Carl Fontana Trombone Goes for over $3000 on Ebay

I was just checking Ebay listings and found that Carl Fontana's daughter had one of Carl's trombone's listed.  The auction just ended today and the King 2B trombone went for over $3050.  24 bids to reach that level.  According to the auction listing, the trombone itself had not been touched in any way since Carl played it.    All proceeds from this one will go to a music scholarship in his name.  Here is a shot of the trombone.

 

You've got to think that this trombone would only go up in value over time - especially in the eyes of trombone players.  A trombone like this would normally go for about $1000, depending on what year King it was and the condition.   But this was Carl's trombone.   Seems like $3000 is a little light actually. Carl was truly a giant of jazz trombone.  I don't think anybody will ever be able to duplicate the way in which he played the instrument.

It's funny...you really don't realize how good some of these guys are until they are no longer around.  I did hear Carl in concert a couple of times, but now I wish I had heard him way more.  Same goes for Michael Brecker, Woody Shaw, Bob Berg, Mel Lewis, Thad Jones, and the list goes on.  Carl recorded a small body of CDs but not nearly as much as he should have, esp. for posterity's sake.   I would have liked to have a recording of him just practicing for an hour.  On that note:  I heard that there is a tape recording somewhere of Clifford Brown practicing.  I wonder what that would go for at auction! 

Bottom line: go out to hear some great jazz today. You never know how long it will be around to enjoy.