This week’s theme: A Jazzy Christmas. Featured artists include Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Shelly Manne, Shorty Rogers, Teddy Edwards, Victor Feldman, Al Viola, Monty Budwig, Charlie Parker, Kenny Dorham, Max Roach, Al Haig, Vince Guaraldi, Diana Krall, Rosemary Clooney, Dan Axelrod, Dinah Washington, Ramsey Lewis, Isaiah J. Thompson, John Pizzarelli, Julian Lee, Philip Norris, Kyle Poole, Manhattan Transfer, Nancy Lamott.

This week’s theme: Jazz Vocals featuring horn player accompaniment. Featured artists include Sarah Vaughan, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dave Lambert, Joe Williams, Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Abby Lincoln, Kenny Durham, Sonny Rollins, Dinah Washington, Clark Terry, Paul Quinichette, Lockjaw Davis, Annie Ross, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, Helen Humes, Teddy Edwards, Ray Charles, Betty Carter, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, and many more.

Just to show that Groovin’ High was no fluke, there were also these from the JRC auction: Booker Ervin, The Freedom Book, Prestige 7295. This was an original yellow label mono pressing that also looked to be in M- condition. The final price was $392. This was not a new high for The Freedom Book, which has sold for more than $800 on one occasion. And Booker Ervin, The Space Book, Prestige 7386. This was an original blue label mono pressing. The record looked to be M- and the cover was probably VG++. The final price was $289.99.

Whilst on the JRC auction, let’s fill in the gaps of some of the records mentioned in the previous post and assorted comments. There was Kenny Dorham, Quiet Kenny, New Jazz 8225, with the drill hole through the center of the cover and the label. This one sold for $3,023.  There was Bill Evans, Explorations, Riverside 351, with the misprinted cover. This one sold for $539. There was Teddy Edwards, Good Gravy!, Contemporary 3592. This was an original deep-groove mono pressing that was in M- condition for the record and probably VG+ or VG++ for the cover. This one sold for $133.50.

Of course, we were also watching other auctions. Here is one that caught our eye. Sonny Rollins and the Modern Jazz Quartet, Barclay 84057. This looked to be an original French pressing of the early Rollins Prestige 12-inch compilation. I had never this version and the cover is quite cool. Both record and cover were in M- condition and the start price was about $200. There were no bidders, so I would expect to see this back soon, perhaps at a lower price. I was listening to a playlist I had compiled a while ago and “Slow Boat to China” came on. Sonny was just 21 or 22 and, man, could he play. I am currently reading (and thoroughly enjoying) the new biography Saxophone Colossus: The Life of Sonny Rollins by Aidan Levy. Definitely a must-read for Sonny fans, which means it is a must-read for Jazz Collector readers, because it is impossible to imagine that anyone reading this far into this post is not a Sonny fan, right?

Anyway, here are a few that either closed earlier or are closing soon, starting with Art Tatum. Benny Carter, Louis Bellson, Clef 55. This was an original pressing with a nice cover by David Stone Martin. There’s really very little interest in Tatum these days, which I will never understand, so I wanted to watch this and see if it would sell. It did, for $42.12 in Ex condition for the record and the cover, VG+ in my language.

These next two surprised me. They are not records I normally watch because they don’t typically fetch collectible prices. They didn’t here, but they also sold for more money than I would have expected:

Sonny Stitt, The Hard Swing, Verve 8306. This was an original pressing with the trumpeter logo. The record was also Ex (same seller as the Tatum record), and the cover was M-. The record sold for $79.89.

Teddy Edwards, Heart and Soul, Contemporary 3606. This was an original yellow label pressing in Ex condition. The seller is in Australia, so shipping isn’t inexpensive. The record sold for $49.

Here are a couple still to be determined:

Horace Silver, The Tokyo Blues, Blue Note 4110. This looks to be an original mono New York USA pressing. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. The start price is $49.99 and there are no bidders. Typically, I would expect this record to sell for more than that, even in this condition, but the seller mentions the dreaded phrase “surface noise,” which is likely scaring buyers off. The hope, I think, when you bid on a VG+ record is that it will play well, even if it doesn’t look perfect.

Dexter Gordon, Gettin’ Around, Blue Note 4204. This is a record in its original seal. The seller, very credible, is sure that it is an original pressing. The bidding is in the $125 range and the auction is closing quite soon. It has not yet reached the seller’s reserve price. Do you think bidders may be wary that it is not an original pressing?

Back home after a weekend away. Let’s see what happened on eBay the past few days.

 The seller JBLD44000 out of Seattle, who has been selling some nice records the past few weeks, had a bunch of items up this weekend, with mixed results. A few of the records sold for high prices, including:

Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note 4031, for $1,337.28

Kenny Drew, Walkin’ and Talkin’, Jazz West 4, for $532

This dealer also had several high-ticket items that didn’t get bids at all. Based on our previous experience watching his auctions, we anticipate that these records will be back on eBay in the near future with somewhat lower start prices and, perhaps, Buy-It-Now prices. Among those records are:

Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Message, Prestige 7061. Zeros bids with a start price of $550.

John Coltrane, Tenor Conclave, Prestige 7074. Zero bids with a start price of $450.

Cecil Payne and Phil Woods, The Music of Charlie Parker, Signal 1204. Zero bids with a start price of $425.

In addition to these, there were several others. If you’re interested in any of these items, you should keep an eye on JBLD44000. We’ll do the same and keep you informed.

 Another seller who often seems to have great records is Jazz5060. Among the items he sold this weekend were:

 Blue Mitchell, Out of the Blue, Riverside 1131, for a price of $218.50.

Cecil Payne, Patterns in Jazz, Savoy 12147, for a price of $262

Teddy Edwards, Sunset Eyes, Pacific Jazz 14, for a price of $198.50

Finally, here are a few other items of interest:

 John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. Price: $487

Charlie Parker, Dial 203, 10-inch LP. Price: $169. The vinyl was in only VG condition, but we still thought this might command a higher price based on the condition of the cover.

Zoot Sims, Zoot at Ronnie Scotts, Fontana 588. This was a stereo pressing that sold for $208.06.

Tal Farlow, The Artistry of Tal Farlow, Norgran $232.50. Price: $232.50. We’ve seen this record before but usually with wear on the cover. This copy looked pristine and the price reflected that.

That’s it for today. Now that we’re caught up on what happened the past few days on eBay, we’ll look ahead and see what’s coming up the next few days. Look for our report on Jazzcollector.com tomorrow. See you then. — al