Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a really neat item off of ebay that i am currently unsure of. The item in question is a singed 1989 Winter Jazz Festival Poster signed by both the aritst, Lee Ritenour, and Michael Hedges. This event took place in Colorado in 1989 and really must have been an amazing thing to witness. 

The ebay seller stated that he purchased the poster from the vendor who was selling them (the aritst), and had him autograph it their. His name is David Brownstead. The seller then stated that he then got both Lee Ritenour and Michael Hedges to sign the poster as they exited the stage after their performance.

When i first looked at the signatures they looked authentic. I have several examples of Lee in my collection and they compared well to them, and the Hedges signature looked to be authentic as well. Their arent many examples of Hedges out their that i could find to compare with, but the ones that i did compared well to the poster.

I received the item today though, and i honestly cant tell if these signatures are actual signatures, or if they were part of the original poster print and just copies of the original signatures. Their appears to be characteristics in the Ritenour signature that lean towards it being an actual signature, but i couldnt find any obvious signs like that with teh Hedges signatures. I couldnt find any ink pools or anything of that nature. I also couldnt see any real indentation on the poster, except maybe some with the Lee signature. The posters artist signature is signed in pencil and is a real signature though. I also looked at the signatures in very good light under a magnifying glass, but still couldnt make any determination.

I have found the posters artist, David Brownstead on facebook, and have messaged him to see if he can tell me if those signatures were printed in his posters or not. Hopefully he will remember and respond. But in the mean time, i was wondering if anyoen could lend an opinion based on a few photos i will post. Or if anyone has opinions on their authenticity either. It would be great if someone attended that event, or has a poster like this that they purchased to compare too.

One interesting point, is that before i purchased this item, i ran a google check to see if their was anything fishy. I did get one hit from a place called Music Records that advertied a winter jazz festival poster signed by Ritenour and Hedges with a starting price of 49 dollars. When i clicked on that link, the items picture had apparently since been deleted and the description wasnt their either. However the original google search did still produce that hit. Its interesting b/c the seller had an initial starting price when he put it up on ebay at 49 dollars. Coincidence? I personally dont think so. I messaged the seller about this and they said it wasnt them on the other site. I think the odds of that are slim, and it really wouldnt have mattered, b/c maybe they were just trying to sell their and it didnt take, so they went to ebay. Or it could be something negative, who knows. But the signatures did look good, so i took a chance. I now am concerned though that they are printed signatures and not the real deal. I really really hope someone out their can help with their opinion b/c i would love these to be real. 

Thanks for reading my babbling,

Carl

(full poster shot)

(michael hedges close up)

(Lee Ritenour close up)

(picture of the printed artist singature, inscription "to jim", the pencil signature is on the other side of the poster at the bottom)