Jazz

Buying jazz on vinyl: labels, pressings and what collectors look for

In short: The Vinyl Room currently has 3,237 jazz records – from the great labels of the fifties and sixties to the fusion records of the seventies. For jazz collectors three things count: the label, the pressing and the condition. If you know the number ranges and label designs of the major labels, you can place a record in time quite well.

What makes jazz on vinyl special?

Jazz is the music the long-playing record grew up with: long improvisations, live atmosphere in the studio, sessions often recorded in a single day. Many classics of the fifties and sixties were made for the LP – with covers that are works of art in their own right. Put on an original pressing and you hear the record the way it sat in the shops back then.

Why do jazz fans collect by label?

Because in jazz, labels shaped a whole sound: their own engineers, photographers and cover design. Thomas puts it simply in our Plattenparty stream: “In jazz it’s labels, in hip-hop it’s artists.” ▶ Plattenparty video at 0:56:42 That’s why many collectors file their jazz by label and catalogue number – not by artist.

The labels best represented here: Blue Note (hard bop, soul jazz, seventies fusion), Riverside and Prestige (the great New York labels of the fifties and sixties), Contemporary and Pacific Jazz (West Coast jazz), SteepleChase (the Copenhagen label of the seventies and eighties) and ECM (the Munich sound).
Blue Note · Riverside · Prestige · Contemporary · Pacific Jazz · SteepleChase · ECM

How do you place a Blue Note record?

Blue Note is our biggest jazz label – currently 260 records. The catalogue number helps:

The number alone doesn’t make an original: label design, runout engravings and cover have to match the same edition. Also important – the label design helps narrow down the period of the pressing. If an album first came out in the seventies, even the first pressing has that era’s blue label.

Are 1970s Blue Note records worth it?

A real tip from the stream: seventies Blue Note originals with fusion, soul jazz and jazz-funk are praised there for their sound – and are often still affordable. Thomas shows records from that era by Lou Donaldson (“Sweet Lou”), Gene Harris (“Astral Signal”, BN-LA313-G, 1974) and Wayne Shorter (“Moto Grosso Feio”, BN-LA014-G, 1974). ▶ Plattenparty video at 0:57:34 ▶ Plattenparty video at 0:59:31 ▶ Plattenparty video at 1:00:18

From our stock

Blue Note

Riverside

Prestige

West Coast: Contemporary & Pacific Jazz

Browse by style: Hard Bop · Cool Jazz · Bebop · Soul Jazz · Jazz-Funk · Contemporary Jazz

FAQ

How do I recognise a Blue Note first pressing? By catalogue number, label design, runout engravings and cover together – all must match a documented first edition. One feature alone is not enough.

What does the “8” in front of a Blue Note number mean? It marks the stereo edition: 84117 is the stereo version of 4117.

What is the Blue Note 1500 series? Blue Note’s fifties modern jazz series (BLP 1501–1600), pressed in mono – especially coveted by collectors.

Are jazz reissues worse than originals? Not necessarily. It depends on edition, mastering and condition – many later pressings sound great and cost a fraction.

Which jazz label should a beginner collect? Seventies records from major labels such as Blue Note are a good start: often affordable, often great-sounding – and a way into the world of number ranges.

What condition are the jazz records in? Record and sleeve are graded separately. If a grade is missing, ask us about the copy. → Grading explained

→ How to spot a first pressing · The Collector’s Room · Plattenparty on YouTube