Fnarf

@fnarf.bsky.social

881 Followers 2393 Following

I don't blab any drab gab. I chatter hep patter.

LP cover. Very dark black and white photo of a Black man (Jordan) playing tenor, turned a quarter towards the left (his right). His horn is mostly visible as spots of light reflecting off the brass, and we can really only see his face and the placket of his shirt, because his suit is also black. He has a quite heavy beard and mustache that wasn't there in his Blue Note years.
Metallic gold bodysuit
Anya Taylor-Joy in black leather.
Ridiculous LP cover. A photo of a Black woman (not a musician) holding a hot dog in a bun in her hand. She's wearing very fashionable clothing, a mustard tunic with a wide woven belt and a large center clasp of a lion (I think). She's got a perfect round Afro and big hoop earrings. She's smiling broadly, but I get the impression she has zero interest in eating the hot dog. There's a fake sticker that just says HOT DOG in a reddish font, and LOU DONALDSON in blue, with some orange stars and a picture of a...hot dog. Geddit? Reid Miles it is not.
LP cover. A brightly colored collage of paper cutouts, depicting a Black man (Adderley) standing with his horn in front of a bright blue backdrop. He's wearing a purplish blue suit, a light blue and white checked shirt, and a black tie. His saxophone is bright orange, with darker spots indicating the keys. His face is very stylized, brown with an orange nose, black mustache, eyes, and hair.
LP cover. A black and white photo, so intensely contrasty it looks like a silhouette, of a Black man (Timmons) in profile, Just his face and a hint of collar, with his scraggly goatee hanging off his chin, leaning forward, presumably over his piano. Just a hint of reflected light off his lower lip, his nose, and his forehead. We can't see his eyes.
LP cover. An outdoor shot against a grey sky of a Black man (Patterson) against a background of out of focus trees. He's wearing a dark jacket (cotton?) and a light colored turtleneck. His hair is a little longer and nappier than in previous covers, as was the style at the time. Likewise his goatee. He's looking off to his left (our right), not quite in full profile. The lettering is in the upper right corner, and is very groovy, cyan and magenta, extremely squared off, with every D, O, P, A, R, o, and B with the cutouts or voids (counters?) as a white circle.
Two dolphins leaping out of the ocean.
LP cover. All white background, with an illustration in pen and ink, with brown and black watercolor, of a Black man (Mitchell) playing the trumpet.
Dogs playing cricket
LP cover. Top half is plain white with black text listing the title and the sidemen; bottom half is a yellow tinted black and white photo of a very dark Black man (Davis) blowing his horn, with mute in the bell, turned a quarter of the way to our right (his left). He's wearing an impeccable light colored checked jacket, probably grey, with a dark tie and a pocket square visible. His eyes are closed in concentration.
Album cover of Naturaliste by the Lucksmiths, showing a remote railway station at twilight.
15 foot long parking rules sign in Culver City.
LP cover. Sorry, this one is ridiculous. A dramatically lit photograph of a Black woman with a large Afro and long false eyelashes holding a red stick of candy erect with her tongue tickling the tip. It's shiny and wet. Sigh.
LP cover. A very grainy, busy black and white photo of a Black man (Mitchell), looking at the camera during a recording session. He's wearing a checked shirt, heavy black rimmed glasses, and a neatly trimmed goatee. Around him, mostly extremely out of focus, is a variety of recording studio gear - microphones, stands, cables, and so forth. The typography is charmingly hand drawn in black or red.
LP cover. An orange tinted black and white photo of a Black man (Ervin), with a fine handlebar mustache and heavy hornrim glasses, wearing what looks like a black flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up past the elbows. He's in profile, facing left (his right). Nice watch too.
Norelco shaver with three heads
LP cover. A Black man (Clay, in focus), blowing his tenor in profile, facing right (his left), with another Black man (Marable, way out of focus), at his drums. One drum and one cymbal are distinguishable. Clay is wearing a cool horizontal stripe button-up shirt. HIs eyebrows are raised, making lines on his forehead. Marable's shirt is short sleeved, with graduated vertical black stripes on white, going from very narrow on his right side with very wide black stripes (or narrow white ones) on his left. The photograph has a light lavender tint to it. These guys are absolutely cool as hell and having a great time.
Fotmob scores for Sounders tonight. None of these players is good.
Stunt from Steve McQueen movie The Hunter (1980). Car falling off Marina City into the Chicago River.
LP cover. Solid black, no photo, just text, on the right half. SOMETHIN' ELSE in white CANNONBALL ADDERLEY in chartreuse Sidemen in blue, label and number in white. All fully justified, with text size adjusted to match.
LP cover. A deep red tinted photo of a Black man (Patterson), mirrored so that there are two of him, facing away from each other. He's smoking a cigarette, and has his eyes closed.
LP cover. Three men, two Black, one white, waiting to board a Greyhound bus. The white man is wearing a fedora and carrying a powder blue hard sided suitcase. There are many reflections; I think the photo was shot from inside the depot with the bus in front and the reflected street entrance behind.
Ed Zitron in A Clockwork Orange!
LP cover. Most of the front is a light blue, with a charcoal drawing of Cobb's face, surrounded by what could be grass? His eyes are closed, and frankly it's a little creepy, like he could be dead and surrounded by flames? Weird cover. The top third is just white, with his name in the same blue, and the title in magenta.
LP cover. A full frame black and white photo of a young (just 19) Black man (Morgan) blowing his horn. He's wearing a dark suit that looks several sizes too big for him, especially the width of the trousers, though this is just 1956 for you. He's also wearing a multi striped shirt. In the background is another Black man (Art Taylor) playing drums. He's wearing glasses, and has a white shirt open a few buttons down. Interestingly, the trumpet and the metal fittings of the drums have been tinted gold, or brass. The title "Introducing" is in similar gold color in a large handwriting style font. Morgan gets his name in very large white letters, and Mobley's group is in a smaller white font. All in all, it's a brilliant composition by the technical standards of 1956.
LP cover. An illustration (not a photo) of a buxom brunette woman in bra and panties, sitting on a bed and talking on a pink princess style phone (whatever the UK equivalent was). The slogan reads "Call us anytime, anywhere you'll love every minute".
LP cover. Same cover as Volume One, but red. In the upper left, a postcard sized red tinted photo of a Black man (Monk), wearing a brimmed cap and a checkered shirt (or shirt jacket), pointing off to the right (his left). In the background is some kind of paneling with lighter vertical bars spaced across a darker background. The rest of the cover is blank red, except for THELO- / NIOUS in bold black letters and MONK in white letters underneath, with the title in small black letters next to it.
ChatGPT bag seller on Whatnot
LP cover. A black and white photo of a Black man (Rollins) blowing his horn with eyes closed, shot from directly below. He's wearing a white dress shirt, open at the collar. There is a hodge-podge of graphic elements -- a magenta hourglass shape with some writing in white, some in black, plus dotted lines, an arrow, and a white dot inside a larger black dot inside an even larger white dot. Various white, magenta, and black lines with dots on the ends, plus one large magenta blob looking like a flower. The title is vertical in magenta and black; the artist is across in alternating magenta and white lettering.
LP cover. Another in the "LT" series, which had the same template for all -- white background, a rainbow triangle in the upper left, a grey gradient across the top and another vertical, and in the middle a series of weird photographs, much hated at the time, but I think they're interesting. In this one, it's a black and white close up of a zebra's back, shoulder to haunch, with a small part of another zebra behind it. It is both abstract and not abstract. Photo credit is to "Hot To Shoot", whatever that is; it's ungoogleable.
LP cover, designed in 1962 but first released here in 1986. Against a grey sky background, the title JUBILEE SHOUT!!! is in huge three inch high red letters, then the artist in one inch dark grey letters, then the sidemen in smaller type. Below that, a black and white photo of a Black man (Stanley T.) with an enormous toothy grin on his face and both hands outstretched, palms facing us. The shot is taken from quite low. He's wearing a funky suede and knit sweater, with a swank day cravat.
LP cover. On a white background, six black boxes with multicolored designs that look like Celtic knots -- woven color shifting lines curved back on themselves.
LP cover. Black background, with a two inch high band across the middle with a green tinted black and white photo of two Black men (Grey l, Mitchell r) playing their respective instruments in a recording studio. Grey is wearing a striped shirt, Mitchell a snap brim hat. The open bell of Grey's trombone is colored bright blue, matching the blue of the word ATMOSPHERE in the title above. DIZZY is in white, as are the names of the players, while their instruments are in green.
LP cover. Same photo as v. 2 and v. 3 -- a Black man (Dorham) in a loud checked jacket, leaning into a microphone, presumably making an announcement (it's not a trumpet mic, though there is one directly above it. The photo is tinted blue; in the other volumes it is tinted yellow and red.
Marty Feldman in a bowler hat, one eye straying wide.
LP cover. Against a brown background, a larger than life size photo of a Black man (Curson), in profile, blowing his trumpet.
LP cover. The top three fifths is white, with the title in gold, brick red, and brown. The bottom two fifths is a beige tinted black and white photo of a Black man (Tyner), sitting sideways to a piano with his left arm on the top and his right resting on his crossed knee. He's wearing a short sleeve button up shirt in a plaid.
À man who stands still dressed like Lumumba throughout every DR Congo match.
Against a bright green background (the color of the Reflecting Pool in DC), is a green tinted black and white photo of a Black man (Smith), posing with his thumb and finger on his chin, wearing a broad smile, a shiny "sharkskin" suit (probably grey), a shirt and tie, and a great watch, with a leather strap. The title and artist are given in a groovy 60s font in purple with a black drop shadow, in a white lozenge. Hep (just like the record).
LP cover. Against a dark maroon background, two alto saxophones (in blotchy ink, not photographed) facing away from each other, in black, looking a bit like a Rorschach inkblot test. In between, the title, in blocky black (ALTO) and white (MADNESS) with the artists' names in much smaller, thinner black text.
À bald man with a swastika armband is put to bed on the sidewalk in Seattle by a local hero.
LP cover. The top half is an algae-green tinted black and white photo of two Black men (Griffin and Davis) on a New York street, both wearing suit jackets with open collar shirts. A railing is visible in the background, and a bit of brownstone, along with another man in a long raincoat walking away from the camera.
LP cover. Interesting similarity to the later Benny Green Blue Note I posted yesterday, this is also a Black man (Fuller) standing and holding a hard shell trombone case. Here, he's standing on a train station platform instead of a city street, but he's wearing a suit and tie like Green. The suit looks a little two large for him -- the pants are too long, and so is the jacket. He still looks sharp, though. The train tracks go around a curve in the distance. I can't make out any of the signs besides one that says WARNING and another that says 3 1/4 in large letters.
LP cover. A deep blue tinted black and white photo of a white man (Mulligan) playing his bari sax, facing three quarters to his right (our left), wearing a great houndstooth check jacket, grey and white, possibly a dobby weave, with a black tie and slacks. The title looks drawn by hand, with the two "Mulligan"s in white outline on the black background, with speckles on the inside of the letters. The word "plays" between them in the same font but blue with no interior speckles. Cover by Don Parent.
LP cover. A quite attractive olive green tinted black and white photo of a Black man (Green), standing on the sidewalk in an urban scene, presumably New York City, with his right arm extended as if hailing a taxi. He is holding a hard sided trombone case, and is wearing a truly magnificent emsemble of an overcoat, a wool suit with patch pockets and cuffs on the trousers, a striped scarf folded over against the cold, and a stingy brim trilby hatt. In the background, we can see a variety of different building types, but sadly no legible signs, though a oversized model of a beer or wine bottle can be seen. A classic New York rooftop water tower is visible on the right. Several older cars can be seen, which look to me like late forties and early fifties, which is to be expected; not every car in this time period (1958) was the latest model. A tremendously evocative shot by Francis Wolff. The artist and title are in white, all caps for Green, title case for the title.
Red orange yellow green blue purple, with the white pink powder blue brown and black chevrons, a flag hanging off a boat.
Trump's name coming off the Kennedy Center
LP cover. A collection of seven African masks in various styles, meant to give this the popular "exotica" style, though the music is excellent Afro-Cuban jazz, an important style in New York and a precursor of salsa.
LP cover. Solid black, with a four line frame in blue, and a blue tinted photo of a Black man (Morgan) wearing a white dress shirt open at the collar, and playing his saxophone into a microphone. The headstock of a bass is visible but out of focus in the background. Morgan's name is in large yellow letters, the rest of the band is in smaller orange letters.
LP cover. Against a blue background with six purple strips on each side is a photo of a Black man (Hardman), in tight focus, with a reflection of him in a mirror behind, very out of focus. The word FOCUS is above him, in a purple halftone "fuzzy" font.
LP cover. A kind of visual pun, the entire cover is a closeup of wood grain. Cedar, geddit? In the upper left corner is a small (1 inch by 2 inch) photo of a young Black man (Walton), with a neat natural hairstyle enhanced by a small patch of white in the top center, and black plastic framed glasses, mustache, black t shirt, white windbreaker, with a very sixties cocksure, confident, impatient, and a little annoyed, as is emblematic of youth, especially Black youth.
LP cover. Two black and white photos of Black men of a certain age--Foster above, Wess below--are stacked on a beige background. Foster's wearing a knit turtleneck and big wire framed glasses; Wess is wearing a dark jacket over a shirt and tie. The lettering is turquoise and olive brown. There is a large stamp in gold foil that says FOR PROMOTION ONLY / OWNERSHIP IS RESERVED BY / CONCORD JAZZ, INC. / SALE IS UNLAWFUL. Fortunately it would seem that the seller is the criminal here, not the buyer (i.e., me).
LP cover. An amazing black and white photo of a Black man (Gordon), in profile, looking pensively at the sky, touching his chin with the fingers of his right hand, which is also holding a lit cigarette. He's wearing a white dress shirt with a fancy collar bar (the kind with holes in the collar the bar slides through and behind the tie, and what looks like a black vest with a grey glen plaid jacket. The words of the title are stacked and alternate red and blue (French, not US colors), and the entire background is white. He's squinting slightly, which makes me think this is outside, on a cloudy day.
LP cover. A full frame red tinted black and white photo of a Black man (Byrd), leaning forward with his chin on his right hand, left hand folded under. He's facing directly into the camera but his eyes are pointed as far to his right (our left) as possible. He's wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and a large ring on his right ring finger. His wristwatch is just barely poking out of his sleeve on his left hand at the bottom of the picture. The title is in white all caps, while his name is in a larger version of the same font, in yellow; all the other players are in smaller letters, also yellow.
LP cover. The entirely blue cover has an illustration by Andy Warhol of a young woman reclining on the floor. She has her arms crossed over her head, and high heeled shoes on, but apparently nothing else.The title is in black letters, the artist in white. This is the same image that's on Volume 1, and originally had a pink background, but early on they changed it to the same blue as Volume 1.
LP cover. A very dark red tinted black and white photo of a Black man (Cobb) is in the upper left, quite small; he's blowing into his horn with concentration. Across the top, to the same height, is an orange rectangle with the artist's name in large black letters. The bottom half of the cover is solid black, with the title along the top in orange outline letters, and at the bottom left, very small, is the name of the designer, Esmond Edwards.
LP cover. No photo, just a full frame painting, in a bold, rustic Fauvist style, by Sy Leichman. It depicts a man playing a saxophone; the man is rendered in bold purple, red, blue and black, while the horn is red, with red and orange music coming out of the bell, like fire.
LP cover. A small brown tinted photo of a Black man (Hutcherson) is in the upper right. He's got his hand against the back of his head, and he's smiling broadly. He's wearing a striped shirt. The main photo is a brown tinted black and white photo of hardware -- clamps, straps, brackets, rings, laid on a shiny metal surface. Deeply shadowed, it's an interesting abstraction.