LOCA Art Talks: Cover Art on Blue Note Records with Elena Gilliam

Everyone who appreciates art and jazz music will love meeting vocalist and historian Elena Gilliam. She will present at LOCA Art Talks, presented by LOCA Arts Education. The spectacular art on the covers of Blue Note Records will be discussed.

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Gilliam, a longtime jazz vocalist, performs locally at The Drake and Skyloft, and at Campus Jax in Newport Beach. Her productions have ranged from tributes to Martin Luther King Jr., to Ella Fitzgerald, and Lena Horn. Her upcoming premier concert, Shall We Dance, will be performed at Irvine Barclay Theater on April 7.

Gilliams Art Talk will include a slide-show of cover art by Blue Note Records. The label, founded in 1939, became iconic by introducing groundbreaking early jazz musicians including Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk and many others. The development of unique, and now highly collectible, album covers played an integral role in the promotion of this “new sound”. Graphic designer Reid Miles and photographer Francis Wolff made history in the 1940s-1960s creating trendsetting designs and elements still in use today. “Their bold use of color, intimate photography, and meticulous typography came to define the look of jazz,” said Robin Kinross of Eye Magazine. Even a young Andy Warhol was commissioned for album covers of Blue Note Records. Attendees will learn about these amazing graphic designs, their creators, and how the visuals became an integral part in the evolution of jazz.

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