Theme: Jazz instrumental and vocal versions of songs written by Frank Loesser. Featured artists include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, Bill Evans, Eddie Costa, Charles Rouse, Julius Watkins, Gildo Mahones, Teddy Charles, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims, Herb Geller, Gene Quill, Hal McKusick, Al Cohn, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Sammy Davis Jr., Carmen McRae, Hoagy Carmichael, Art Pepper, Rosemary Clooney, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, and many more.

Quite a hefty price tag for this one: Kenny Dorham, ‘Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia, Blue Note 1524. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in M- condition for the record and Ex for the cover. There were 30 bids, 18 bidders and a lot of action in the closing seconds that pushed the price up to $2,829.

Here’s another Lexington Avenue Blue Note: Introducing Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1523. This one looked to be in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover, with the seller taking a very nice picture of the front cover that , IMHO, made it even more attractive, considering that my copy of this record has a cover with thick packing tape on the seams. Not very attractive. This one sold for $1,677, so it would never have served as a replacement for my copy.

Teddy Charles, Coolin’, New Jazz 8216. This was an original promo copy with the purple label and the deep grooves. I thought I was familiar with every record in the New Jazz catalog, but apparently not. Never seen this one in real life. This was in VG+ condition for both the record and the cover and it sold for $361.56.

This one wound up selling the second time around: Art Farmer, Art, Argo 678. This was an original pressing listed in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. There was one bid and it sold for $109.99.

Gil Melle, Quadrama, Prestige 7097. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The price was $114.50. Would this record be worth anything if it weren’t on the Prestige label? I’ve owned it for nearly 30 years and I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it. Perhaps next time I’m in New York I’ll put it on the turntable. Is it worth the time and effort?

Look at the great cover on this one: Thelonious Monk Plays, Prestige 189. This is a 10-inch pressing that was listed in M- condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. It was part of a nice crop of 10-inch Prestiges offered by the Philadelphia Record Exchange and it sold for $295. You may recall that I bid on the James Moody 10-inchers from this auction. I wound up winning all three for about $150 total, about $50 each. To me that’s a fine deal, great music, even though, perhaps, the resale market for these records won’t be so great. Won’t matter though, since I’ll have thousands of records to sell before I get to these.

Some interesting, lower, prices than usual: Sonny Rollins, Tenor Madness Prestige 7047. This was an original New York pressing in VG condition for both the record and cover. This is quite a classic, of course, yet it sold for less than $60. The dealer mentioned something about the cover being “professionally” repaired, whatever that means, so that could have impacted the price. Still, even in VG condition, you’d expect more, based on the prices we’ve seen lately for original Blue Notes and Prestiges. Here’s another:

Teddy Charles, Collaboration West, Prestige 7028. This was also an original New York pressing with the original cover. It was listed in VG+ condition for the vinyl and what looked to be VG++ for the cover. It sold for $56.05. One more: Art Pepper Quartet, Tampa 20. This was a deep groove pressing that was listed in VG++ condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price was $77.

John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio, Prestige 7123. This was an original pressing with the original cover (the second pressing on this is Traneing In). The record was M- and the cover was VG+ and the price was $660. We’ve watched this one many times in the Jazz Collector Price Guide and it never surpassed $400. Quite a change. I’ve been cataloguing my records for insurance purposes and I had this one at $300. Guess I’ll have to change that.

This one also seemed to hit a new high: Olio, Prestige 7084, with Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Teddy Charles, Elvin Jones, Mal Waldron and Doug Watkins. This one was in M- condition all the way around and sold for $504.

Elmo Hope, Informal Jazz, Prestige 7043. This was an original pressing that looked to be close to M- and probably in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for a hefty $898. Did I write last week that this might be the second cover? Can anybody figure out what I was thinking, because I can’t? Sometimes the fingers move quicker than the brain.

Three Trumpets, Prestige 7092, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Idrees Sulieman. This one looked to be M- for the vinyl and VG++ for the cover. The price was $232.28. Of a similar vintage was this: Two Trumpets, Prestige 7062, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd. This one was in M- condition for the vinyl and VG+ for the cover. The price was similar to Three Trumpets: $236. Guess the additional trumpet player didn’t matter.

changed. Infinity is not strictly a jazz store, like the Jazz Record Center in Manhattan, but Joe has always been able to find good jazz and sell it at fair prices. The interesting thing about his approach is that he generally puts his rare records out on display in the store first — before they go on eBay. This way he attracts people to the store and enables his regular customers to have a first shot at the best records before they go out into the world. As I mentioned the other day, I purchased the Tal Farlow Album on Norgran and the Teddy Charles Prestige record right off the wall. As you can see in the picture, there were other nice collectibles: Sonny Rollins, The Bridge; Dexter Gordon, Our Man in Paris; Art Blakey And the Jazz Messengers at The Bohemia Volume 1; Miles Davis, Kind of Blue; Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz To Come. These records will stay on the wall for 30 to 90 days before they go onto eBay. The sad thing is, Infinity is the last of the really good record stores that sell jazz on all of Long Island, at least as far as I can tell. If there are others, please let me know. There was a time when there were more than a dozen stores with collectible jazz records and it was always an adventure getting into the car for a day of exploration. You never knew what you might find. But those days, for sure, are gone forever. Hopefully, Infinity will stick around for a while longer.

record I own has a different cover.” And sure enough when I got home I looked on the shelf under Teddy Charles and there was Collaboration West, Prestige 7028 with a different cover. And the copy on my shelf was also a New York pressing with a New York address on the label and I thought two things: 1. The first thing I thought was, this is why collectors prefer Blue Notes over Prestige: Prestige was inconsistent with its packaging, it re-released items with new covers and new packages and made it quite confusing for collectors, whereas Blue Note was consistent and focused and clear. I will have more to say on this in a later post this week because I’ve been thinking a lot about it. 2. The second thing I though was “Rudolf.” Rudolf will know the answer to this, why this record has two covers. I am pretty sure I know which is the original cover, and that is the one with the orange and black design and artwork, but even of this I am not 100% sure. That one, with the orange and black artwork, was the one that I had owned, the one that was sitting on my shelf at home. The other one, with a photographic design cover, was the one that I purchased the other day for $75 at Infinity Records. So I am hoping Rudolf is reading this and will share his knowledge of Prestige and, if not, perhaps someone else out there will have the knowledge to enlighten us.

I went away for the long Memorial Day weekend and didn’t look at eBay for three days. Here are some of the things I missed:

Howard McGhee, Music From The Connection, Felsted 7512. This was in nice condition and sold for more than $1,000.

Benny Carter, Cosmopolite, Norgran 1070. This was an original yellow label copy, autographed by Carter and, according to the dealer, directly from Carter’s own collection. A nice collectible, indeed.

The Jazz Message of Donald Byrd and Hank Mobley, Savoy 12064. This was in nice condition and sold for $255. You don’t see too many of the Savoy records fetching high prices like this, but this is a rare item with excellent artists and a great cover.

John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was a nice copy, not mint, that sold for $383.

Tubby Hayes, Mexican Green, Fontana 911. This was also in nice condition. Price: $228.07

Pepper Adams, Critics’ Choice, World Pacific 407. This was in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $224.50.

Teddy Charles, Vibe-Rant, Elektra 136. You don’t see too many jazz LPs from the Elektra label. This one sold for $236.16

Fred Jackson, Hootin’ and Tootin’, Blue Note 4094. This was one of two copies of this record for sale on eBay this weekend. This was the one in better condition and sold for $346. The other copy, in VG/VG+ condition, sold for $98.77.

Curtis Fuller, Slidin’ Easy, United Artists 4041. I always love finding records I’ve never seen in a store. I’m not a dealer, but I’ve been collecting nearly 35 years, and I still get surprised every once in a while. This is a nice looking LP with a great group: Fuller plus Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Elvin Jones. Not bad. This was in M-/M- condition and sold for $338.

The Interpretations of Tal Farlow, Norgran 1027. A couple of weeks ago we saw a copy of this sell for more than $600 and we remarked that it was the highest price we’d seen for a Farlow record. Well, this copy is the new high: $710. It looks to be in beautiful condition.

The Consummate Artistry of Ben Webster, Norgran 1001. This also looks to be in beautiful condition. The price was $393.

Presenting Ernie Henry, Riverside 222. This was an original white label in great condition. Price: $360.

Finally, there’s this item: Elmo Hope Quintet, Blue Note 5044, 10-inch LP.  This was in VG+ condition and sold for $342. About 15 years ago I sold a similar copy for $400. With prices having escalated as much as they have, I probably made a good deal at the time. Even so, I’d rather have the record.

Now that I’ve gotten caught up on what happened over the past few days, I’m clicking to eBay to take a look at what’s ahead the next few days. I’ll give you my report at Jazzcollector.com tomorrow. See you then. — Al