Coming Up on Ebay: Rollins, Melle and Booker Ervin

Here are some interesting items we’re watching on eBay over the next few days:

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This is an original New York pressing with a promo stamp on the cover. The record is listed as M- and the cover is listed as VG++. The current price is about $115 with three days to go. It will be interesting to see the final price of this one, compared with the one sold earlier in the week by the Jazz Record Center, which went for $1,492. 

Gil Melle, Gil’s Guests, Prestige 7063. This is an original New York pressing with the yellow label. The record is listed as M- and the cover is VG++. The current price is about $100. As Rudolf pointed out in an earlier comment, the seller, Sweedeedee, has a nice variety of items up this week, including several vintage Prestige pressings, such as

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A few More For the $1,000 Bin, Courtesy of JRC

As we expected, several of the items from the Jazz Record Center auction sold for well more than $1,000. Here’s the rundown of the ones we were watching:

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This was an original New York pressing. On further inspection, this copy looks to be in M- condition, both record and cover. The final price was $1,492.

Sonny Rollins Volume One, Blue Note 1542. This was also an original pressing — Lexington Avenue on both sides. The record was M- and the cover looked to be VG++. The final price was $1,281.

Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note 4031. This one also seemed to be in M- condition, both record and cover. The final price was  $1,259.

In addition to these for the $1,000 bin, there is also this one from Jazz Record Center:

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From JRC: Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Sonny Rollins

We were checking our email and we noticed that the Jazz Record Center is another auction coming up on eBay this week. The check out the link, click here. This one will be quite interesting to watch, since there are at least three records we expect to break the $1,000 barrier, and there are a bunch of other records that will test the softness of the market. When you have a dealer with the sterling reputation of the Jazz Record Center, you are getting the truest sense of market conditions, since bidders don’t have to worry about the veracity and credibility of the seller. In any case, among the top items being auction by Jazz Record center this week are: Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538. This is an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record is M- and the cover is somewhere between VG++ and M-. The current price is $912; Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note 4031. This one looks M- all the way around and is currently at $777; Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus, Prestige 7079. This is a New York pressing in beautiful condition and is currently at $521.

Quickie Quiz

Haven’t  done a quiz in awhile and the post on Newk’s Time this morning got me thinking: How did Sonny Rollins get the nickname Newk?

Yes, Rudolf, that is correct. Here’s a picture of Don Newcombe in his Dodgers uniform in the mid-1950s. And below is our Newk in a different kind of uniform.

For the Price Guide: Newk, Evans, Tina Brooks

Here are some items we’ve been watching. I know we’ve been talking about a lull on eBay, but when you look at these prices they seem to be holding pretty steady.  All of these will be entered into the Jazz Collector Price Guide as soon as I have time, probably this weekend. By the way, there are no links with these items: Most of the links have appeared somewhere on the site already.

Sonny Rollins, Newk’s Time, Blue Note 4001. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG+. The price was $598.

Jutta Hipp, Jutta, Blue Note 5056. This was an original 10-inch LP in VG+ condition, both record and cover. The price was $330.

Jackie McLean, Capuchin Swing, Blue Note 4038. This seemed to be an original pressing, although the seller didn’t say anything about deep grooves. It was in M- condition, both record and cover, and

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Why Do We Collect?

Ye ask, and ye shall receive. Bethellodge asks on another post that we start a conversation on the topic: “Why do we collect?” 

Here’s my story: I started out, probably like most of us, loving the music for the music’s sake. I remember the sound of jazz in my living room, from my father’s collection, and listening to John Coltrane in between classes at Queens College, and going back and discovering Bird and Dexter and Sonny and Clifford and Ella and so many of my heroes. The albums I found early in my searches are so often among my favorites and the albums I put on the turntable most often. Last night I had a half hour to kill and put on Oscar Peterson, West Side Story. It was like getting together with an old friend. In the beginning it was just about the music: Who cared if a pressing was original, as long as I could listen to the music? At some point, however, it became about more than the music, about finding the original pressing and building a collection. In my case, I know part of it is– and always has been — the thrill

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Heroes: Musicians and Their Influences

From our our archives, here’s an interesting item from June 18, 2004.

If you’re looking for a good read, pick up the July issue of Downbeat. It’s being promoted as the “70th Anniversary Collector’s Edition” and the focus is a feature called “Our Heroes” in which more than 70 musicians talk about their primary influences. Here are a few highlights:

 Sonny Rollins on Coleman Hawkins: “I first saw him play on 52nd Street. I used to put eyebrow pencil on my lip to make a fake mustache so I could get in. We’d stand in the back, and it was like looking at a god playing.”

 Joe Zawinul on Art Tatum: “He always sounded like two piano players. The story goes like this:

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Catching Up on Some More Blue Note LPs

Here’s an update on some Blue Notes we were watching last week. All of these have already been entered into the Jazz Collector Price Guide. 

Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd Street address in M- condition, both record and cover. It sold for $364.99.

At Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 2, Blue Note 1522. This was an original pressing with the original cover and the Lexington Avenue address. It was in VG+ condition, both record and cover, and sold for $332.

The Amazing Bud Powell, Blue Note 5003. This was an original 10-inch pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was M-. The price was $199.

George Wallington Showcase, Blue Note 5045. This was also a 10-inch LP.

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A Question on The Bossa Nova

I got into pulling some of the old files as I’m updating the site and here’s something I wrote a few years ago about the album Sonny Rollins, What’s New?, RCA Victor LPM-2572.  If you keep reading there’s a question here for readers that was never answered on the Jazz Collector site, so perhaps, if you know the answer, you can provide it.  Anyway:

What’s New was Rollins’s second album after he came back from one of his self-imposed retirements in the late 1950s/early 1960s. This was the retirement during which he gained notoriety for practicing on the Williamsburg Bridge. After this comeback, his tone was a bit harsher than it had been during the ‘50s and his attack was a bit more staccato, but his playing was very inventive and inspired. In particular, he seemed to have a strong rapport with

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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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