Tracking eBay: The Cats, Blue Notes, Cannonball

Before we look ahead at the coming week, let’s look at some of the jazz vinyl we were watching last week:

Tommy Flanagan, The Cats, New Jazz 8217. This was an original pressing with the purple label and the deep grooves. It features John Coltrane. I haven’t listened to this record in a few years, but my recollection is that it’s not among Trane’s better efforts, but I should go back and check again. Nevertheless it is a New Jazz and it is Trane and Flanagan and it is thus an important collectible. This one was listed in excellent condition by the seller, which I took to mean about VG++. The price was $404.99.

This one was from the same seller and also looked to be in excellent VG++ condition: The Magnificent Thad Jones, Blue Note 1527. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing and sold for $869.99.

Speaking of Blue Notes, as we so often do at Jazz Collector, here are a couple of 10-inch Blue Notes we were watching:

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More Tales Of The Hunt: Beware A Woman Scorned

I get the feeling Nick from Brooklyn is becoming an irresistible force. Here he is, back again with a new Tales of the Hunt guest column. I’m calling this one “Beware a Woman Scored.”

Still More Tales of The Hunt by Nick From Brooklyn

This is going to be a quick story. I wanted to get it to Al before I forgot it. I used to advertise all over New York City, I had cards made up, I used to stick flyers all over, did a lot of newspaper ads, etc. Because you never know who is going to call you and with what. One day, I think it is around 1995 or so, I am in my house doing some research. The phone rings. I answer it. On the other end is a woman and she is screaming YOU WANT JAZZ RECORDS WELL COME AND GET THEM and hangs up. I laugh to myself because over the years not every call or deal is a winner and a lot of people like to play games and in reality many people really do not know what jazz is. Around an hour later the phone rings again, it’s the same woman and she is still screaming and yelling (some voice) WELL WHERE ARE YOU. I try to talk to her, but she hangs up again. I go out for around two hours, when I get home my wife tells me a woman called and she gave me the number. I ask her was she screaming and yelling, she says no, she was pretty nice. I call the woman, she answers and she is very calm, and tells me she was sorry about the last two calls. I tell her don’t worry about it. And then I ask her what do you have?

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Five For the $1,000 Bin

Haven’t updated the $1,000 bin lately, so here goes:

Art Pepper, Modern Art, Intro 606. This was an original pressing in M- condition, sold by our friend Steve at Round Again Records in Providence, RI. The price was $1,978. And if you happen to be in Providence, check out A Christmas Carol at Trinity Rep, directed by Young JC, otherwise known as my son Michael.

Lorraine Geller at the Piano, Dot 3174. This looked to be in M- condition and sold for $1,580. I haven’t seen this record, but I had no idea it was such a valuable collectible. Is it any good, or is it just rare?

The next one is good and it’s rare, although it does seem to pop on eBay quite often for an extremely rare record, wouldn’t you say:

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Catching Up: Flanagan, Dorham & A Signed Max

Let’s catch up on a few more eBay sales:

This one did sell for more than $1,000. Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. When we were watching it the other day it was at about $400 and we speculated it might sell for less than $1,000. It sold for $1,440 in VG+ condition for the vinyl and the cover. Perhaps that can be considered a bargain in today’s market?

The Arrival of Kenny Dorham, Jaro 5007. This was an original pressing in VG++ condition for both the vinyl and the cover. It sold for $457. We’ve never tracked this one at more than $1,000 in the Jazz Collector Price Guide, but we’re pretty sure it has probably cracked the $1,000 barrier at some point. It’s a nice record and quite rare as well.

This one was autographed. Still not sure if an autograph enhances the value of a jazz record. Collectors can be quite picky about having their records untouched and pristine:

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On Ebay: Lou, Lee, Overseas

Here are some items to watch on eBay:

Lou Donaldson, Wailing With Lou, Blue Note 1545. Love this record. This is an original pressing. The cover is VG- and the vinyl is somewhere between VG+ and VG++, based on the description. The current price is around $100 and it is closing today and it is quite tempting since the copy in my collection is a Japanese pressing. Somehow I have to re-convince myself that I am to be getting rid of records, not acquiring them. Speaking of which . . . I did well yesterday. I stopped in at my favorite local store, Infinity Records on Long Island, and he had there a copy of Elmo Hope Quintet, Blue Note 5044. This is a 10-inch LP featuring Frank Foster. I had this at one point and, regrettably, sold it for about $400. My copy was in excellent condition. The one in the store yesterday was VG for the record and maybe VG- for the cover. The price was

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For the $2,000 Bin: Marable and Flanagan

Let’s update the $2,000 bin, shall we?

The Lawrence Marable Quintet, Tenorman, Jazz West 8. The vinyl on this was listed as VG++ and the cover was listed as excellent, which I generally take to mean either VG+ or VG++ depending upon the seller and the description. For this item, I would think VG++ would be appropriate based on my grading terminology. This copy sold for $2,024.99. I admit: I don’t own a copy of this LP. Generally the LPs that have the high price tags are not just rare, but the music is good as well. Anyone want to share a review/opinion on this LP?

Also entering the $2,000 club, again, was this:

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On eBay: Watching Some Prestiges

Here are some interesting items we’ll be watching this weekend.

Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This is an original pressing. The vinyl is listed in M- and the cover looks to be VG++. I went years and years without ever seeing a copy of this record, always to hear about it in legend as one of the rarest of the rare. It’s funny, isn’t it, how there seems to be a nice copy of this record on eBay every couple of weeks? I think it’s a function of eBay and potential sellers realizing that can get top dollar for the record, so they look to flip it. I don’t have an original copy in my collection, but I’ve survived this long without it, so I think I’ll be OK. This one is more than $1,300 and it still has not reached the seller’s reserve price.

Hank Mobley, Mobley’s Second Message, Prestige 7082. This is an original pressing and it looks to be in VG++ condition for both the record and the cover. This is being offered by Academy LPs in New York. It’ s funny, I went into their

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A Few More For the $1,000 (and $2,000) Bin(s)

This one has been breaking the $1,000 barrier pretty consistently: Louis Smith, Smithville, Blue Note 1594. This copy seemed to be in VG+ condition for the record and VG condition for the vinyl, based on the seller’s description. Still, it sold for $1,148.

Jazz Record Center had a few more in the $2,000 bin, including: Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This one was in beautiful M- condition and sold for $2,650.07. One of the nice things Fred often does in the listings is provide little details that help to expand our knowledge of the market. In this case the little tidbit is that there is no address on the cover because Prestige at the time was transitioning from New York to New Jersey.

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For the $1,000 Bin: Blue Notes, Prestige

Time again to update the $1,000 bin.

Walter Davis, Davis Cup, Blue Note 4018. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing and was sold by a reputable dealer. The record was listed in M- condition and was described as “uplayed.” The cover was probably VG+, based on the description. The price was $2,000. Our previous high price for this record in the Jazz Collector Price Guide was $1,248.

This one has made many appearances in the $1,000 bin: Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This was an original pressing with a promo stamp. The record and cover looked to be in M- condition. The price was $2,175.

Lee Morgan, Indeed, Blue Note 1538. This looked like an original Lexington Avenue pressing with the deep grooves, although the seller’s description was quite lacking, making it

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Catching Up: Flanagan, Clifford, Jackie’s Bag

Some of the auctions we’ve been watching just closed, so here’s an update:

Tommy Flanagan Overseas, Prestige 7134. This was an original New York pressing sold by Euclid Records. It was in VG+ condition for both the cover and the vinyl. It sold for $722.02. This is a bit less than we might have anticipated, although condition was a factor. We’ve found things a little slow on eBay this week — we had a bunch of reasonably priced records that didn’t sell at all, which was quite unusual. Perhaps there’s a pre-Christmas lull?

That Blue Note vs. French Vogue competition we were watching from Jazz Record Center? As we expected, the Blue Note commanded the higher price: $430 for Blue Note 5048 versus $256.36 for the French Vogue. You can look at our previous posts for more details on the records, as well as links. The more interesting one out of that group was: Clifford Brown Quartet, Blue Note 5047. This seems to be harder

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