Claxton Jazz Life - New Edition Coming

[medjuck]

Well I guess I know what I'm getting for Xmas. And maybe what I'm doing on December 6th. Fortunately we have an office right around the corner from the Taschen bookstore and I'm sure I can find some reason to be there that day.

[brownie]

Went to the Paris launch this evening and got my autographed copy. The book is huge. Had a quick look at it and now it's back in its package not to be opened until next week 'cause it's supposed to be my birthday present -_-

Very nice gathering with Steve Potts playing solo right at the entrance of the store.

I never do this but since it was a signing ceremony, I brought three favorite vinyl albums with Claxton covers (Sonny Rollins 'Way Out West', Art Pepper 'Intensity' and John Lewis/Bill Perkins 'Grand Encounter') to have Monsieur Claxton sign them. Which he did very obligingly!

Claxton and everybody else seemed very happy with the gathering!

[neveronfriday]

But you DON'T have the signed flyer ...

[brownie]

But you DON'T have the signed flyer ... 

←

I have a couple of these but forgot to ask William Claxton to sign them.

This would have suited him better than the very heavy copy of the book he signed!

He had a bit of a trouble lifting it and opening it to the first page to sign my copy!

The book is quite astonishing. One of the very best jazz photos book ever!

[king ubu]

But you DON'T have the signed flyer ... 

←

I have a couple of these but forgot to ask William Claxton to sign them.

This would have suited him better than the very heavy copy of the book he signed!

He had a bit of a trouble lifting it and opening it to the first page to sign my copy!

The book is quite astonishing. One of the very best jazz photos book ever!

←

This book is astonishing! No way I can buy it now, though! Saw it in a shop this week... it's almost as big as the Taschen Newton ("Sumo") and Araki books! (Not *that* expensive, though...)

[Claude]

I saw it yesterday in the Jazz is Beck store in Munich. A huge book indeed, the cardboard box is approximately 50cm high. I would have to keep it standing on the floor against a wall as it wouldn't fit any bookshelf.

Edited October 28, 2005 by Claude

[neveronfriday]

But you DON'T have the signed flyer ... 

←

I have a couple of these but forgot to ask William Claxton to sign them.

This would have suited him better than the very heavy copy of the book he signed!

He had a bit of a trouble lifting it and opening it to the first page to sign my copy!

The book is quite astonishing. One of the very best jazz photos book ever!

←

Of course the flyer comment was a joke referring back to the various JiP collectibles we were talking about a while back ("mine's bigger/rarer than yours", kind of thing).

I got my girlfriend to get the flyer (it's actually a heavy cardboard card) signed by Claxton at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Sunday so I can put that into my rather torn first edition of the book.

Today I spent quite some time studying the new book and without trying to be the party pooper here, frankly I was more disappointed than anything. Sure, it's a stunning book, but I expected more than what's in there. Moreover, some of the images are overly grainy, blown up to the size they are (and yes, I know they were supposed to be grainy in the first place). I'd rather get the huge Kubrick tome, especially since most of what's in there is new for me whereas the Claxton book I know inside out.

Now just imagine they would have turned that one into a complete jazz photography of ... kind of book. There would certainly have been enough space for that. This way I think it's just another one of the by now many half-hearted Taschen Books, a reprint which didn't demand all that much editorial effort.

Sorry, but that was my first impression.

Edited October 28, 2005 by neveronfriday

[sheldonm]

But you DON'T have the signed flyer ... 

←

I have a couple of these but forgot to ask William Claxton to sign them.

This would have suited him better than the very heavy copy of the book he signed!

He had a bit of a trouble lifting it and opening it to the first page to sign my copy!

The book is quite astonishing. One of the very best jazz photos book ever!

←

Of course the flyer comment was a joke referring back to the various JiP collectibles we were talking about a while back ("mine's bigger/rarer than yours", kind of thing).

I got my girlfriend to get the flyer (it's actually a heavy cardboard card) signed by Claxton at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Sunday so I can put that into my rather torn first edition of the book.

Today I spent quite some time studying the new book and without trying to be the party pooper here, frankly I was more disappointed than anything. Sure, it's a stunning book, but I expected more than what's in there. Moreover, some of the images are overly grainy, blown up to the size they are (and yes, I know they were supposed to be grainy in the first place). I'd rather get the huge Kubrick tome, especially since most of what's in there is new for me whereas the Claxton book I know inside out.

Now just imagine they would have turned that one into a complete jazz photography of ... kind of book. There would certainly have been enough space for that. This way I think it's just another one of the by now many half-hearted Taschen Books, a reprint which didn't demand all that much editorial effort.

Sorry, but that was my first impression.

←

Party Pooper!...........I'll get it anyway!

[Adam]

And if you don't have the first edition, then???

[jlhoots]

But you DON'T have the signed flyer ... 

←

I have a couple of these but forgot to ask William Claxton to sign them.

This would have suited him better than the very heavy copy of the book he signed!

He had a bit of a trouble lifting it and opening it to the first page to sign my copy!

The book is quite astonishing. One of the very best jazz photos book ever!

←

Of course the flyer comment was a joke referring back to the various JiP collectibles we were talking about a while back ("mine's bigger/rarer than yours", kind of thing).

I got my girlfriend to get the flyer (it's actually a heavy cardboard card) signed by Claxton at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Sunday so I can put that into my rather torn first edition of the book.

Today I spent quite some time studying the new book and without trying to be the party pooper here, frankly I was more disappointed than anything. Sure, it's a stunning book, but I expected more than what's in there. Moreover, some of the images are overly grainy, blown up to the size they are (and yes, I know they were supposed to be grainy in the first place). I'd rather get the huge Kubrick tome, especially since most of what's in there is new for me whereas the Claxton book I know inside out.

Now just imagine they would have turned that one into a complete jazz photography of ... kind of book. There would certainly have been enough space for that. This way I think it's just another one of the by now many half-hearted Taschen Books, a reprint which didn't demand all that much editorial effort.

Sorry, but that was my first impression.

←

Party Pooper!...........I'll get it anyway!

←

Me too.

[neveronfriday]

And if you don't have the first edition, then???

←

Definitely get it. It's a great book no matter what.

Doesn't cost much more than a Mosaic box, really.

[brownie]

Today I spent quite some time studying the new book and without trying to be the party pooper here, frankly I was more disappointed than anything. Sure, it's a stunning book, but I expected more than what's in there. Moreover, some of the images are overly grainy, blown up to the size they are (and yes, I know they were supposed to be grainy in the first place). I'd rather get the huge Kubrick tome, especially since most of what's in there is new for me whereas the Claxton book I know inside out.

Now just imagine they would have turned that one into a complete jazz photography of ... kind of book. There would certainly have been enough space for that. This way I think it's just another one of the by now many half-hearted Taschen Books, a reprint which didn't demand all that much editorial effort.

Sorry, but that was my first impression.

←

Never..., I think you missed the point about the book.

It's not supposed to be THE book on jazz photos. It is a recollection of the travels that Claxton and Joachim Berendt made in 1960 through the various jazz cities over the United States. As such it is quite remarkable with a stunning number of interesting photos I had not seen before.

And even if the reproduction of the images is not perfect (the book would then have costs thousan$$s, the standard raised here is quite high. Much better than on the previous Taschen Claxton book 'Jazz Seen'.

Look at the new book with a fresh eye. There is quite a lot to enjoy there!

[neveronfriday]

Today I spent quite some time studying the new book and without trying to be the party pooper here, frankly I was more disappointed than anything. Sure, it's a stunning book, but I expected more than what's in there. Moreover, some of the images are overly grainy, blown up to the size they are (and yes, I know they were supposed to be grainy in the first place). I'd rather get the huge Kubrick tome, especially since most of what's in there is new for me whereas the Claxton book I know inside out.

Now just imagine they would have turned that one into a complete jazz photography of ... kind of book. There would certainly have been enough space for that. This way I think it's just another one of the by now many half-hearted Taschen Books, a reprint which didn't demand all that much editorial effort.

Sorry, but that was my first impression.

←

Never..., I think you missed the point about the book.

It's not supposed to be THE book on jazz photos. It is a recollection of the travels that Claxton and Joachim Berendt made in 1960 through the various jazz cities over the United States. As such it is quite remarkable with a stunning number of interesting photos I had not seen before.

And even if the reproduction of the images is not perfect (the book would then have costs thousan$$s, the standard raised here is quite high. Much better than on the previous Taschen Claxton book 'Jazz Seen'.

Look at the new book with a fresh eye. There is quite a lot to enjoy there!

←

I don't think I missed the point - I do have the original book and love it (and know it inside out).

I'm questioning the purpose, really. It's basically the "remastered" version (with a bunch of extra tracks) and, to state again what I said above, Taschen, in my eyes, has been doing too much of that in its past history: recycling.

What I meant was the following: just imagine they would apply more time (remastering doesn't take half the editorial effort), more editorial effort, and some ideas of their own to actually produce something new. At this price something else would and should have been possible. As it stands, this edition is great for people who don't have the original, but for people who have that one there's simply not enough here to merit the price tag (besides the much better reproduction quality) - and I'm speaking for those for whom 150 Euro is A LOT of money to shell out! For others it probably is worth the upgrade.

I'm not trashing the book at all, I'm just voicing my (slight) disappointment with it. I'd rather spend my money on something else.

[jlhoots]

I don't have the original.

I probably wouldn't buy this either if I did.

Since I don't, I'll buy the new one as soon as I can.

[medjuck]

I got this new for $126 plus shipping by clicking on "new or used from.." at Amazon. It's a great book but I wish it wasn't quite so big. It's unwieldy, hard to read in bed and a danger to your bookhelves if they aren't really sturdy.

[sidewinder]

I got this new for $126 plus shipping by clicking on "new or used from.." at Amazon. It's a great book but I wish it wasn't quite so big. It's unwieldy, hard to read in bed and a danger to your bookhelves if they aren't really sturdy.

Good price ! That's a bit better than the £90 that this one was going for in Ray's Jazz London store when I visited last week. A behemoth, for sure.

[medjuck]

I notice that Amazon's now offering it for $119 plus free shipping but they claim it'snot available yet.

[jlhoots]

I notice that Amazon's now offering it for $119 plus free shipping but they claim it'snot available yet.

It's available.

My copy is due to arrive Dec. 5 via UPS.

Nice price too at Amazon.

[jazzkrow]

AMAZON'S price is $126 (not $119). Looks like the shipping is factored into their total cost of $126.

[Guest]

Hello!

I bought it from Amazon UK for £70 and so far I'm very happy with it. I have only peeked at it since it will be my bithday present i januari. One question: Was the original first release the same gigantic size??

/Shaft

[sheldonm]

I notice that Amazon's now offering it for $119 plus free shipping but they claim it'snot available yet.

It's available.

My copy is due to arrive Dec. 5 via UPS.

Nice price too at Amazon.

Ordered mine from Caiman, due to be delivered before 12/7.....whoooohoooo!!!

[Adam]

I'm planning to go to the signing at Taschen in Beverly Hills tomorrow (12/6), although work may prevent it. Who else is going?

[sheldonm]

I'm planning to go to the signing at Taschen in Beverly Hills tomorrow (12/6), although work may prevent it. Who else is going?

....if it weren't 2000 miles away , I would consider it!!!

m~

[RDK]

I had been planning to go, but isn't the book like $200 retail (through the store)? I'm tempted to buy it through Amazon for only $120, especially since I'll undoubtedly get some gift certificates soon. I'm also not sure if I can get to BH tomorrow bight. Is Claxton's sig worth it?

[sheldonm]

I had been planning to go, but isn't the book like $200 retail (through the store)? I'm tempted to buy it through Amazon for only $120, especially since I'll undoubtedly get some gift certificates soon. I'm also not sure if I can get to BH tomorrow bight. Is Claxton's sig worth it?

....YES!!!