Charity auction of jazz treasures

Lionel Hampton’s vibraphone and Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet were among a treasure trove of 450 pieces of jazz memorabilia auctioned Sunday to raise money for jazz charities.

Hampton’s engraved 1930s King George instrument sold for $50,000, said Kim Anello, a spokeswoman for the Guernsey’s auction house, which conducted the sale in New York. Gillespie’s custom-made Martin trumpet fetched $26,000.

A handwritten letter from John Coltrane to his mother in 1964 sold for $16,000; another sold for $14,000.

The identities of the winning bidders were not released.

Items were donated by the musicians’ families. Proceeds from the sale were to go to jazz foundations, archives and young jazz artists.