutes + 48 Seconds with Sonny Stitt” and “Sonny Stitt With The New Yorkers.” When you listen to these recordings you wonder how anyone could fail to recognize Stitt’s incredible prowess.

What’s most surprising about the boxed set is not Stitt’s strength on these particular albums, but the overall quality of the full 13-year period covered by the set. I had expected some performances to be lacking inspiration, but that is not really the case here. From the first session with Johnny Richards to the last quartet recording in 1965, the level of playing and strength of material remain strong throughout.

As I’ve come to expect with Mosaic, the packaging is outstanding. Zan Stewart does a fine job on the liner notes, talking about some of the reasons for Stitt’s lack of wider recognition – focusing particularly on the comparisons with Bird – and giving detailed notes on each of the recordings. In addition, there’s a brief history of Roost records and its co-founder Teddy Reig. The recordings themselves have been beautifully remastered by Malcom Addey and the sound compares favorably to that which you’ll find on the original LP releases. In addition to the material originally released on LPs, there are 15 tracks that have never been released in any format.

All in all, this is a great set. I highly recommend it to any Stitt fan, even if you have all the records in their original LP format. For Jazz Collectors in general it’s hard to go wrong with any Mosaic set, in terms of the music, the history and the potential investment. Now, if Mosaic can get its hands on Stitt’s catalogue from Verve, that would be another treat indeed.