Illustrator David Stone Martin (1913 –
1992) was one of the most prolific and influential graphic designers of the
postwar era, creating over 400 album covers. Much of his work spotlighted jazz,
with his signature hand-drawn, calligraphic line perfectly capturing the energy
and spontaneity of the idiom.
Born David Livingstone Martin in
Chicago in 1913, he later studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and began his
career as an assistant to the social realist painter Ben Shahn, designing
murals during the 1933 World's Fair. Martin spent the remainder of the decade
as art director of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and served during World War
II as an artist/correspondent for Life magazine
After returning to the U.S. he mounted a career as a freelance artist doing commissions for clients including Disc Records Company. In 1948 he began teaching at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art, followed in 1950 by a year at New York City's Workshop School of Advertising and Editorial Art.
After returning to the U.S. he mounted a career as a freelance artist doing commissions for clients including Disc Records Company. In 1948 he began teaching at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art, followed in 1950 by a year at New York City's Workshop School of Advertising and Editorial Art.
Martin entered music illustration through his longtime friendship wth producer Norman Granz, designing label art for Granz's Verve, Norgran, Clef, and Down Home imprints as well as hundreds of now-classic cover illustrations for acts including Count Basie, Art Tatum, Gene Krupa, and Lionel Hampton. Martin also created a series of designs for the pianist Mary Lou Williams with whom he had a torrid affair. His work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and others. He died of pneumonia in New London, CT, in 1992.
This is part 1 of a 4-part post on the wotks of David Stone Martin:
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| 1940s Coleman Hawkins on Asch Records Asch Records 78 album |
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| 1940s John Kirby and Orchestra Asch Records 78 album |
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| 1940s Meade Lux Lewis "Boogie" Disc Records 78 album |
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| 1942 Strong in the Strength of the Lord poster |
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| 1943 Above and Beyond the Call of Duty poster |
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| 1944 Folk Songs sung by Josh White Asch Records |
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| 1944 Mary Lou Williams Trio Asch Records 78 album |
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| 1946 Calypso Vol. 2 Disc Records |
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| 1947 Lucky Strike |
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| 1947 Lucky Strike |
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| c1947 Muggsy Spanier and his Orchestra 78 album |
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| 1949 Bud Powell Piano Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1949 Bud Powell Piano Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1950 Charlie Parker with Strings Vol. 2 Mercury Records 78 album |
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| 1950 Charlie Parker with Strings Mercury Records |
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| 1950 Flip Phillips Clef Records |
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| 1950 James P. Johnson - New York Jazz Stinson Records 10" LP |
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| 1950 Machito Afro Cuban Jazz - Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, Buddy Rich, Chico O'Farrill Verve Records |
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| 1950 Norman Granz' Jazz at the Philharmonic Vol. 3 Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1951 Flip Wails - Flip Phillips and his Orchestra Clef Records 12" mono LP |
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| 1951 Jazz at the Philharmonic Vol. 11 Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1951 Jazz at the Philharmonic Vol. 2 Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1951 Johnny Hodges Collates Vol. 1 Mercury Records |
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| 1952 Benny Carter "Cosmopolite" Clef Records |
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| 1952 Bird and Diz ( Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie studio album ) Clef Records 10" LP |
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| 1952 Charlie Parker "South of the Border Verve Records 10" LP |
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| 1952 Josh White "Josh White Sings Vol. 2 Asch Records 10" LP |
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| 1952 Lester Young Trio studio album Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1952 Lester Young with The Oscar Peterson Trio No. 1 Norgran Records |
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| 1952 Lester Young with The Oscar Peterson Trio No. 2 Norgran Records |
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| 1952 Oscar Peterson at Carnegie Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1952 Roy Eldridge Collates Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1952 Stan Getz Plays Clef Records |
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| 1952 The Oscar Peterson Quartet Norman Granz Records 10" LP |
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| 1953 Art Director and Studio News |
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| 1953 Billie Holiday Sings with Oscar Peterson on piano Mercury Records 10" LP |
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| 1953 Count Basie Big Band Clef Records 10" LP |
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