Memorabilia Sales

While researching The Boston Jazz Chronicles, I met people with collections of souvenirs and mementos from their lives in and around music. People saved all kinds of items, far more than the photos and sound recordings I expected to find. They saved ephemera, too. I saw handbills, posters, newspaper clippings, tickets and ticket stubs, postcards, stationary, backstage passes, concert programs, business cards, events calendars, matchbooks, playbills, cocktail napkins, and invitations. The collecting bug bit me, and it is only a short step from being a buyer to being a seller. Today I buy, sell and trade pre-1990 memorabilia and ephemera for all different kinds of music.

Many of my items are from New York City and Boston in the 1960s and 1970s. These are originals, not reproductions, and what you see here are the actual items for sale—no substitutions. The Troy Street watermark does not appear on the actual items.

For terms and conditions of sales, refer to my Sales Policy page.

I sell books, jazz magazines, photos, and other ephemera on Ebay, seller ID TroyStreetSales. View my current eBay listings.

Flyer: Jazz series at the Little Theatre, New York City, 1964

This flyer is for a concert series presented by Jazz Enterprises at the Little Theatre near Times Square in February and March 1964. Handbill artist is Edgar Blakeney. The series included Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, Lucky Thompson, Earl Hines, and Randy Weston. The Jazz Enterprises organizers included Dan Morgenstern and David Himmelstein. A series ticket cost $12.00!

This original flyer is printed on plain paper and measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches (14 x 21.5 cm). Some rounding on the corners, otherwise condition is near mint. Price: $34. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Flyer: Club Ruby, Queens NY, May 1966

Club Ruby was a small room on Baisley Boulevard in Queens, across the street from what were then the grounds of St Albans Naval Hospital (today’s Roy Wilkins Park). In 1966-67, New York promoter Jim Harrison presented some sessions that were every bit as hip as what was happening in Manhattan. On May 19, 1966, the club hosted a tribute to Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown and Booker Little. Featured were seven top trumpeters of the mid-1960s: Freddie Hubbard, Blue Mitchell, Bill Hardman, Tommy Turrentine, Richard Williams, Lonnie Hillyer and Charles Tolliver. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson also played.

This original flyer is printed on lightweight plain paper and measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches (14 x 21.5 cm). Condition is very fine. The handbill came back from the print shop with the image a bit off-center on the page. Price: $34. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Flyer: Slug's, New York City, Oct/Nov 1966

Slugs’ was the legendary NYC jazz club and musicians’ hangout owned by Robert Schoenholt and Jerry Schultz from 1964 to 1972. As one account has it, you went to Slugs’ to hear a Blue Note album being played live. It closed in 1972, not long after trumpeter Lee Morgan was shot dead there. This flyer shows the schedule from October/November 1966, featuring the groups of Benny Powell, Ornette Coleman, Grant Green, Curtis Fuller, Lou Donaldson, and Stanley Turrentine/Shirley Scott.

This original flyer is printed on plain paper and measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches (14 x 21.5 cm). Condition is near mint. Price: $34. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Flyer: Blood, Sweat & Tears at Boston Garden, April 1970

The rock/jazz/blues horn band Blood, Sweat & Tears had their bags packed for an overseas tour when they stopped at the Boston Garden on April 17, 1970. David Clayton-Thomas, Lew Soloff, Bobby Colomby and company played for a sellout crowd. Their concert was sponsored by the Now Crowd at radio station WRKO-AM, which at the time was a national trend-setter in the world of rock radio.

This original flyer measures 8.25 x 11 inches (21 x 28 cm) and is printed on plain paper. It is in near-mint condition. Price: $29. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Flyer: Count Basie at Paul's Mall, June 1967

The Jazz Workshop/Paul’s Mall/Cinema 733 complex, at 733 Boylston Street in the Back Bay, was a center of Boston nightlife in the 1960s-70s. Usually the jazz and blues were in the Workshop, but for a big draw like Basie, the show would move to Paul’s Mall, which was larger. Here’s the flyer for the 16-piece Count Basie Orchestra at the Mall, featuring its new vocalist Richard Boone, for two nights only, June 27-28, 1967.

The flyer is printed on card stock for use as a mailer, and measures 5.5 x 8.5 inches. The reverse side has the return address and postal permit information. It is unused and condition is near mint. The watermark does not appear on the actual card. Price: $29. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Photo of jazz pianist Sir Charles Thompson, ca. 1947

Jazz pianist and composer Sir Charles Thompson. This 8×10 photo, from the studio of Bruno of Hollywood, is undated. It was probably taken during Thompson’s time with Illinois Jacquet. That is where he was when he wrote his most famous composition, “Robin’s Nest,” in 1947.  This copy was probably printed in about 1960.

Print condition is fine plus. There are two staple holes in the upper left corner, outside the image area. The lower left corner is creased, also outside the image area. The Troy Street Images watermark does not appear on the actual photo. Price: $18. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Flyer: Jazz Spectacular at Crystal Room, Milford MA, Feb 1963

Boots Mussulli was a saxophonist who is best known for his work with the Stan Kenton and Herb Pomeroy orchestras. He also founded and directed the Milford Area Youth Orchestra, whose swinging set surprised everybody at Newport in 1967. And Boots ran the Crystal Room, a jazz club in his home town of Milford, MA. Here is a handbill from the Crystal Room advertising a Jazz Spectacular that played on Feb 22, 1963. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge and tap dancer Bunny Briggs were the headliners, with Herb Pomeroy’s orchestra, Hammond B3 organist Joe Bucci, and vocalist Mae Arnette also on the program.

This original flyer is printed on plain paper and measures 8.5 x 11 inches (21.5 x 28 cm). The date was hand-corrected in ink. Condition is near mint. Price: $24. Contact me for more information or to purchase.

Flyer: Newport Jazz Festival, Newport RI, July 1970

The 17th annual Newport Jazz Festival took place at Festival Field in Newport RI on July 10-12, 1970. It was a heady mix of jazz, blues and a touch of R&B, with Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones, Ike and Tina Turner, Buddy Rich, Ella, Cannonball, T-Bone Walker… all the cats.

This original two-sided flyer measures 8.5 x 10.5 inches (21.5 x 26.5 cm) and is printed on heavy plain paper. You could fold piece and use as a mailer, but this copy is unused and its condition is very fine. The Troy Street Images watermark does not appear on the actual item. Price: $35. Contact me for more information or to purchase.