Setting Some New Highs For Jazz Vinyl Prices

Many of the jazz vinyl auctions we’ve been watching on eBay have ended, so here’s a bit of a summary, starting with some of the final prices on the recent auction from the seller bobdjukic:

Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This was an original stereo pressing in M- condition for the record and the cover. It sold for $410. I’m not going to comment on the prices of the records I’m listing here. They tend to speak for themselves, no?

John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Atlantic 1311. This was not an original pressing. It was a fairly common mono pressing with the red and purple labels and the white fan logo. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. It sold for $142.50.

Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve 8545. This was an original stereo pressing. The record and cover were probably in M- condition. The price was $361.

John Coltrane, Ballads, Impulse 32. This was an original orange label pressing. The record was in M- condition and the cover was VG++. The price was $410. Our previous high price for this in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was $205.

Joe Henderson, Mode For Joe, Blue Note 4227. This was a Liberty pressing. Liberty Pressing. It was in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $154.02.

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Grand Stans

To keep the discussion on this a little longer. I was perusing eBay last night and there was another copy of Getz/Gilberto, Verve 8545, also a stereo pressing, also in M- condition. It sold for $37, which is higher than normal. The other one from bobdjukic is at $219 and closing later today. While perusing, I also came upon this nice record: Stan Levey, Grand Stan, Bethelehem 71. It was sitting there at $25 and there were no bidders and I was contemplating placing a bid even though I already own a copy in M- condition. I think the seller missed an opportunity here: This is one of those records where if you know it, and you know the identities of the musicians, it becomes much more interesting. Among the musicians on this record are Sonny Clark and Richie Kamuca and it is, as you’d expect, a terrific record. It’s also not so easy to find, certainly tougher to find than Getz/Gilbert0. This one was in VG+ condition and sold for $27. The highest price we’ve ever seen for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide is $90.

Fairly Common LPs, Uncommon Prices

Many of you in the Jazz Collector audience complain about the seller bobjdukic, but you have to give the guy credit – whatever he does, he is able to get prices that no one else can dream of. I’m watching several of his auctions now and am pretty amazed at where the bidding is going. He must have regular customers who trust him and are well satisfied with what he delivers. Here are a few cases in point: Stan Getz, Getz. Gilberto, Verve 8545. Was there a more popular, more widely produced jazz album in the 1960s? Could you waltz into any record store now (if you can find one) and find a copy of this record in reasonable condition? This one has 11 bids and is currently priced at $219 with more than a day to go.  Miles Davis, “Four and More,” Columbia 2453. Again, this is a great record, but not all that uncommon. This one has been bid up to more than $100. Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago, Mercury 60134. This is a stereo pressing. Again a great record, but not that hard to find, even in nice condition. This one has been bid up to $178.50.

Vinyl Tracking From the Jazz Record Center

Here are a few more results of jazz vinyl auctions by the Jazz Record Center last week. Just in case anyone is interested, I have no vested interest in these auctions or special relationship with the Jazz Record Center. I like to watch their auctions as a bellwether because they are probably the most reputable seller in the market.

Working With the Miles Davis Quintet, Prestige 7166. This was an original yellow label pressing with the New Jersey address. It was a review copy in mint condition. The price was $472.35. There was a time when you could get the Miles Prestige records relatively inexpensively, but not anymore.

Here’s another nice one from Prestige: Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, The Brothers, Prestige 7022. This was an original New York yellow label pressing in M- condition for the record and probably VG++ for the cover. This one has the frame cover. The price was $234.72. How often are you going to find a record like this in this kind of condition? Nice.

Here’s a Blue Note that, surprisingly, did not break into the $1,000 bin.

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10-Inch LPs, Jazz Record Center, eBay

Interesting that the Jazz Record Center has an auction this week fully devoted to 10-inch LPs. I’ve always been a fan of 10-inch records, I think more for the packaging and authenticity — I mean, they pretty much stopped producing them in 1955 — than necessarily for the sound quality, although some people swear by them. My friend Dan swears that the sound on the 10-inch version of The Tal Farlow album, for example, is far superior to the 12-inch version, even the original Norgran 12-incher. Anyway, prices of 10-inch LPs tend to be lower than corresponding 12-inch LPs, so we’ll see how this week’s JRC auction goes. Here are some of the items we’ll be watching

Jutta Hipp, Jutta, Blue Note  5056. This one looks to be in M- condition. It has already been bid up to $416 with four bids, so we’re expecting that this is the one that will sell for top price among these listings. Howard McGhee, Volume 2, Blue Note 5024. This one is in M- condition and looks gorgeous in the picture. I own Volume 1, but have never had Volume 2. Probably won’t get this one either. The start price is $250. So far there are no takers, but it’s early. Stan Getz, The Beginning, with Wardell Grey, Seeco SLP7. I have a lot of Getz LPs, even a bunch of 10-inchers, but this is one I’m quite unfamiliar with. Anyone have any info to share on this LP? The one from the Jazz Record Center is in M- condition and already has a bidder at $150.

Tracking Prices in an Alternate Universe

Let’s catch up on some of the jazz vinyl we were watching last week. Remember that copy of Miles Davis, Steamin’, Prestige 7200, pictured a few items below?   That was the one from bobjdukic and it was in M- condition, an original New Jersey pressing? It sold for $760. Wow! I’ll put it in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but it’s hard to imagine that this will now be the going rate for this record. This guy seems to have a customer base that’s in an alternate universe from the customer base buying jazz vinyl from every other seller on eBay. There are many examples, but look at this one as well: Stan Getz, Imported From Europe, Verve 8331. This isn’t even an original pressing and he was able to get $122.50 for it. It leaves me somewhat speechless, but someone, somewhere, was willing to pay the price.

This is from a different seller and more in line with current market realities: Duke Jordan, Flight To Jordan, Blue Note 4046. This was an original pressing with the West 63rd label, deep grooves, ear, etc. It was listed in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $741.

This is a nice record:

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A Potpourri Of Collectible (And Not) Jazz Vinyl

Here are some odds and ends we’ve been watching:

Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1543. This was an original pressing with the Lexington Avenue address, the last of the Lexington Blue Notes. It also has the cover by Andy Warhol. The seller has his own grading system and he labeled the record and cover in the VG++ range, but based on the description of the record and his system, it sounded to me like the record was more like VG and the cover was somewhere between VG and VG+.  It sold for $510.

I’d have thought this would see more action, but it didn’t: Stan Getz, Interpretations, Norgran 1000. This was an original pressing with the deep grooves and yellow label and it was listed in M- condition for the vinyl. The cover looked to be about VG+. The start price for this was $50 and there was only one bid and it sold for $50. Someone got a great record for a nice price.

Here’s another great record often available at a nice price: Sonny Stitt, 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds, Roost 2219. The early Stitt Roost LPS like this and Sonny Stitt and the New Yorkers feature

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e-Bay Watch: Getz, JR, Byrd, Mobley, et al

Here’s some jazz vinyl we’re watching now on eBay. Some of these are closing soon, so by the time many of you read these they will be sold.

Stan Getz In Stockholm, Verve 8213. This is an original pressing with the trumpeter label. Excellent LP with Getz in fine form. This one is listed in M- condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It is currently at $100.

Euclid Records has some nice records today, including these: J. R. Monterose, The Message, Jaro 5004. The record is in M- condition and the cover is just VG. It is already priced at more than $650. Jackie McLean, The New Tradition, Ad Lib 6601. How much do you want to own a copy? Would you accept one in G condition for the record, with noise, and VG for the cover? Someone will. This one is about $125 and I expect it will sell for a bit more than that. Bud Powell, Time Waits, Blue Note 1598. This looks to be an original pressing. The record is in VG++ condition and the cover is VG+. The current price is $175.

Haven’t seen this one in awhile, but now it’s up for the second time in a week:

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A Jazz Vinyl Potpourri

Here’s some interesting jazz vinyl we’ve been watching on eBay.

Miles Davis, Relaxin’, Prestige 7129. This was a New Jersey pressing, not an original but a second press. It was in M- condition for the record and somewhere less than M- for the cover, say VG++. We’ve been watching the market for second-press Blue Notes going way up, and here’s a Prestige following the same pattern. This one sold for $202.50. Perhaps condition is playing a factor as well, but this is a nice price for a New Jersey copy of Relazin’. This one came from the same seller: John Coltrane, Soultrane, Prestige 7142. This was a yellow-label New Jersey pressing, which is a first press. I have a copy of Prestige 7141 with the New York address, but I’ve never seen a Soultrane with the New York address. Great record, my favorite of the Coltrane Prestiges. This one was in M- for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $295.

This one is of the same general vintage and only sold for $58.70:

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Some Later Blue Note Pressings, Plus a Few More

Here are some odds and ends of interest for various reasons:

As prices have been rising for original Blue Notes, we’ve also been watching prices rise, although not as drastically for later pressings. We had an eye on this one: Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil, Blue Note 4194. This was a stereo pressing with the Liberty label. The record as M- and the cover was VG++. It sold for $38. I couple of years ago, these Liberty pressings were selling in the $20 range, so there has been movement, as you would expect. When I first started collecting jazz in 1970 or so, if you went into a local store such as a Sam Goody, these were the pressings you would typically find. If I had been prescient, or if I had the money, I would have bought them all.

This seller was trying to take a shot with a record of similar vintage: Hank Mobley, No Room For Squares, Blue Note 4149. This didn’t have a description of the label, but it did clearly show in the picture that it was a Liberty pressing. He tried with a start price of $100. There were no bidders, and it has now been listed for around $50, with the same pictures. Presumably there will still be no bidders, but you can never tell. This seller’s feedback rating, by the way, is 98.8 percent.

This one is hard to figure:

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