With all being New York USA or earlier pressings, all a strong VG vinyl wise, with the House Party being Near Mint, it's simply astounding for .99 cents a piece.
This type of find is rare to say the least, I began to think maybe this was the mother load I have been dreaming of for the better part of 10 years.
Unfortunately the Smith's were it, I even asked 2 different people if more records were waiting in the back to be put out, one of these days I will strike the vinyl record lottery.
It had been pretty lean lately finding much in the thrift stores, though I have been having better luck buying bargain bin vinyl at the local record shops. Jimmy Smith is the most important of all the Hammond B-3 organ players.
Jimmy's Blue Notes are all very collectible, if not prized by the some of the neo-con snob collectors who consider soul-jazz inferior to other forms of jazz. These Smith records were some of the best sellers for the label, so they tend to be much more available as pressing runs were greater as well, this keeps prices down on the Smiths.
The House Party LP is one of the better straight ahead bop albums Smith did, with nice covers of Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" and "Confirmation".
The Live record The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Club Baby Grand was a solid VG/VG+ copy, with Midnight Special also in the condition range visually, though these all played better than expectations.
I have a rather large library of Jazz CD's and more than a few early Mosaic sets, and I had never heard the Plays Pretty or Midnight Special before. So I thought it was rather cool, if I may use that term, to hear those session on vinyl the first time.
If you really want to do some treasure hunting, you really do need to hit the thrift stores as much as you can.
These albums are proof of what you can find if you dig the bins frequently. Don't forget to check the record shop bargain bins, as many times the shop is needing to clear inventory, you get a deal, and they get some space cleared.
