Tag: Tommy Flanagan

Lexingon Avenue, to West 63rd, To St. Louis

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Let’s look at various items sitting in my watch list for various reasons, starting with The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume One, Blue Note 1505. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was probably in VG+ condition and the cover was probably VG+ as well, based on the pictures. The final price was $610. I flagged this one because my recollection was that this record wasn’t among the Blue Notes you would expect to see in the $1,000 bin, being a pre Van Gelder Blue Note that was a compilation of music originally issued on 78-RPM or on 10-inch vinyl. I wasn’t surprised to see the $600 price tag because nothing would surprise me these days and because, hey, it’s an original Lexington Avenue Blue Note, and just holding one of these in your hands is a thrill. Not to mention the presence of Clifford Brown and Charles Mingus, among others, on the record. I did check in with Popsike and discovered that The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson Volume One has, indeed, had a presence in the $1,000 bin, selling for more than $1,500 back in 2010, well before the most recent market spike. Read more

Familiar Names and Titles for The $1,000 Bin

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Catching up on some more jazz vinyl auctions on eBay, starting with Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This was an original purple label mono deep groove pressing. The record features John Coltrane among others. The record and cover were listed in M- condition, although the picture of the bag cover is clearly not M-, and is probably just VG+.  The final price was $1,675. Based on Popsike, that is the highest price we’ve seen for The Cats, possibly more than double the previous high.

Whilst we are perusing the $1,000 bin: Duke Jordan, Flight to Jordan, Blue Note 4046. This was an original West 63rdStreet pressing listed in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $1,514.89. This one had a start price of about $5,000 but did not sell: Tina Brooks, True Blue, Blue Note 4041. This was an original pressing. The record was listed as M-, but the cover was VG-. It is back on eBay for the same start price. Read more

Explorations in the Jazz Collector Stratosphere

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Time to clear out the watch list, starting with The Arrival of Kenny Dorham, Jaro, JAM 5007. This was an original mono pressing with the blue label and deep grooves. The record and cover were both listed in EX+ condition. The final price was about $1,248. From what I can see on Popsike, this is a new high for this record, beating the pervious top tag of $1,050. Speaking of new highs, I had to do a double-take on this one: Get Happy With Freddie Redd Trio With Guests, Nixa Jazz Today Series, NJL 19. We wrote about that a few weeks ago and the post received 59 comments (and counting). At the time of the writing the bidding was in the $460 range and there was some speculation that would end up in the $1,000 bin. How about the $4,000 bin, as in $4,377. Read more

$hade$ Of Redd

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Well, whaddya know: Freddie Redd, Shades of Redd, Blue Note 4045. This was the one we mentioned the other day from our friend Rudolf. Mint condition, original pressing. The speculation was that this would be the one to break the $2,000 barrier. Indeed. It sold for $3,551.50. Guess I got my copy just in time. Rudolf, could you ever have imagined that your jazz records would bring this kind of annuity? How about this one: Joe Henderson, Page One, Blue Note 4140. This was an original mono New York USA label. The record was listed in EX+ condition and the cover was EX. The final price was $941. Read more

Blue Note Temptation

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I haven’t bid on a record on eBay in a long time, so long I can’t remember when, so long that I no longer have access to any sniping software. But today, I am strongly considering making a bid on something. If I was greedy, I wouldn’t share my intentions here, but I don’t have high hopes of winning the record because I don’t think my bid will be nearly sufficient. For the record (pun intended), the record is Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowing in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This looks to be an almost original pressing with one New York 23 label and it is listed in VG++ condition for both the record and probably VG+ for cover. Read more

Jazz Collector Heavy Hitters Edition

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I’ve been watching a few heavy hitters on eBay, starting with Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Columbia 1355. This was an original promotional copy with the white and red six-eye label. The record and the cover were both listed in VG+ condition. The final price was $1,009. The promo copies of Kind of Blue have spiked in the time we’ve been doing Jazz Collector. They are now often appearing in the $1,000 bin and sometimes in the $2,000 in as well. Hey, an original promo copy of probably the most popular jazz record of all time, is a pretty cool thing to own, IMHO. Speaking of the $2,000 bin—or, to be more specific, the nearly-$3,000-bin—there was Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This was an original New York yellow label pressing. Based on the seller’s description, it sounded like the record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG+. The final price was $2,970. Read more

Soul Sisters, Smithvilles and Other Vinyl Rarities

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Since I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to, I find I have a backlog in my watchlist of items I meant to write about, but haven’t had a chance. So let’s go back a few weeks and see what we missed, starting with Horace Silver, Serenade to a Soul Sister, Blue Note 4277. This was an original Liberty Mono pressing and was part of the recent Jazz Record Center auction. I honestly never realized any copy of this record was viewed as highly collectible until I read the JRC’s description of it as “the rare Van Gelder-stamped mono pressing.” Apparently these mono pressings were never sold to the public. I often find I learn something new whenever JRC has an auction. This copy was in M- condition for the record and the cover. The final price was $464. Guess I’ll have to settle for my nice stereo pressing.

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Leapin’, Lopin’ and Lunacy

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After last week’s diversion, I see I am being prodded to get back to the regular business of tracking the market for rare jazz vinyl, and so I will start with a note and link from our friend Clifford, subject: Sonny Clark WTF. Clifford writes, “Hey, Al. Here’s one for the ages (maybe). I’d gladly let my copy go for just $5000!” And the link is Sonny Clark, Leapin’ and Lopin’, Blue Note 4091. This was an original mono pressing with the New York USA address. The record and the cover were in just VG+ condition. The final price was $7,300. As Clifford so eloquently put it: WTF! There were 21 bidders and 44 bids and the price went from a reasonable $563 to a ridiculous $7,300 in the last moments. I would guess that two bidders both had a strategy of putting in humongous bids just to assure that they would get the record and, voila, they ran up against one another. How else could we explain a VG+ copy of this record selling for that price? Read more

Blue Notes and Beyond

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I’m back, finally. I see in my absence, Mr. Lee did a good job of keeping the interest alive. I’ve actually removed a couple of posts that had to do with cases filed on eBay. Sorry, Mr. Lee, that’s not something we do here at Jazz Collector.

Let’s start with the tease on the Blue Note documentary. It is called Blue Note Records: Beyond the Blue Notes. I saw it at a special screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Watching the movie and knowing that I would have to write about it here reminded me why, early in my journalism career, I decided that I didn’t want to be a critic. To be fair, there were some great things about the movie. Nice clips of Monk, the Lion and Wolff story, the artwork (of course) and some great commentary and stories from 91-year-old Lou Donaldson, who lights up the screen every time he appears. Would I recommend the documentary to you, loyal Jazz Collector readers? I don’t need to, do I? You’ll see it no matter what I say, as you should. Within the movie is the story of the music we love as it was recorded and packaged on one of the labels we treasure and collect. Read more

Shades of Tommy Flanagan Overseas

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When I began collecting jazz vinyl as a serious (obsessive?) endeavor, sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, the record that was identified as the “rarest” or “most collectible” was Tommy Flanagan Overseas. There was no internet in those days and I had never even seen a copy of this record for years, and didn’t hold a copy in my hand until maybe 20 years later, when it was part of a collection that I did not buy. I never owned an original until the Bruce W. West collection back in 2013, so it was a long wait of more than 30 years for me. I’ve always kept an eye on this record on eBay because of its early mythological aura, at least as I experienced it. Over the years I’ve seen as this record has moved into the $3,000 price range on occasion, which is certainly quite a high price, but the aura of this record as the height of jazz collectibility has been eclipsed by other records, particularly Blue Notes, and most specifically Hank Mobley, Blue Note 1568. Yet Tommy Flanagan Overseas is still high up on the list of valuable and highly sought-after jazz collectibles. I mention all this as a prelude to this listing on eBay now: Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This auction for this copy

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