David Stone Martin
Encyclopedia
David Stone Martin born David Livingstone Martin, was an influential American artist best known for his illustration
s on jazz
record albums.
He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was greatly influenced by the line art of Ben Shahn
. By 1950, Martin had produced more than 100 covers for Mercury, Disc and Dial record albums. Many assignments came from his long time friend, record producer Norman Granz
.
For various companies, Martin eventually created illustrations for more than 400 record albums. Many of these were simply line art combined with a single color. Martin's favorite tool was a crowquill pen which enabled him to do delicate line work. CBS-TV art director William Golden gave Martin many print ad assignments during the 1950s, and Martin soon expanded into illustration for Seventeen
, The Saturday Evening Post
and other slick magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. His studio was located in Roosevelt, New Jersey
, near his home there.
Martin is represented in the Museum of Modern Art
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian Institution
. He died in 1992.
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
s on jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
record albums.
He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was greatly influenced by the line art of Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn was a Lithuanian-born American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content.-Biography:...
. By 1950, Martin had produced more than 100 covers for Mercury, Disc and Dial record albums. Many assignments came from his long time friend, record producer Norman Granz
Norman Granz
Norman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
.
For various companies, Martin eventually created illustrations for more than 400 record albums. Many of these were simply line art combined with a single color. Martin's favorite tool was a crowquill pen which enabled him to do delicate line work. CBS-TV art director William Golden gave Martin many print ad assignments during the 1950s, and Martin soon expanded into illustration for Seventeen
Seventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
and other slick magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. His studio was located in Roosevelt, New Jersey
Roosevelt, New Jersey
Roosevelt was originally called Jersey Homesteads, and was created during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. The town was home to a cooperative farming and manufacturing project...
, near his home there.
Martin is represented in the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. He died in 1992.
Album covers
- All or Nothing at All All or Nothing at All (album)All or Nothing at All is a studio album by Billie Holiday, recorded in 1956 and 1957 and released by Verve Records in 1958.A later 2 CD re-issue combined all of the tracks from this and two other Holiday albums recorded at the same time, Body and Soul and Songs for Distingué Lovers, with two...
, Billie Holiday, Verve - The Astaire StoryThe Astaire StoryThe Astaire Story is a 1952 album by Fred Astaire. The album was conceived of and produced by Norman Granz, the founder of Clef Records , who was also responsible for the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, at which all of the musicians on the album had performed.- Content and reception :The...
, Fred Astaire, Clef - Billie Holiday SingsBillie Holiday SingsBillie Holiday Sings is the first album made by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in the United States by Clef Records in 1952. It was reissued in 1956 by Verve Records with four extra tracks recorded at the sessions, and renamed Solitude...
, Clef - Bird & DizBird & DizBird & Diz is a studio album by jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, recorded primarily on June 6, 1950 in New York City. Two tracks featured on the original pressing, "Passport" and "Visa", were recorded by Parker, without Gillespie and with a different personnel than...
, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Clef - Buddy and SweetsBuddy and SweetsBuddy and Sweets is a jazz album recorded in Los Angeles, California in September 1955 by Harry "Sweets" Edison and Buddy Rich.-Track listing:LP side A# "Yellow Rose of Brooklyn" – 4:31...
, Norgran - An Evening with Billie HolidayAn Evening with Billie HolidayAn Evening with Billie Holiday is the second studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in 1953.-Track listing:#"Stormy Weather" – 3:41#"Lover Come Back to Me" – 3:36...
, Clef - Jazz GiantJazz GiantJazz Giant is a studio album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, released on Norgran in 1956, featuring two sessions that Powell recorded for Norman Granz in 1949 and 1950.The album was remastered and re-released on CD in 2001 by Verve as a Verve Master Edition...
, Bud Powell, Norgran - Lester Young TrioLester Young TrioThe Lester Young Trio and The Lester Young Trio No. 2 are jazz trio albums recorded in Hollywood, California in March - April 1946 by Lester Young with Nat King Cole and Buddy Rich.-Release history:...
, Mercury - Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson TrioLester Young with the Oscar Peterson TrioLester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio is a 1952 studio album by Lester Young, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Quartet, although the title incorrectly states the band as a trio. The music on this album was originally released as three albums in 1952, on Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson...
, Norgran - Love Is a Gentle ThingLove is a Gentle ThingLove is a Gentle Thing is an album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor in 1959. It was recorded with arranger / conductors Alan Greene and Bob Corman.-Side one:# "Fifteen" – 2:50# "I Never Will Marry" – 2:44# "I'm Goin' Away" – 3:08...
, Harry Belafonte, RCA - Oscar Peterson Plays Duke EllingtonOscar Peterson Plays Duke EllingtonOscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington is an album by Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, of songs associated with Duke Ellington released in 1952 on Clef Records. Peterson re-recorded much of the music for his 1959 album Oscar Peterson Plays the Duke Ellington Songbook...
, Clef - Oscar Peterson Plays Porgy & BessOscar Peterson Plays Porgy & BessOscar Peterson Plays Porgy & Bess is a 1959 studio album by Oscar Peterson, playing selections from George Gershwin's 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess...
, Verve - Piano Interpretations by Bud PowellPiano Interpretations by Bud PowellPiano Interpretations by Bud Powell is a studio album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, released in 1956 by Norgran, featuring two sessions that Powell recorded at Fine Sound Studios in New York in April 1955....
, Norgran - Piano Solos, Bud Powell, Clef
- Piano Solos #2, Bud Powell, Clef
- Sing and Swing with Buddy RichSing and Swing with Buddy RichSing and Swing with Buddy Rich is a jazz album recorded in New York City in January 1955 by Buddy Rich.-Track listing:#"Everything Happens To Me"#"Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams"#"Sure Thing"#"Glad To Be Unhappy"# Ballad Medley##"Over The Rainbow"...
, Norgran - Swinging Brass with the Oscar Peterson TrioSwinging Brass with the Oscar Peterson TrioSwinging Brass with the Oscar Peterson Trio is a 1959 studio album by Oscar Peterson, arranged by Russell Garcia. -Track listing:# "Con Alma" – 7:00# "Blues for Big Scotia" – 3:51...
, Verve - These Are the BluesThese are the BluesThese are the Blues is a 1963 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, featuring the trumpeter Roy Eldridge, and the organist Wild Bill Davis...
, Ella Fitzgerald, Verve - Toshiko's PianoToshiko's PianoThe jazz album Toshiko's Piano was the debut recording of jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi. It was recorded in Japan in 1953 with Oscar Peterson's Jazz at the Philharmonic rhythm section and released as a 10 inch LP album on Norman Granz's Norgran Record label...
, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Norgran
Magazine covers
- Time magazine cover archive: David Stone Martin:
External links
- U.S. Navy Art Collection: David Stone Martin
- David Stone Martin album covers at:
- Birkajazz.com
- LP Cover Lover
- Vinyl Culture Quarterly
- Jazz at First Sight: The Art of David Stone Martin (July–December 2010, Jazz at Lincoln Center)