I’m back from vacation and what am I greeted with — a real-life and genuine, if fully trumped up, jazz controversy. I am referring to the fervor being generated over a column several days ago in The New Yorker titled: Sonny Rollins: In His Own Words. The article appeared in the “Shouts & Murmurs” section, which is a longtime humor column in The New Yorker. In the article a writer under the pseudonym Django Gold attributes a number of ridiculous statements to Sonny. Samples: “The saxophone sounds horrible. Like a scared pig.” And: “Jazz may be the stupidest thing anyone ever came up with.”
Tag: Sonny Rollins
Catching Up on A Couple of Jazz Vinyl Rarities
Hey, everyone. Checking in from vacation. Just spent three lovely days in Creede, Colorado, and I’m now in sunny San Diego, where, apparently, there is an excellent record store I should be checking out. And perhaps I will. In the meanwhile, I’m sneaking in some time to take a look at my eBay watch list and see what I’ve been missing. BTW, I am not here for the Comic-Con convention. One crazy obsession is enough for one lifetime.
Sonny Rollins Plays, Period 1204. This was an original deep-groove pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover, although the cover seemed slightly less to me. I’d love to own this record someday. Hard to imagine that it’s eluded me for more than 40 years, but that’s part of the joy of collecting, isn’t it: To always have something to look forward to. This one sold for $1,136.11.
DG or Not DG; That Is The Question
Found a little time this morning to peruse eBay and these are some of the items I noticed, starting with Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane, New Jazz 8276. This is listed as an original purple label pressing, but I’m not so sure. I zoomed in on those labels and they didn’t look to me like they had deep grooves. One of our regular readers asked me about this record the other day, so here it is if you want to take a chance. I’d be a little careful. The record is probably VG++ and the cover either VG+ or VG++. The start price is in the $150 range and so far there are no bidders. Perhaps I’m not the only one looking for deep grooves. One other question: To those of you who own this record and organize their records alphabetically, where do you put this one: Under Burrell or Coltrane? I used to keep it under Coltrane, but it would get lost among all of the other Prestiges, so now I keep it under Burrell and I actually notice it. Lovely record too.
Would You Pay $5,000 For This Record?
As 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.
Having Fun With Jazz Records
I had fun with my records last night. I had about an hour and a half where I had nothing to do, nothing I wanted to read, and I decided I would just sit and listen to two records fully rapt, eyes closed, no distractions. But what to play? I just went to the shelves and the first record that caught my eye was Mating Call, Tadd Dameron and John Coltrane, Prestige 7070. Why Mating Call? I’m not sure. It’s not a record I’ve listened to often and it’s not on my regular play list. When I want to listen to Coltrane, there are other records that grab my eye. Perhaps I haven’t listened to Mating Call in 10 years, so I wanted to check it out again. And I did. What a great record. This is actually, I think, the first record on which Coltrane was the sole featured horn player. His playing is great, not nearly as adventurous as it would become, but far more confident than on Miles, Prestige 7014. He had either come a long way in the period between those recordings, or the format gave him more room to showcase his gifts. As for Tadd Dameron, Read more
Some Surprises From Jazz Record Center Auction
Our friends at the Jazz Record Center had an auction last week and here are some of the results:
Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges, Verve 8367. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo and it was in M- condition for both the record and the cover. I was surprised to see this one sell for $148.37. Neither Hodges nor Mulligan is typically all that collectible, and this is one of the later Verves among those with the trumpeter logo. Any theories as to why this would sell for nearly $150? Is the market shifting back to Verves a little?
I’ve never seen this one before: Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, A Nite at Carnegie Hall, Black Deuce. This was the full set of 78s capturing the historic September 29, 1947 concert. As noted in the listing, this was a pirated record release, but it was the first of the issues in any form. The set looked to be in excellent, near mint condition. They sold for $688.
This one almost made it into the $2,000 bin:
Vinyl For the Jazz Collector Price Guide
And here’s more jazz vinyl from the newly updated (we hope) Jazz Collector Price Guide.
Not sure how we missed this one, but, to be fair, there’s been quite a large number of copies of this record on eBay lately, particularly one considered to be quite rare: Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. This one had the West 63rd Street address on both labels, but not the New York 23. So it is considered rare but less rare, original but less original. This one was probably VG+ for both the record and the cover. It sold for $2,456.
Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This looked to be an original New York pressing with the original cover design, although there was no mention of the frame, or kakubishi cover. This one was in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $332. Here’s another Rollins from the same seller: Sonny Rollins, Moving Out, Prestige 7058. This was also an original New York pressing. The record was M- and the cover was just VG. This one sold for $472.
You don’t see this one too often, at least not with the red vinyl:
Soundin’ Off On Some Jazz Vinyl
I had a couple of hours to kill the other night and I spent them both on eBay, just perusing through the listings and looking for interesting stuff. I pretty much filled my watch list. Here are some of the items that caught my eye:
Dizzy Reece, Soundin’ Off, Blue Note 4033. This one looked quite promising with original shrink wrap. The record was in Ex or Ex+ condition and the cover VG+. But on close inspection, there were no deep grooves and no mention of an ear in the deadwax, so that probably wasn’t there either. Still, the record sold for $166.50. Would you think this was a Liberty issue with old labels, or would it be pre-Liberty? Is there any real way of knowing? It so happens there is a second copy of Soundin’ Off that looks to be an original pressing, ears and all. This one is in VG+ condition for the record and the cover and is currently priced at about $120 with well more than two days left on the auction.
This listing struck me because it seems pretty clear that the seller did not use a picture of the actual record cover and showed no pictures at all of the labels or vinyl:
Weighing in on Mobley, Catching Up on Newk
Interesting comments on the previous post. My first exposure to Hank Mobley was as a sideman on some of the records that my dad owned, most prominently Donald Byrd’s A New Perspective and Miles Davis Someday My Prince Will Come. He always struck me as a solid player, but in the early days of discovering jazz it was the more passionate players and the innovators that got my attention: Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon and Stan Getz on tenor and Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley on alto. I always relegated Mobley to the second tier, which is certainly no insult when compared to the players I just mentioned. When I became more of a “collector” I was surprised to see the Mobley records so highly valued. So I have turned to him again, often, to reassess, but I always come back to my original assessment. If I want to listen to genius I put on Coltrane or Rollins. Otherwise, Mobley will do just fine. And, as a collector, it’s really nice to look at those original Mobley Blue Notes, Prestiges and Savoys on my shelves and occasionally put them on the turntables. They rarely overwhelm, but they never disappoint.
Meanwhile, while all that discussion has been taking place here at Jazz Collector, there have been auctions going on at eBay, including: Read more
A Triple Play of Rare Jazz Vinyl
I went to eBay to peruse the jazz listings and right off the bat saw three of the rarest of the rare jazz vinyl, each of which will probably sell for at least $2,000 this week.
First up is Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225. This is an original pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover, and it is being offered by the Jazz Record Center, so there is the added assurance of a top seller. Bidding is already close to $2,200 and the auction is closing later today.
The second one that came up is also from the Jazz Record Center: Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This is an original pressing. The record is in M- condition and the cover is probably M- or VG++, depending upon how you feel about a small number written on the back. The bidding for this one is in the $1,700 range.
Finally, there is:
April is Jazz Month
