Here’s another Sonny from the same seller: Sonny Rollins A Night at the Village Vanguard, Blue Note 1581. This looks to be an original deep groove West 63^rd Street pressing. The record and cover are both graded in VG+ condition. This one also has a start price of $400 with no bidders and four days left on the auction.

J.R. Monterose, The Message, Jaro 5004. This is an original mono pressing. It looks to be in VG++ condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. Bidding for this starts at about $500 and so far there is no action, also with four days left. And one more closing in four days with no bids: Warne Marsh, Jazz of two Cities, Imperial 9027. This looks to be a first pressing. There’s wording on the cover that says “recorded in stereophonic sound.” This would be early even for using the word stereo, since it is a 1957 record and that was the year of the first stereo issues. But maybe Imperial was ahead of the game. I don’t have an original copy of the record to compare. The start price on this one is $275.

Number One: I had cousins visiting from England. One of them had never been to New York before. He’s a musician and wanted to see some music. It was a Monday night. Go to just about any city, and seeing good jazz on a Monday night would be a difficult proposition. But this was New York. There were many choices, but for me there was only one: The Vanguard, of course, with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which is still the Thad Jones – Mel Lewis Orchestra to me. I hadn’t been to the Vanguard on a Monday night in probably 10 years, which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it since it is only a 20-minute subway ride away from my apartment. Anyway, I went online for reservations and it was sold out. Same thing when I called. We went anyway, arriving early. And we got in. The band was in fine form. They had just finished doing their annual weekly gig at the Vanguard, and seemed particularly tight. The band’s personnel has evolved over the years, but there were definitely a lot of familiar faces, including the tenor player Ralph LaLama, from whom I once took about four lessons 30 years ago. Somehow, I didn’t think he’d remember me, at least not fondly, so I didn’t actually say hello. But I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and would highly recommend a visit to the Vanguard, particularly on a Monday night, to anyone visiting New York. But, if you can, make reservations early. It seems to be a destination for jazz lovers from all around the world.

Number Two: Living in New York does give you a tremendous opportunity to have wonderful jazz experiences as regularly as you may desire. Case in point: The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. They do regular concerts, often with a theme. In January the theme was a celebration of Dizzy Gillespie and, when I saw that, I said to The Lovely Mrs. JC: “We’re going.” It was an added bonus that the music director for the evening was Vincent Gardner, whom I admire tremendously as a musician and historian of the music. The fact that he is an occasional reader of Jazz Collector only adds to his brilliance, IMHO. Anyway, it was a terrific concert. Dizzy’s music is not easy, particularly for casual listeners of jazz. What I liked about the concert is that they didn’t pander, they attacked it head-on, featuring several Tadd Dameron tunes and arrangements and not doing some of the obvious crowd-pleasing stuff such as Manteca. I highly recommend seeing the JALC Orchestra whenever you can. They are among the top musicians in the world and their concerts are always interesting.

Number Three: For me, this was the highlight. Same cousins from England. They asked me to plan a half day. I offered some standard New York fare: Coney Island, Ground Zero, Museum of Natural History. They asked: Is there something you’ve never done that you’ve always wanted to do? I thought for a moment. Actually, yes. I had never been to the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona. So we went. For those of you who have never been: GO! This is an awesome experience for jazz lovers. It is the house where Louis and his fourth and final wife Lucille lived from 1943 until Louis died in 1971 (Lucille continued living there after Louis died). It is pretty much exactly as they lived there and left it. The museum tour is great, with audio clips of Louis talking, singing and playing inside the house. And just being in Louis’ study, where he had his music, it was hard not to feel his presence. I could feel the goose bumps up and down my arms. The tour is only an hour, but it is really fantastic and very enlightening. I can’t wait to go back.

SUBJECT: who is paying this kind of bread for these readily found LPs?

BODY TEXT: Al, I give up. I thought I could figure out “what sells and what doesn’t” but I’m finding I have no freakin’ idea!

RECORD IN QUESTION: Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes, Verve 8766.

CONDITION: Sealed

PRICE: $455

So, for today’s quickie quiz: Which sale is more ridiculous, the Jimmy and Wes one above or the other one cited in the earlier post, namely John Coltrane, The Other Village Vanguard Tapes? This was also sealed and sold for $237.50. Or is there perhaps another that we missed? I vote for Jimmy and Wes being more ridiculous, although it was a close call. At least the Coltrane is a double record and sold for a price that was more than $200 lower than the Jimmy/Wes record.

A ‘Blues Walk’ in NYC…

“Lou Donaldson at the Vanguard on Tuesday April 6th, 2010 was one of the best sets I’ve seen there in a while and well worth the long drive down to NYC from Ottawa. The first set began with Lou’s theme song Blues Walk and escalated through a series of standards and into Alligator Boogaloo from there. He was accompanied by Randy Johnston on guitar, Pat Bianchi on the organ, and Fukushi Tainaka on the drums… It didn’t stop there, Dr. Lonnie Smith dropped in to pay his respects for the second set, along with a quick cameo by Roy Hargrove, and a few vocals by singer Champion Fulton. Definitely worth the trip. Although Lonnie seems to think I owed him money from the last time he was in Canada. Don’t ask me why !

As for the rest of the trip, I did manage to drop in on Rudy Van Gelder at his fabled studio in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,  on the way out Wednesday morning. That’s the studio in the picture above. Rudy wanted

copies of a few photos I had, so I arranged to drop them off in person while I was in town… He wasn’t sure he would be there, but he showed up shortly after I pulled into his drive! (Perfect timing) He was between appointments so he showed me around his studio quickly, took the time to discuss the architectural significance of his studio and just before he kicked me out so he could have lunch before his next appointment we took a photo together, and he signed an autograph. (Shameless I know… but it is Rudy Van Gelder after all, right?) I did ask him about his record collection, but the answer was not the one I had hoped. He has a collection, but not as many as one would expect. He said they didn’t always give him copies of the ones he recorded. He is a Jazz fan, but not a collector/archivist of his own work apparently… I asked him if he had designed any special storage on site for his records/archive, but again I was a little disappointed to hear that he just stores them upright on a shelf. Nothing to write home about. It’s a very modest place in reality, but you could really feel the history there. Sadly, I get the feeling he isn’t as busy these days as he lets on, so it seems a bit sad to see this recording legend puttering around his famous studio preparing for a recording session that may not really be happening. But who knows, right?

it is not an original, although the seller uses the word “original” at least once in the listing. In any case, it’s not an original pressing, but it’s not a reissue and it’s not a “bad” pressing, such as a Liberty reprocessed for stereo. This one was in less than M- condition and it sold for $132.50. What do you think? Is this a new trend, or careless bidding?

Lee Morgan Sextet, Blue Note 1541. This was an original Lexington Avenue pressing. The record was in VG+ condition and the cover was VG. The price was $565.

Miles Davis, Steamin’, Prestige 7200. This was an original pressing with the New Jersey label. The record and cover were M- and the price was $123.50.

Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore, Blowin’ in From Chicago, Blue Note 1549. This was an original

with the West 63rd  Street label. The record and cover were both VG+. Price: $393

Mal Waldron, The Quest, New Jazz 8269. This was an original purple label. The record was M- and the cover was VG++. The price was $256.

Sonny Rollins, A Night at the Village Vanguard, Blue Note 1581. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing. The record and cover were listed as VG++. The price was $372.89.

Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section, Contemporary 3532. This was an original yellow label pressing in M- condition. The price was $707.99.

Charlie Parker, Bird on 52nd Street, Jazz Workshop 501. This was an original pressing. The record was VG+ and the cover was VG++. Price: $114.50

Gigi Gryce, The Hap’nings, New Jazz 8246. This was an original pressing with the purple label and the deep groove. The record was M- and the cover was VG+. The price was $124.50.

I also saw him perform after he had his stroke and was partially paralyzed and, while it was a gallant effort, it was sad to watch. He was a fraction of his old self and, unfortunately, his ideas far exceeded his physical abilities. As mentioned, I never felt his own recordings lived up to either his talents or his energy. In fact, aside from this one side of Volunteered Slavery, my favorite recording of Kirk on vinyl is Charles Mingus, Oh Yeah, Atlantic 1377. And I’ve listened to all of his other records — at least I thought I had until I was browsing on eBay this morning and noticed a Roland Kirk record I had never before seen.

I’ve been collecting jazz records since 1970 (if you want the whole sordid story of how it began, go to Song For My Father)  and it always startles me when I see a record that is new to my eyes or ears — yet it seems to happen fairly often, which is a tribute to the vast number of jazz LPs recorded and reissued in the past 50-plus years, as well as to the power of eBay as a medium to communicate information to collectors.

Anyway, the rare Kirk record of which I speak is this one: Roland Kirk, Third Dimension, Bethlehem 6064. This is an original pressing in M- condition and it is being offered by the most reputable of sellers, Euclid Records. Alas, as much as I would love to own this record, it is already priced at $333 and it will probably go for much more, and that is beyond what I would like to pay these days, particularly as I am more interested in reducing my collection rather than increasing it. 

If anyone out there would like to give us more insight about this record, or would like to share his or her own memories of Roland Kirk, that would be welcome and wonderful.

Dave Bailey, Reaching Out, Jazztime 003. This was an original pressing in VG+/VG+ condition. Price: $348

Bill Evans, Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Riverside 9376. This was an original stereo pressing with the black label in M-/VG++ condition. Price: $296

Hank Mobley, The Turnaround, Blue Note 4186. This was an original New York USA pressing in VG+/VG condition. Price: $123

Dexter Gordon, Go, Blue Note 4112. This was an original New York USA Pressing in M-/M- condition. Price: $184.50

Dexter Gordon, One Flight Up, Blue Note 4176. This was also an original pressing in M-/M- condition. Price: $150.50

Bud Powell, Time Waits, Blue Note 1598. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing in VG++/M- condition. Price: $206.49

Benny Green, Walkin’ and Talkin’, Blue Note 4010. This was an original West 63rd pressing in M-/M- condition. Price: $213.50

Sonny Rollins, Volume 2, Blue Note 1558. This was an original West 63rd Street pressing in VG+/VG+ condition. Price: $195.50

Tuesday was Sonny Rollins’ 78^th birthday. Happy Birthday, Newk.

First time I saw Sonny was in the early 1970s at the Village Vanguard. Sonny wasn’t playing live when I first got into jazz. He was in one of his several retirements. I’d go to clubs in the city and see Bill Evans and Monk and Roland Kirk and Elvin Jones and Jim Hall and they were all great. But Sonny was my hero, and he was the one I was aching to see in person.

So I was quaking with excitement that first gig at the Vanguard, a dark, rainy, gloomy Tuesday night. Who knew what to expect? Each previous time had Sonny retired he had come back with a different sound and approach. Had he been practicing again on the Williamsburg Bridge?  Would he be playing bop? Avant-garde? I was standing in line on Seventh Avenue with my friend Dan Axelrod. I turned to Dan and said: “I hope he’s still playing straight-ahead, not any of that far-out Pharaoh Sanders shit.” The guy behind me chuckled. It was Pharoah Sanders.

Sanders was not the only famous musician at the Vanguard that night. There were several of them: Jim Hall, Roland Kirk, others. All there to see what Sonny was up to. And Sonny did not disappoint. He was truly inspired that evening, playing with a big smile on his face, taking these incredibly long and complicated and quote-filled cadenzas on every ballad. I still remember most of the set: Green Dolphin Street, Three Little Words, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, It’s Easy to Remember, St. Thomas.

Fast forward a couple of years. Sonny is still playing clubs in New York, but the excitement has waned. On Fridays and Saturdays there is always a full house, but not so during the week. I know this because I went every night, wherever he played. I remember a couple of nights in particular at the old Half Note in midtown. Sonny was playing the same sets night after night. His playing was usually inspired, but not always. Sometimes he’d forget what song came next: We’d call it out for him. We felt that being there each night, supporting him, would keep up his spirits and his energy. One night, as the club was closing, we asked Sonny if he needed a ride home. No thanks, he said, and then he asked: “Why are you here every night?”

“Sonny, you’re the greatest,” we said.

He smiled and shook his head: “No, no, no,” he said. “What about Trane and Pres and Hawk?”

He meant it. He was truly humble.

My favorite night of all was the night when there were only eight people in the club lingering for the last set on a Wednesday night. There was Dan and me, and another table, three black couples, a family it seemed, perhaps parents and their adult children and spouses. They were extremely well dressed and proclaimed that they hadn’t been out to see good live jazz in years. Well, Sonny put on a display of sax playing for the eight of us that was unlike anything I’ve heard before or since. If these people hadn’t been out to see good live jazz in years, they were going to get the show of a lifetime. And it was. The eight of us were all standing, egging Sonny on, whooping and hollering and cheering and shouting. I remember Bob Cranshaw on bass just cracking up. And Walter Davis on piano. I got the feeling Sonny much preferred this to a concert or jazz festival.

I continue to see Sonny’s concerts when I can, Tanglewood a couple of years ago, Carnegie Hall last year. And even now, at 78, he never fails to put on a good show. But, for me, nothing will ever top that first night at the Vanguard and that night a few years later at the Half Note with an audience of eight privileged individuals, one of whom just happened to be me.