Cannonball & Coltrane Recorded and Signed in Chicago

Today we'll be posting 28 rare Jazz LP's for auction on eBay. The coolest and certainly the crown jewel of the auction is a mint stereo copy of Cannonball Adderley's "Cannonball in Chicago" signed by Cannonball and the other saxophonist on this classic, John Coltrane. Despite the fact that we've bought and sold one of the finest collections of signed Jazz records, collected by Raffe Simonian the noted Chicago autograph hound, this is only the third Coltrane signature we've ever come across. This record went through a few hands before getting to me. It was originally owned by a prominent Chicago DJ (sorry, I was never told which one) who sold his collection to a dealer in Chicago, who in turn sold some (including this) to a dealer here in St. Louis, who in turn sold it to me. Whew! Anyway, best guess on the origins of these signatures goes back to 1965 or 1966 and the Playboy Jazz Festival that took place in Chicago. Although Cannonball and Coltrane did not play together that day, they both were on the same bill with their respective groups. The other signed records in the collection seemed to come from the same time, so I think this is a pretty safe bet.

Anyway, this is a rather significant piece of Jazz memorabilia, with Coltrane autographs being so scarce. Even Raffe didn't have a Coltrane signature in his collection. Aside from all this, the record is marvelous, recorded in Chicago in 1959 while on tour with Miles Davis. Basically, this is the Miles Davis Sextet minus Miles. Backed by Miles' rhythm section Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb.