You can always check in with Jazz.collector.com and see what the highest priced Ebay sales are for collectable Jazz vinyl on original labels.The record prices continue to soar as the years go by and the interest in collecting original Jazz albums increases.Many of these higher priced records are going out of the country,no surprise there.It is an international market.There is little consideration of the benefits of the sound quality of these originals,it is the label,pressing and condition and of course rarity that matters.People are assembling collections of complete Bluenote,Prestige,Riverside and many other labels.This is good,as like in fine art, these records will enjoy a long life,outliving all of us,and moving on to new owners.Imagine the prestige(no pun intended) of owning these amazing recordings one hundred years from now when people really do understand and appreciate this incredible music for being the unique art it truly is.
I have seen some people with some very impressive record collections with some unimpressive audo systems,in fact,this appears to be the norm.The record collector and the audiophile seem to be birds that sit on the opposite side of the road,viewing each other from a distance with a mutual agreement of distrust and skepticism.This is not helped by the sad, but true, reality of the audiophile with the impressive system and no taste in music and worse,no desire to mature their musical endeavors.Each generation that comes along has more access to great music of all types,yet seems less and less interested.What is it?
How have we become so stupid? We used to be so cool.