This week’s theme is pretty much what it says: Tracks from 10 random Blue Note records, Artists include Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Arthur Taylor, Philly Joe Jones, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Louis Smith, Dizzy Reece, Jackie McLean, Pete LaRoca, Cliff Jordan, Jon Gilmore, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Sonny Clark, Dexter Gordon.

First was the AI overview. It started out like this: “A list of ten favorite Blue Note records can be compiled from various jazz enthusiast lists, such as one from HifiZine, which includes titles like Wayne Shorter’s Adams Apple and Horace Silver’s “Cape Verdean Blues.”

OK, fair enough.

Here’s the next sentence: “Another source, jazzcollector.com, presents additional favorites, often highlighting specific artists and albums based on expert recommendations.”

All right. I feel like I made it to the big time. AI and all that. Right at the top.

Not only that, there was a link in the AI overview to a Jazz Collector article from February 2010. I’d forgotten about the article completely. Even better, the very first reference sited in the Google search was that very same article from February 2010, titled “More Blue Note Favorites, Courtesy of Downbeat.” And If you click on the link, as I did and as you should do as well, you will find the article describing a Downbeat issue from March of 2009.

While I had the general gist right, the premise was a bit off: It wasn’t a list of my TEN favorite Blue Notes, it was a list of MY FAVORITE BLUE NOTE ALBUM. As you will see if you clink the link, they asked a bunch of jazz musicians. Fascinating replies, with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Horace Silver leading the way. In that post, I was the one who corrupted the concept by listing my seven “Finalists” for my favorite Blue Note, but not necessarily making a decision on a single one. There are also 13 comments on the post. And perhaps we will get more comments here, if anybody is still watching.

Anyway, that solves one of my challenges in doing the show on my 10 Favorite Blue Notes. I’m make progress on solving the other challenges as well and I hope to be doing the show on the radio in the next few weeks. How am I resolving those challenges? Choosing the 10 records and playing them in the studio?

Stay tuned.

This week’s theme: Jazz Vinyl recorded or released in 1965. Artists include Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, George Coleman, Anthony Williams, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Ray Bryant, Pete LaRoca, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Mann, Paul Desmond, Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans, and many more.

Hey, it’s my birthday and I celebrated by opening some presents on the air. Featured artists include Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Monica Zetterlund, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Elvin Jones, Butch Warren, Pete La Roca, Richard Davis, and many more

This week’s theme: Wayne Shorter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers on the Blue Note label. Featured artists include Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt, Reggie Workman.

This one is a Blue Note: Lou Donaldson, Swing and Soul, Blue Note 1566. This is an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record and cover are listed in VG+ condition, although that may be generous for the cover. Based on the pictures, I would rate it VG. The start price is $1,000 and there are no bidders with more than two days left on the auction. This one has sold for as much as $1,575 in the past, according to Popsike, but the condition was a lot better. I will be surprised if this one gets the asking price, but our Jazz Collector world is full of surprises these days, right?

Hank Mobley with Donald Byrd and Lee Morgan, Blue Note 1540. This is a West 63^rd Street pressing, which, if you follow the logic of the thread on the previous post, is not an original original, if that makes any sense. An original original would have the Lexington Avenue address. In any case, the seller grades the record and cover as VG+, but that is about as clean a cover as you will normally see for this record. The bidding is in the $700 range with more than two days left on the auction.

Miles Davis, Steamin’, Prestige 7200. This is an original New Jersey yellow label pressing. The record and cover are both listed as VG+. Bidding is in the $160 range, with the auction closing today. Another Prestige: Tadd Dameron, Fontainebleau, Prestige 7037. This looks to be an original New York pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. The start price is about $180 and so far there are no bidders with more than two days left on the auction.

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard the news that Wayne Shorter died. When I think of Wayne Shorter records, I think of the Blakey and Blue Note era, so I would have to say those are my favorite recordings. But that’s the era I love in general. I’m curious what post-Blue Note and post-Miles recordings some of our readers would recommend. Perhaps with links to YouTube?

I was watching this copy of the original 78-RPM recording of Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit/Fine and Mellow, Commodore 526. It was at $225 when I did the post and wound up selling for $255. I just checked Popsike and, oddly, a copy sold on June 19 for $1,000. And another copy sold on May 9 for $810. The $1,000 and $810 copies were in better condition than the $225 copy, as you might expect. And further into my watchlist was still another copy of Strange Fruit that looked to be in near mint condition and this one sold for $331.

One of my all-time favorites that I never get tired of listening to: Sonny Rollins Plus Four, Prestige 7038. This was an original New York yellow label with the original framed cover. The record was in VG++ condition and the cover was VG. The final price was $775.75

John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell, Blue Note 1573. This was an original West 63^rd Pressing. The seller confidently declared that this was “easily one of the top ten Blue Note 12-inch LPS in existence.” The seller was bobdjukic so you can draw your own conclusions as to the veracity of that statement. The record was listed as VG+ and the cover as VG++. The final price was $2,381.

From the same seller: Roland Kirk, Triple Threat, King 395-506. This was, according to the seller “one of the rarest jazz albums  in existence . . . copies in good condition of this monster rarity are all but unknown.” This one was in VG condition for the record and VG+ for the cover. The final price was $841.

Here Comes Louis Smith, Blue Note 1584. This was an original West 63^rd Street mono pressing, with the ear, deep grooves, Van Gelder et al. The record and cover were in M- or VG++ condition. The final price was $1,500 and there was only one bidder. I am usually a bit skeptical about records that sell with just one bidder, but $1,500 is not an unreasonable price for this record. My skepticism with one bidder is that the seller could have a shill to get the bidding started at a high asking price and then find that no one else is interested because the start price is so high.  Same seller and same situation with Johnny Coles, Little Johnny C., Blue Note 4144. This was an original New York USA pressing, also M-/VG++ , also just one bidder, with a final price if $500. One more single bid winner from the same seller: Lou Donaldson, Sunny Side Up, Blue Note 4036. This was an original West 63^rd Street pressing with the original cover. Similar condition, M-/VG++. Final price was $1,000.

This record has risen a lot in value since we have been watching records on eBay: Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um, Columbia 8171. This was an original stereo pressing with the six-eye label. The record was listed in VG++ condition and the cover was VG. The final price was $239.50.

I wrote about this one skeptically as well: Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil, Blue Note 84194. This one was pretty well trashed, graded in G+ condition. I even titled the original post “Shorter Shilling.” Turns out there was one bid at $495. I think my original instinct was on target, but you never know. Someone may have really wanted a trashed copy of a semi-original Blue Note. The other one I was watching at the same time, Wayne Shorter, JuJu, Blue Note 4182, in just VG condition for the record and the cover, sold for $621. With five bids and five bidders, this one seemed legit, albeit a bit pricey.

Watch list is still not emptied so to be continued . . . .

The cover is a mess, with the name of a previous owner etched in dark black ink right across the top. And the rest of the cover isn’t much better. The cover is listed in G+ condition. The record is listed in G+ condition with scuffs, scratches, crackles and pops. Sounds more like a cereal than a classic Blue Note. It is, by the way, a stereo pressing with the New York USA labels. So why is this record more interesting to me than the Juju pressing? The Juju pressing I can understand a $300 bid. Speak No Evil has a single bid at nearly $500. I would never accuse a seller of having phony shill bids without evidence, but I do have a hard time imagining who would want this record at nearly any price, and particularly at $500. What would you do with it? You can’t play it and you wouldn’t want to look at it.

May as well stick to Blue Notes today: Johnny Griffin, The Congregation, Blue Note 1580. This looked to be an original West 63^rd Street pressing. The record was listed in VG- condition with some noticeable flaws, according to the seller. The cover, with the Andy Warhol design, was listed as VG++. The final price was $695 and my expectation is that the buyer was more interested in the cover than the vinyl. Why not? The cover is quite cool and adds enormous value to the record in visual and financial terms.

J.R. Monterose, Blue Note 1536. This looked to be an original Lexington Avenue pressing listed in VG+ condition for the record and VG- for he cover. The final price was $1,365. The prolific seller, funkyousounds, has had some nice records for sale the past few weeks so it may be worthwhile to keep an eye out for their auctions, if you are in the market to buy records on eBay.

I pose these questions in advance of looking at eBay, which I will do in a moment. I’m very curious to hear your opinions. Mine is that this will have to have an impact on the jazz collectibles market – certainly over the short term and perhaps permanently as well. With so many people out of work and suffering around the world, the somewhat arcane and mundane minutia that come to have define our hobby over the years feels trivial, to me at least. Yes, music can be a comfort and joy and diversion, as can the hobby of collecting. But, with the world in the throes of major transformation, you have to wonder if, how and when priorities will change. Or, perhaps they won’t. They didn’t during the last economic crisis, but I fear that one will pale in comparison to what is coming.

OK, I am now on eBay, doing a search of the highest priced jazz records for auction now. It is a common search I do. The first thing I notice is that there are fewer high-quality records for sale, period. Second, on the entire first page of this search there are only two records that have any bids at all. They are a signed copy of a record I never heard of, Machine Gun by the Peter Brotzmann Octet for $540, and a clean black label stereo pressing of Bill Evans Waltz for Debby for about $200. On the next page of 25 listings there is some action for a couple of Blue Notes, including Basra by Pete LaRoca and Speak No Evil by Wayne Shorter.

I do this particular search all the time in writing posts for Jazz Collector and this is about as light as I’ve seen the action. If you’re a buyer this is probably a good time to buy. If you’re a seller, you might be staying away, holding onto inventory and hoping that the market will return to what had been, for years, a sense of normalcy. But, I repeat the questions I asked above in a different framework: Will there be a new normal and has it begun already?

John Coltrane and Stan Getz with Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, Hackensack

Thelonious Monk, Don’t Blame Me

I’m sure those of you who explore these things have your own favorites, so please share. I have others as well, but I happened to find these last night and they are fresh on my mind this morning.

Meanwhile, back on eBay:

Lee Morgan, Volume 3, Blue Note 1557. This is an original pressing with the New York 23 address. The record is in VG+ condition and the cover is VG. The bidding is in the $360 range with more than four days left on the auction.

Curtis Fuller, the Opener, Blue Note 1567. This is an original West 63rd Street pressing listed in M- condition for the record and the cover. If the grading is accurate, this looks like a very nice copy. The start price is $1,000 and so far there are no bidders, but I would definitely expect this record to sell, and perhaps set a new high-water mark. This seller has a lot of nice stuff on eBay now, so it’s worth taking a look even if, like me, you have no intention of bidding but just like to watch.

While we’re on Blue Note, here’s one more auction from the list that CeeDee sent me the other day: Wayne Shorter, Speak No Evil, Blue Note 4194. This was an original New York USA pressing that was listed in VG+ condition for the record and the cover. It also had the original shrink wrap, which may or may not have influenced the bidding. In either case, the bidding was intense, with 15 bidders and 52 bids pushing the price up to $737.