Thelonious Monk | jazzcollector.com

A Unique Way of Listing (And It Pays Off)

March 13, 2014 Al 10 comments

I’m preparing to update the Jazz Collector Price Guide so I’m going through my watch list and catching up on some items I may have missed, starting with: The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 209. This was described as an original white label pressing in VG+ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The listing was quite weird in that there were no pictures of the actual record or cover. Instead, there was a canned picture that looked as if it came off the Internet. No harm, at least to the seller. This one wound up selling for $531. That’s the highest price we’ve ever seen for that record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide. Maybe it pays to not post pictures, huh?

Art Blakey, A Night at Birdland Volume 1, Blue Note 1521. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was probably in VG+ condition and the cover was M-. This one sold for $510.

Soundin’ Off On Some Jazz Vinyl

March 7, 2014 Al 26 comments

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:

From The Jazz Collector Newsroom

February 28, 2014 Al 6 comments

Here are some news items that have come into my mailbox that may be of interest to loyal readers of Jazz Collector.

You know those cool, inexpensive record shelves produced by Ikea, the Expedit line? Well, if you want any, you better stock up now. They are discontinued, which apparently has caused something of a brouhaha among record collectors. A spokesman for the company says there is a new line in place to replace Expedit, called Kallax. For its part, Ikea is stating that it is updating and improving the Expedit line, but record collectors don’t seem appeased, judging by the outcry. I took a look at the Kallax line, here, and, frankly, I don’t see what the fuss is about. I own one large Expedit unit and if I had to replace it with a Kallax I think I would survive.

There’s a lot of Blue Note activity going on. The company is launching what it calls a 75th Anniversary Vinyl Initiative by which it is

Blue Note

Back to eBay: Monk, Byrd, Pepper

January 13, 2014 Al 8 comments

Before posting the previous video, I did have a watch list of nice jazz vinyl on eBay. So let’s see how some of those auctions turned out:

There were those nice items from Euclid records, including The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 209. This was an original white label pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. It sold for $463.50. Also, Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, Prestige 7075. This was an original New York yellow label pressing in M- condition for the record and VG++ for the cover. It sold for $768.88. One more: Donald Byrd, Byrd in Hand, Blue Note 4019. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing in M- condition for both the record and the cover. It sold for $515.

This one sold after several attempts:

A New Standard for United Artists Blue Notes?

January 6, 2014 Al 11 comments

Here’s another selection of jazz vinyl we are watching on eBay, starting with Johnny Griffin, A Blowing Session, Blue Note 1559. This is clearly marked as a United Artists pressing. The seller lists it as a 1968 pressing, which I think he’s just making up. As far as I know these United Artists Blue Notes were originally issued for the Japanese market in the late 1970s or early 1980s. In any case, this is in VG++ condition for the record and the cover and is currently at a price of $78. Is it possible that these United Artists Blue Notes are increasing in value to the point where they are becoming collectibles? Or is it perhaps an aberration, some bidders not knowing, some not caring, some not reading the listing carefully enough?

Our friends at Euclid Records have some very nice records on eBay now, including The Unique Thelonious Monk, Riverside 209. This is an original white label pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. This one is already in the $250 range with nearly four days left on the auction. Here’s another: Read more

Breaking a Few Records

October 29, 2013 Al 21 comments

Didn’t quite get in all of the jazz vinyl auctions I wanted to post from yesterday, so here are a few more.

John Coltrane, Blue Train, Blue Note 1577. This was an original pressing. The seller didn’t give it a grade, but from the description is sounded like the vinyl was probably M-. The cover was probably VG++, based on the pictures. It sold for a whopping $3,000. That’s far and away the highest price we’ve ever seen for Blue Train in the Jazz Collector Price Guide.

Thelonious Monk, Monk, With Sonny Rollins and Frank Foster, Prestige 7053. This was a New Jersey pressing, not an original. The cover also had the New Jersey address. This one has the Andy Warhol cover, which gives it some additional prestige, if you’ll pardon the play on words. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover looked to be VG++ as well. This one was listed by bobjdukic, and he has somehow figured a way to get prices that no one else can match. For this second pressing, he was able to get a top bid of $955.21.

Here’s another Warhol cover from the same seller:

Celebrating Riverside Records

September 25, 2013 Al 23 comments

Somebody recently sent me this great clip celebrating the 60th anniversary of Riverside Records. It features an interview with Riverside co-founder Orrin Keepnews, still quite articulate and interesting at 90 years old. I find it interesting that he considers Thelonious Monk to be the patron saint of the label, and that signing Monk was what gave the label credibility among other jazz artists. I’m a huge fan of Riverside, and so are most of the readers here at Jazz Collector, I’m sure. So this morning, laying in bed, I start putting together a list of my favorite Riverside albums. These are my personal favorites, not the ones I would call the “best” or the most influential. Just the ones that through the years I’ve listened to most often and enjoyed the most: Here goes:

Riverside

No Vinyl For You!

September 15, 2013 Al 8 comments

Let’s revisit some Blue Note jazz vinyl that did not sell on eBay this past week.

Horace Silver Quintet, Blue Note 5058. This was an original 10-inch pressing listed in Ex- condition for both the record and the cover. I thought this one might have a chance to sell despite the condition, but I think the market for 10-inch Blue Notes is much softer than that for 12-inch Blue Notes. Although we have seen this record sell for more than $500 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, the condition of that earlier record was far better than Ex-, whatever that is. This one had a start price of $300 and got no bids.

This 10-inch original Blue Note also failed to gather any bidding: Thelonious Monk, Genius of Modern Music, Volume 2, Blue Note 5009. The record and cover were both VG+ and the seller was quite optimistic and hopeful in putting a $415.05 starting price on this. The hopes were not rewarded, as there were no bids.

I had thought this one would sell, but it didn’t:

Not Knowing Squat About Jazz, Indeed

September 11, 2013 Al 26 comments

I’ve had this thing in my inbox for the past few weeks and I’ve been debating whether to post it. It’s really silly. The Internet gives pretty much anyone a forum to write pretty much anything they want. So I got this email with a listing from a blog and it was something like the “10 Greatest Jazz Pianists of All Time,” which was silly enough, but then I saw that the guy did a Top 10 list of jazz albums under the dubious heading “10 essential jazz albums if you know squat about jazz but want to become more versed.” The list is so bad and ridiculous I won’t comment, other than to note the lack of any artist from before the post-Bop era, including Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Anyway, after great hesitation (and strictly for laughs), here it is:

News

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