If there could be a formula to a great album cover, it would start with a great image, whether an illustration or a photo. They’re all great jazz albums.Ĭover of Ornette Coleman's Change of the Century These aren’t just great looking jazz albums. In picking the selections for this edition of Our Top Ten, besides only looking at albums that were originally released on vinyl, we also endeavored to choose albums that were special inside the sleeves, so that the result is an iconic image representing a timeless and important sound. Now with streaming and downloads all but eliminating the need for cover graphics, we can look back and relish not only what we had, but also what we, as modern era vinyl hunters, still may find at yard sales, thrift shops and used record stores. The CD era that began in the late ‘80s dramatically shrunk the canvas for cover artwork but nonetheless designers persevered to create distinctive graphics for the 5” X 5” format, though the tactile aesthetic of the gatefold cover had disappeared. Over the years, many jazz labels and its designers cultivated a particular look for their albums, whether it be Reid Miles’ cool graphics and typography for Blue Note in the ‘50s, photographer Lee Friedlander’s distinctive portraits for Atlantic in the ‘60s, the color images of Pete Turner for CTI in the ‘70s or the stark design aesthetic of Barbara Wojirsch for ECM for much of the last five decades. The tradition of interesting and creative jazz album covers goes all the way back to the early days of vinyl with artists, illustrators and designers like Jim Flora and Alex Steinweiss contributing unique artwork to adorn 78s and LPs in the ‘40s.

Warhol went on to do the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, but we won’t go there.

Remarkably, Warhol’s jazz cover was for an Artie Shaw album, but maybe it’s not so odd given that they were both pop idols in their time. Quick, what do Andy Warhol, Peter Max and Romare Bearden all have in common? Our headline gives away the answer, of course, because, yes, all of them did the artwork for jazz album covers.

Album cover canvas art