damn!

[slide_advantage_redoux]

Persusing the list of things on the music auction, I saw this (as I am sure many of you did already)

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayIS...item=6507673035

[.:.impossible]

Amazing.

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Look at the ABOMINABLE feedback history of the seller. I would stay VERY far away from this.

[Bill Nelson]

Seller doesn't offer any certification of authenticity besides

"Provenance: family of Juanita Coltrane" -- and goes no futher to provide proof.

(Maybe to dodge claims of phony bootleg merchandise?)

Red flags are flipping everywhere on this listing.

[Chuck Nessa]

I don't think the feedback was beyond normal expectations for this kind of thing. I don't think any claim of "bootlegs" is warrented. Seems to be one of thousands of private tapes.

I don't know the folks and think they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[Rooster_Ties]

Just for shits and grins, here's the text of the auction -- for when the eBay link goes belly-up (which will happen, sooner or later).

In Ornette Coleman 1958-1979: a Discography, David Wild lists a private tape made at the Village Theatre in New York City on December 26, 1966, by Coleman's trio with David Izenzon on string bass and Charles Moffett, drums. Wild provides this note: "Tapes of this concert are not in circulation among collectors, and further details are not available at this time. The concert was produced by Coleman and John Coltrane, whose group also performed" (p.28). Wild names five titles: "The Aware," "9 To 5," "Birthday," "Science Fiction," and "Mothers of the Prophets," all composed by Coleman.

This two-track reel holds two separate monophonic recordings that almost certainly correspond to the private tape described by Wild. Certainly the players are Coleman, Izenzon (with passages of his characteristic bowed bass soloing), and Moffett. Track one is a half-hour improvisation. Track two holds two more pieces and a portion of a third. There is no identification on the tape box or on the tape itself, but Wild mentions that Coleman plays trumpet on "Birthday," and since Coleman is heard solely on alto saxophone through this reel, it seems a reasonable inference that these are the other four titles. There is a indefinite, generalized resemblance between the long piece on track one and the title track of Coleman's 1971 Columbia LP Science Fiction, in that both are frenetic free-jazz improvisations, but the link is not terribly strong, and it really is anyone's guess which title is which on this tape.

The recording fidelity is reasonably good with the slightly hollow and distant sound of a group recording into a single microphone. The playing is great.

On track 1:

Science Fiction" --29:41

On track 2:

? -- 6:36

? -- 19:26

? -- 3:23

Provenance: Family of Juanita Coltrane

And the pic they included in the auction...

Edited February 11, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[Rooster_Ties]

Geez, look at the seller's other auctions!!

seller: guernseys_auction

[AfricaBrass]

Geez, look at the seller's other auctions!!

seller: guernseys_auction

Those are some fascinating stuff in their auctions.

Those Coltrane letters are very cool.

[bertrand]

The Monk scores belong at IJS, or in T.S. Monk's house.

Bertrand.

[Brad]

The weird thing about their rating is that ebay says the total negatives are 12 while if you count them all up (and most of them are from 4 or 5 bidders), there are about 25 or so negatives. Perhaps they used some mediation service but that's 5 percent or so. Never seen a rating that bad and I think this auction house is well known.

[Dmitry]

This looks like it's the lay-up of the Jazz Memorabilia Auction that is going down on Sunday, February 20th, at the Lincoln Center.

I see they're doing a live auction on eBay concurrently.

Edited February 11, 2005 by Dmitry

[Bill Nelson]

Chuck Nessa: "I don't know the folks and think they deserve the benefit of the doubt."

Then maybe you'd like to buy the bridge in Brooklyn which Sonny Rolllins played on? C'mon, let's see some letters of authenticity from bona fide appraisers before cutting these 'folks' some slack.

Wake up and smell the coffee, Chuck. Your $900 spent on a Mosaic set of Nat Cole is more real than spending same $$ on a purported hankie with Monk's snot.