The lost art of the jazz album cover

It would seem to me that in the course of my generations' lifetime, with the advancement in technology and the sharp move away from anything tactile, we have set a rather disturbing trend in how this planet spins through space. With the development of the "digital age" comes the gradual decline of anything that takes more than three seconds to operate or requires more than a cubic foot of space. The downloading of music to tiny devices that conveniently and smoothly play back hundreds of songs right at your finger tips, have succeeded in not only pushing back into the dark recesses of the mind, that of the compact disc, but have furthered the destruction of the music store and given further obscurity to that of "the record".

More to the point, such devices have essentially killed album artwork. There is no room for cover art, and further more, I don't think we any longer live in a society that wants it. Yet this might not be a recent event, as I believe cover artwork died a long time ago. Don't get me wrong, as I have seen rare cases of amazing ideas once again put in the form of cover art, but the wide eyed obscurity and sharp finesse of the images as seen below have long ago burnt out.

Below are some jazz covers that have very much caught my eye and that I can say I haven't tired of looking at in as long as I have been a listener of jazz. Hopefully, those interested in images like these and devoted music lovers can keep this history alive through the preservation of these and other covers like them.

Han Solo and why it is better that he shot first.

I want to take a moment a talk about a controversial topic. A topic that is a source of myth and consternation for the casual and intense fans of the first(and among the best three) of Star Wars films. I am of course speaking of the now infamous scene with the ill fated bounty hunter Greedo and his adversary in that of Han Solo.

Those of you not familiar with this scene in "A New Hope", I will attempt to explain without "geeking out" on you, the circumstances in which this took place.

For even the most casual of fans, I am sure you are familiar with Mr.Solo and of the price on his head by that of Jabba the Hutt (a rather slovenly creature with a short temper and an odd fascination for women with head tails).

Greedo was one of the bounty hunters attempting to secure the bounty on Solo's head. Both meet in a dimly lit bar shortly after Han had agreed to fly motley group to a far off planet that included a crazy old wizard, a young farm boy too big for his own britches and a pair of worrisome robots. Greedo, seeing his opportunity, quickly confronted Solo with blaster at the ready. Of course, realizing his predicament quickly backing him up against the wall, Han smoothly talks his way back to the booth he had just left. Now here is where Greedo sealed his fate. By allowing the smuggler access to sanctuary in the form of a table, chair and dim lighting, Greedo had successfully given the bounty three diversionary(if not four, by allowing him to continue speaking) tools of which to fry poor Greedo. The key here in the gun fight(and I am not an expert, but am purely speculating here) is what the hands are doing. Han had skillfully distracted Greedo's attention to the hand that was waving around against the wall, and secondly, he had kept the flow of conversation going. By doing this, Han's free hand was pulling his blaster out of the holster and leveling it at the bounty hunter.

The rest seems rather self explanatory, does it not? You could assume here that Han, being an opportunistic mercenary and scoundrel, took his opportunity to blast Greedo before he got a shot off and you would be correct in your assumption. Or, you could assume that Greedo, being the third grade lowlife bounty hunter he was, took a shot at Solo, missed, and summarily got fried by Solo anyway. You would be correct as well.

How can the two incidences co-exsist? By that of technology and an indecisive director. The first scenario can be seen in the first "original" version of Star Wars before it was dubbed "A New Hope". The second can be seen the updated and added to 1995 version.

There are two Han Solo's portrayed here. Both have personality traits that are fitting for the character, but some might say that the first version fits the Han Solo we know and love the best. Especially for the character's development from selfish, cocky, devil-may-care persona to the last film of being wary, cocky and attuned to the bigger picture.

This is why I believe that it is necessary for us to see Han in this light, as it not only shows how the other characters impacted the smuggler in the later films and how he would impact them, but it also stays true to the original ideas of the films. Like the painter who would return to a masterpiece and changed a crucial aspect of the painting, Han Solo has also been altered by it's painter. The change is slight, and to the casual viewer it is a change that may never be perceived.

The gruff, rough around the edges, anti-hero has been replaced by a character that is not ruled by the grey areas, but a hero that sees in black and whites, only taking advantage when his adversaries have take theirs first. We have examples of the hero in that of Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi, who rely on the Han Solo's of the galaxy to contrast their own struggles of maintaining a light that is slowly going out.

This is why I maintain that Han Solo shot first.

Acquired mellowness

So this is my first post on my blog and figured it be fitting to make it about music(I most likely will do this a lot).

I was looking at my music shelf the other day(yes I still have cd's and a music shelf) and wanted to clean it up a bit. So I ended up taking some stuff in to be traded and found some Bill Evans music in return.

I'm unsure as to why I haven't sought out his music before, as I have "kind of blue" with his amazing work on that record, but not much else.

I picked up "Sunday at the Village Vanguard", which in my mind now, is one of the better jazz albums out there. Present is some amazing bass playing by the late Scott LaFaro(who died in a car crash ten days after this was made) and everyone who is playing is very much an integral part of the whole group of songs.

The trio is not set up to be a lead piano with drums and a bass, but rather an equally distributed group who's playing is quite distinctive. Drums and bass have something to say as well as piano which makes this a more enjoyable, unique experience. And of course, this is a very mellow, laid back cd. But the modal lines and space left between is great.

I would highly recommend this to newcomers in jazz or even someone who just likes soft introspective music.