Jazz Covers | 
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| Authors: Julius Wiedemann, Joaquim Paulo Fernandes
Publisher: Taschen
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $26.39
You Save: $13.60 (34%)
New (27) Used (13) from $26.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 59161
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.2
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 9.5 x 1.6
ISBN: 382282366X
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9783822823668
ASIN: 382282366X
Publication Date: July 29, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Vinyl mania: Jazz LP covers from the 1940s to 1990s Just like the title promises, this volume contains 1000 jazz record covers, from the 1940s through the decline of LP production in the early 1990s. Each cover is accompanied by with a fact sheet listing name, art director, photographer, illustrator, year, label, and more. Special features for jazz lovers include: --Interviews with the following jazz personalities: - Rudy Van Gelder: legendary sound engineer that recorded for many labels such as Blue Note, Impulse, and Prestige. He was the first sound engineer to have his name credited on the cover of a record. - Creed Taylor: founder of many labels and one of the best jazz producers ever, credited also for bringing bossa nova to the US and fusing it with jazz. - Michael Cuscuna: big jazz producer at Blue Note and a detective in the label's catalogue, being responsible for its most successful re-editions. - Bob Ciano: designer at the CTI Label, founded in the 70s by Creed Taylor, and one of the greatest cover designers ever. - Ashley Kahn: writer, critic, and journalist for jazz. Books include A Love Supreme, A Kind of Blue, and The House that Trane Built. -- A top-15 favorite records list by top jazz DJs Michael Reinboth, Michael MacFadin, Russ Dewburry, Patric Forge, and Gerald Short. The editor: Julius Wiedemann was born and raised in Brazil. After studying graphic design and marketing, he moved to Japan, where he worked in Tokyo as art editor for digital and design magazines. Since joining TASCHEN in Cologne, he has been building up TASCHEN's digital and media collection with titles such as Animation Now!, and TASCHEN's 1000 Favorite Websites.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Printed sound November 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A welcome addition to books about jazz covers. Originally Taschen called it '1000 Jazz Covers' but it seems to have settled down at 650 or so arranged alphabetically. Because the covers start at the early days of the LP and run into the nineties the range of graphic styles is predictably wide. I tend to think the greatest designs were in the fifties and early sixties before jazz, like other musical styles issued on LP, merged with different musical genres.
The greats I remember from this period include labels like Pacific Jazz, with designers Bill Claxton and Woody Woodward, Contemporary Records with Bob Guidi, Norman Grantz labels with the great David Stone Martin and perhaps the ultimate cover extravaganza: Blue Note and the hundreds of stunning covers designed by Reid Miles. These designers issued their best work by the mid-sixties and I think it shows. So many covers from then onwards tend to reflect contemporary graphic styles of the day because they were appealing to a wider audience. Perhaps the only label that issued consistently stylish covers into the nineties was Creed Taylor's CTI featuring the vibrant photography of Pete Turner.
Fortunately most of the covers in the book are from decades past and as such it is very comparable to Naoki Mukoda's beautiful Jazzical Moods: Artwork of Excellent Jazz Labels published in 1993. Of the two books I prefer Mukoda's version. I think it is stronger editorially with better chapter sequencing for the 625 covers and nicely, that includes some examples of their backs.
The production of Jazz Covers is presentable (175 screen on good paper) though the back cover says each LP is fully credited but it really only applies to covers issued by major jazz labels. The front of the book has some interesting Q&A from six professions who made LP jazz happen in the past but all the text, rather annoyingly, is reversed out of black making it not the most readable copy and this also applies to some pages at the back where twelve jazz DJs reveal their top LPs but the text is printed in a circular form. It looks a neat design idea but again, it's not too readable.
The book is certainly worth adding to the rather small number of books about jazz LP covers and apart from the Mukoda title I've mentioned check out the work of Graham Marsh and his two-volume Blue Note collection; East Coasting: Cover Art of Prestige, Atlantic Riverside Records and California Cool: West Coast Cover Art. All of these are LP sized books and are packed with quality covers from the past.
***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
 Jazz Covers October 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very substantial book published by Taschen Books,who continually publish high quality books. Approximately 490 pages of text(minimal)and album reproductions,which are of high quality. There are short essays by a number of people,including Rudy Van Gelder,Ashley Kahn,and Creed Taylor,which add to the quality of the book. For anyone who loves jazz and the "album period",this is a real find. Some reproductions take up a full page while others are reduced in size to accomodate two or three to a page. Next to the photos is a bit of information about the covers and the people who created them. Occasionally there are quotes pertaining to particular covers. The time period ranges from the 1940's to the 1990's. The covers are not arranged in chronological order,but alphabetically by artist,and that's alright. There are well known covers and rarities that most people have not seen. It's the album art which takes center stage here and it's fun and informative to either read cover to cover or to just browse through. While it's a bit expensive,the quality speaks for itself. If album cover art from many of the greatest jazz musicians is something you enjoy,this is a book you will come back to again and again.
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