Filed Under: "jazz"

Absolute good taste edifies absolutely. Cartoonist/animator Gene Deitch, in a 2003 interview with AllAboutJazz.com, about his then-new book, The Cat on a Hot Thin Groove: AAJ: What is your favorite piece of album cover artwork? Deitch: Any by James Flora. Left: detail, Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (1955, RCA Victor)

Longtime friend, music collector, and fellow Floraphile David Burd reports a first sighting: The new Flora book is in stores today! I just picked up my copy. We expected the book to hit streets in mid-August. That’s what happens when you work with a niche publisher—they surprise on the upside. (Note: Amazon.com lists a release date of July 29, 2009.) Illustration of celebratory Benny Goodman (above): not in this book. It appeared in our second…

Seriously—you’d have to be crazy to play trumpet in this position. You can’t possibly concentrate on your playing. Hopping on one foot, using your left hand to work the horn and the right to tip your hat. You might be an entertaining showman, but from a musical standpoint, this is a caricature of a trumpet player. Seriously. Detail from Flora illustration for The Great Juke, a short story by Marguerite Young, Mademoiselle magazine, October 1947….

This untitled 1943 Flora tempera, casually referred to as “Jazz Quintet,” was our second limited edition fine art print, issued in early 2008. At the time, we were uncertain about the market potential of Flora works in archival-quality inkjet format, so we opted for a short-run edition of ten. We recently sold the sixth print, and the price for remaining prints has consequently increased (reflecting depleted supply). This is an iconic early Flora work, and…

Now available: a limited edition (25) fine art print of Flora’s 1947 Columbia album cover for Louis Armstrong’s Hot 5. This print was commissioned from Jim Flora Art by Hypergallery, a UK dealer who specializes in reproductions of classic album cover art, and is available exclusively through their website. The print was produced by Flora archivist Barbara Economon from a vintage printer’s proof sheet in the Flora collection. Each print in the edition was hand-signed…

Detail, Inside Sauter-Finegan RCA Victor LP cover, 1954. I bought this record at a yard sale in 1974 just for the sleeve illustration, which graced my living room wall. Never got around to dropping the needle on the vinyl. But you can listen to (and watch) Bill (Finegan) and Eddie (Sauter) on YouTube.

Born this day in 1916. In 1939 the trumpeter, already a top-tier bandleader, hired a smooth, upcoming but relatively unknown vocalist from New Jersey, but failed to convince the kid to change his name to “Frankie Satin.” Within a year, James and singer had parted ways, the latter to join Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra. Within a few years, both James and the kid crooner were on their respective ways to becoming music legends. Columbia Records ad…

Leon Bix Beiderbecke was born today in 1903. Beiderbecke, a cornetist (caricatured above left by Flora in 1947) and pianist, was a stylistic catalyst in the formative years of jazz. Bix and trumpeter Louis Armstrong were the two most pivotal horn players of the 1920s, though their approaches differed markedly. Beiderbecke has been described as the first real modernist in jazz, though that doesn’t explain his enduring appeal. (Each year when the calendar flips to…

Our 2009 Jim Flora fine art print series kicks off with a limited-edition, archival-quality giclee of a classic Columbia Records album cover, Kid Ory and His Creole Jazz Band. The oversized (15-3/4″ x 15-1/2″) print image is larger than the original album cover. The album was released in 1947 as a 78 rpm four-disc set, and was part of Columbia’s Hot Jazz series. Trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory (1886-1973) was a legendary pioneer in the development…

Cover artwork (typography removed) of Sidney Bechet 78 rpm set (Columbia C-173), 1948. Flora had a particular fondness for early New Orleans jazz, especially the recordings of legendary soprano saxophonist/clarinetist Bechet (1897-1959).

Trio, pen & ink with felt-tip marker on paper, ca. 1993-94

A new Flora archival-quality fine art print has been released by Jim Flora Art LLC. The untitled 1943 work, which depicts five colorful musicians, is unofficially referred to as “Jazz Quintet.” An edition of ten (10) has been produced. One print (#9/10) is now listed on eBay at a Buy-It-Now price of $200 (+ s/h). After this print is sold, prices on remaining prints will increase (starting at $300) until the edition is sold out….