David Stone Martin
Portrait of Jelly Roll Morton
David Stone Martin (1913-1992), the coolest cat in the neighbourhood.
posted by Oscar Grillo at 22.5.06
Monday, May 22, 2006
Portrait of Jelly Roll MortonDavid Stone Martin (1913-1992), the coolest cat in the neighbourhood.
About Me
- Name: Oscar Grillo
- Location: London, United Kingdom
I've been working professionally as an artist since 1960. My avatar has been drawn by Matt Cruickshank.
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16 Comments:
As you may or may not know, I am a big fan of this man's work - I thought he'd done the cover for Horace Silver's "Blowin' the Blues Away" but on checking my Blue Note book, I find that cover was by Paula Donahue - it don't signify..these examples are brilliant. Thanks for pointing me to the Like Wow! site for more examples of this guy's work.
He was a good Ben Shahn's pupil but lots of people imitated him, including Andy Warhol and Guido Crepax.
Great. Singular.
Recapo. Ese Ben Webster es una maravilla de punta a punta.
gorgeous!!
That Ben Webster LP cover is marvellous.
I don't buy jazz albums very much. Are modern day jazz covers still illustrated in these styles?
Do you see drawings as synthetic and graphic as this printed ANY where?
I often say, there are good artists around today, but art directors, editors and clients are shit.
Sometimes I see a strong graphic advertisement that looks like all the people involved just let the Artist answer the brief without dilluting his idea. But only rarely.
On the whole you are right though, 99 per cent of art seems to be about compromise these days.
How the hell did you manage to have a magnificient career in these conditions?
WHAT MAKES YOU BELIEVE THAT MY CAREER WAS "MAGNIFICENT"?
The statue of you in Hyde park!!
No!...I was there as the horse....
THis was a great period in american music and the Blue Note project was one of the key signatures of the time. Not only these but also Warhol's covers and the great photo-typo combos that Blue Note put out then are benchmarks in american poular culture....Never forgetting the miraculous musicians whose work lay at the centre of the whole thing.
BUT...
I am i alone among Jazz lovers in my loathing for Van Gelder, whose frigid sound lies like a curse upon hours and hours of the great music he recorded like some frigid calvinist? SO cold and dead...the sound of the charnel-house.
He should have been permitted to record only Bob Brookmeyer....
I think that - of all the great jazz musicians of the time -only MINGUS never recorded at Van Gelder's studio?
I think that MINGUS would never have tolerated the frigid seperations, the sad, banished drumming.
I have loved David Stone Martin ever since being led onto him via Ben Shahn. The balance of his descriptive line and abstract colour is fantastic. This is a man who knows when to stop drawing. I have also just realized how valuable my copy of Jazz Graphics/ Graphic Sha publishing is. I'll keep it away from my 6 year old son now !!!
I've grown up with David's work since he was a neighbor of ours in Roosevelt, NJ in the 50's.He would give away portfolios of prints for Christmas, which my mother hung in our home. I must have about 30 of his prints which I lovingly keep on my walls. He is my favorite artist. I find his work much more fluid and seems to have more motion than Shahn's (also a former neighbor). When David's son, Stefan, took over his house, I babysat for him in exchange for Stefan's prints. What an incredibly talented family!
Wonderful to hear from you, Delincolon.
Great to know that there still are people with memories like yours in a world that gets impoverished of true art and appreciation of greatness on daily basis!
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