'Jazzical Moods' book on UK ebay site

[hockneyboy]

Hi, just found the rare out of print Japanese book 'Jazzical Moods - Artwork Of Excellent Jazz Labels' on the ebay.co.uk website. It's a 25 pounds starting bid. But it's a great book for anyone who has not got it. Hundreds of great colour album covers with details of the photographers and graphic designers. 9 days left to bid.

[Chuck Nessa]

How about a link?

How are you connected?

[JSngry]

How are you connected?

The toe bone connected

to the foot bone,

and the foot bone connected

to the ankle bone,

and the ankle bone connected

to the leg bone.

The leg bone connected

to the knee bone,

and the knee bone connected

to the thigh bone,

and the thigh bone connected

to the hip bone.

The hip bone connected

to the back bone,

and the back bone connected

to the neck bone,

and the neck bone connected

to the head bone.

[Chas]

Here's the auction . I'm not Mancunian ( though I've been accused of being Manichean -_- ) , so I've no 'connection' here .

Will someone hit Buy-It-Now for 50 quid ? ( cheaper than any current online price ) . Should I ? I've heard that this is a very good book , but is it really on par with Manek Daver's Jazz Album Covers : The Rare and The Beautiful ( the best jazz cover art book I'm familiar with ) ?

[sidewinder]

Will someone hit Buy-It-Now for 50 quid ?

A whoppin' £50 for 131 pages? At that price I'd expect Monk-inscripted gold leaf on vellum.

[A Lark Ascending]

Will someone hit Buy-It-Now for 50 quid ?

A whoppin' £50 for 131 pages? At that price I'd expect Monk-inscripted gold leaf on vellum.

But then it would be in Latin and you wouldn't be able to read it. Well, I wouldn't!

[hockneyboy]

I think I have attached a photo from the ebay site of the Jazzical Moods book.

[bakeostrin]

Here's the auction . I'm not Mancunian ( though I've been accused of being Manichean -_- ) , so I've no 'connection' here .

Will someone hit Buy-It-Now for 50 quid ? ( cheaper than any current online price ) . Should I ? I've heard that this is a very good book , but is it really on par with Manek Daver's Jazz Album Covers : The Rare and The Beautiful ( the best jazz cover art book I'm familiar with ) ?

As a collector of rare jazz and blues books, if you did not have a copy, it is definitely worth the opening bid price (keeping in mind the exchange rate for pounds into dollars currently--pound being almost on a par with the euro).

I would not put this book on the same level as Daver's books ("Jazz Graphics David Stone Martin" being the other). The Daver book ("Jazz Album Covers") is scarcer; is hardcover with a jacket and contains interviews with several of the principal artists featured therein.

I think that "Jazz West Coast" published by the same company as "Jazzical Moods" is preferable. It focuses on a specific artist (Claxton, with his commentary) and style. Since that artist and style are personal favorites of mine, I may lean towards this book a bit more. "Jazzical Moods" does appear to be scarcer than "Jazz West Coast" (not to be confused w/Claxton's original 1955 book). "Jazzical Moods" just seems a bit more pedestrian, if that is appropriate. It is a nice book. But, for example, if you did not have "Jazz Graphics" you are better off buying the scarcer, better (and higher priced) book when you see it at a good price.

"Jazzical Moods" is not a once in a lifetime book; other copies will pop up. Someone may also bid at the opening price and you might want to slip in a higher bid. If you absolutely felt you had to have it, I do not think $75 is outrageous. I hope this helps a bit.

Regards,

Baker

[Chas]

Appreciate your input Baker .

By the way , how would you rate Jazz grafico : diseño y fotografía en el disco de jazz 1940-1968 ? Does it cover the same ground as the other cover art books ? What I'd really like to find is a book focusing on small label , 10-inch , 7-inch and 78 rpm covers .

[bakeostrin]

Chas,

I would say that "Jazz Grafico" is a worthwhile book. When it came out, I bought it directly from the museum (it was issued as part of a Spanish museum's album cover exhibit) and I think that it will become a collectible title (maybe not to the extent of the Studio Museum's catalog for its Decarava exhibit in the 80's, "The Sound I Saw).

"Jazz Grafico" does cover some of the same ground as other books. It has a David Stone Martin section; a small Pierre Merlin section; a Paul Bacon section and a Blue Note section (among others). The two Daver books cover this field in more detail (although "Jazz Album Covers" only details 10" covers). There is a section on Atlantic Records. Since many of the covers are Lee Friedlander photos, you would be better off purchasing "American Musicians" which contains copies of the photographs used as the basis for some of those jackets. Also, there are the books on Blue Note covers, California Cool and the east coast covers.

I like that "Jazz Grafico" has a Burt Goldblatt section (and detailed interview w/Goldblatt). Likewise, it has the same for Jim Flora (although his covers are not my cup of tea). The accompanying essays are a good read also, but you don't buy an illustrated book for the essays. I see the online prices are a bit high on this one. I do not think that this title has yet reached the category of a $100 book (at half that price, maybe; at $35, certainly). But the book was issued only in Spain and not by a major publisher so at some point it will become hard to find.

On the downside of formatting, it is softcover (I prefer hard cover, with a dustjacket, more durable, easier to handle, which is important for illustrated books as they do get handled repeatedly). Also, it is oblong. There are no pages of full cover album shots which are the same size as the original jackets. Then again, there are no such shots in either of Daver's book.

As to other books of album covers, small labels and 78's, for the 78's I think there are books of Stirnweiss and Flora covers (which I do not have). I have not obtained the Taschen book either. But consider that in "Jazz Album Covers," Manek Daver spoke of doing more books covering smaller labels. Daver's books contained covers from labels I did not know existed, such as Southland, Grand Award, etc. Maybe another collector will come out with something to rival Daver's efforts.

I would not jump on "Jazz Grafico" at the price offered, but it should pop up on e-bay or some search engine at a more reasonable price.

Regards,

Baker

[Big Beat Steve]

What I'd really like to find is a book focusing on small label , 10-inch , 7-inch and 78 rpm covers .

I admit I'm unfamiliar with the "Jazz Gráfico" book but it apparently covers a lot of ground covered elsewhere.

However, for 10-inch and 78 rpm covers this one seems to be for you:

In the Groove - Vintage Record Graphics 1940-1960, by Eric Kohler (Chronicle Books)

Far from comprehensive but it complements the other record cover books named above as it puts the focus on earlier records and some artists overlooked elsewhere,e g. Jim Flora.

And since Baker named it, I am slightly underwhelmed by the recent jazz record cover book issued by Taschen. I browsed through it extensively the other day in a book store but found that in the end it did not include all that much that had not yet been covered by Jazzical Moods, Jazz West Coast, California Cool, East Coasting and the Blue Note books when it comes to 50s/early 60s covers, and it definitely has WAAAY too much late 60s/70s covers with that weird psychedelic/flower power/pop art artwork. Pretty garish, some of them ... (but that's only my personal taste)

Maybe that Japanese website with all those 78rpm/10in record cover scans ought to be made into a book??

[Chas]

I like that "Jazz Grafico" has a Burt Goldblatt section (and detailed interview w/Goldblatt).

That interview is available online , and it's a good read . I know Goldblatt put out a book of his photography called , Jazz Gallery One , but given the breadth of his artistic talents and output someone ought to give him the Steinweiss , Flora treatment .

However, for 10-inch and 78 rpm covers this one seems to be for you:

In the Groove - Vintage Record Graphics 1940-1960, by Eric Kohler (Chronicle Books)

That's a decent enough book , with a Goldblatt section as well , but Jazzical Moods and Jazz Grafico are of greater interest to me since , unlike In The Groove , they focus exclusively on jazz cover art .

[Chas]

Congrats to Jay (zanonesdelpueblo) for winning the book with a last minute snipe .

[blajay]

Congrats to Jay (zanonesdelpueblo) for winning the book with a last minute snipe .

Yeah. Thanks Chas. I wasn't going for more than the opening bid, but I guess that's all I needed. It's still pretty steep I guess, but I've been looking for that book for a while and haven't seen it for under $125, so what the hell.