Pennies for the Guy

A snip at $405,000 (or £263,089.52), the Levin Deluxe guitar which was the property of Fred Guy is presently for sale on Ebay.

The vendor writes:

"This is the 1938 Levin De Luxe guitar previously owned by Fred Guy of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. And the same guitar that Django Reinhardt was holding in the famed black and white pictures taken backstage at a Duke Ellington concert in 1946 (pictures taken by William Gottlieb).

This guitar was shown in the Django Reinhardt Swing Event at the Cite de la Musique in Paris, France (2012-13).

It has been featured in many guitar magazines, and the picture of Django Reinhardt holding the guitar is the most used picture of Django.

This 1938 Levin De Luxe guitar has traveled over the past years, and has a lot of history. If you want to see more information about this guitar just type in Petrin Vintage Guitars in Google to get to the special web page devoted to this remarkable guitar. Over the years I have listed this guitar on Ebay and have received tons of valuable information, stories, and learned some new history about this guitar (so keep the information coming, it is very much appreciated). The guitar is currently priced "not to sell" and I am not expecting any "concrete" bids at this point - but you never know what can happen these days? Please email with any additional information or questions. Serious inquiries only about purchasing the guitar. "

Full details are here.    

Chansons d'amour

A new five disc set of popular songs composed by Duke Ellington will be released by Cristal Records on 16 February, 2015. The box set will comprise original recordings by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra as well as more recent recordings by the Duke Orchestra of Laurent Mignard. The set may be pre-ordered here. The set list is available on the  version téléchargement mp3  here. 

Reveille with Beverly

Bliss was it in that dawn...

Cabu

In the Cantaloupe...

A contributor to the Duke-LYM discussion group offered a quotation recently from Possibilities, the autobiography of Herbie Hancock:

“It’s not surprising that my mother, Winnie Griffin Hancock, was eager for me to have a piano. She was always anxious to instill an appreciation of culture in her children, even     

naming me- Herbert Jeffery Hancock- after an African American singer and actor, Herb Jefferies.”

And I discovered yesterday that, apparently, Herbie Hancock played a jam session with the Ellington band on 11 January, 1957 whilst a student at Grinnell College. The orchestra had played an engagement there the evening before. 

This nugget from a recent listing on Ebay. I have blogged about the Ellington LP, Fifteen Swing before. It is one of the rarest items in the Ellington discography. I am no nearer to ever owning a copy if the 'buy it now' price for the one currently listed on Ebay goes through: $797.00!

The vendor seems to know his stuff. He writes:

You collect the rarest jazz albums. You love Duke Ellington and his band. You know this is the HOLY GRAIL! 

How many of these LPs were pressed? 200, at most, I believe. Not many. 

Recorded Jan. 10, 1957, at Grinnell College in Iowa. Then pressed and released by the college. The next day, the band jammed with the young Herbie Hancock, a student at the college. 

This recording has NEVER been released outside of this VERY LIMITED pressing! This recording was discovered by Duke collectors in 1993 and has only appeared on eBay twice as far as I can tell, selling quickly as a Buy It Now in Jan. 2014. 

I've played this through once to check for skips or audio issues and it played wonderfully, despite some cosmetic imperfections on the actual LP. Some crackling but NO SKIPS! 

Have a different price in mind? Send me an offer...there isn't much in the "comparable" category to help price this. 

Because of the incredible rarity of this LP, no returns are accepted. 

Ships Priority Mail with insurance (domestic). International buyers are welcome. 

By bidding/buying, you agree that it's your responsibility to follow up with the post office should there be any issues with condition upon delivery (I'll gladly provide you with any information I have in order to assist in the unlikely case that an insurance claim becomes necessary). 

Original packaging/cover is in good condition with a signature in pen on the top of the reverse--see photo. I believe this is the signature of the original owner and *not* a signature from one of the performers. 

You love Duke Ellington, and this may be the only chance you ever have to own this album!

I love Duke Ellington indeed ('madly' in fact...)but if this is the 'only chance' I ever have to own this album, well... I'm not as mad as that (and my bank manager certainly isn't!). I'll write an update if and when the album is sold - and, if the information is available, the price it went for! In the absence of the artefact itself, here are some more pictures...

Something To Live For

Happy 2015 and the centennial anniversary of the birth of Billy Strayhorn.

To begin the celebrations, here are Alyce Claerbut, President of Billy Strayhorn Songs, Inc. and Leslie Demus, President of the Billy Strayhorn Foundation, nieces both of Billy Strayhorn, on New York University's WNYU jazz radio show The Phoenix, broadcast originally 

2 December, 2014.