In 1982, Crumb created 36 watercolor portraits of early jazz musicians for Yazoo Records, which published them as a deck of trading cards. Thirty years later, Robert has selected 25 of those portraits (listed below) and we present them, arranged 5 x 5, in a new display print titled Early Hot Jazz Greats. Unlike the images in the 2011 Heroes Of The Blues edition, Crumb did not want the jazz portraits printed with a card border. This way, each image is larger, so the subtlety and detail of the watercolors is more apparent. It's also for this reason that we chose the medium of gicleé (inkjet printing) for the edition. Serigraphy would never have been able to capture the beauty and subtlety each portrait possesses. A beautiful, rich and vibrant edition was created, and you have our guarantee for your complete satisfaction or your money back.
There are 140 prints in the edition, plus 14 artist proofs and 3 printer proofs. The white Somerset Velvet Enhanced Matte archival paper is 22" x 30." The image size is 17" x 24", printed with Epson's archival K3 Ultrachrome inks. Each print will be numbered, signed and dated by Robert Crumb in Chicago this week, and the edition will be released on Friday, May 18th.
$380 each + shipping
The images:
First row: King Oliver, Thomas “Fats” Waller, “Bix” Beiderbecke, Earl Hines, Coleman Hawkins
Second row: Jimmy Blythe, Frank Trumbauer, Sidney Bechet, Bennie Mozen, Jabbo Smith
Third row: “Muggsy” Spanier, Joe Venuti, Louis Armstrong, Mary Lou Williams, Benny Goodman
Fourth row: Freddy Keppard, Ernest “Punch” Miller, “Jelly Roll” Morton, Jack Teagarden, “Duke” Ellington
Fifth row: Fletcher Henderson, Johnny Dodds, Eddie Lang, “Tiny” Parham, Jimmy Noone
(click image to enlarge)
