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David Stone Martin (1913 – 1992) could be called the inventor of applied jazz art. He was born in Chicago in 1913 and studied art at the School of Art Institute there. During the Second World War, Martin put his talent to work for the Office of War Information, where he provided images and sound for American troops.
He met pianist Mary Lou Williams in the 1940s at Café Society, the first club in New York to welcome a mixed audience. Williams had just signed a record deal with the new Asch Records label. She asked founder Moses Asch if Martin could design the cover of her album. David Stone Martin placed a piano in his studio so that he could observe and capture Williams from every angle. Martin’s drawings perfectly complemented Williams’ music. The collaboration with Asch Records therefore continued without any problems.
David Stone Martin’s striking covers attracted attention. Other labels also became interested. Over a period of about four decades, Martin created hundreds of record covers. He adapted his drawing style to the music on the record. However, there are some constants in his work. His thin, black lines are characteristic.
Martin was able to portray a musician recognisably with just a few pen strokes. Sometimes an attribute such as Lionel Hampton’s vibraphone mallets or Lester Young’s hat was enough. To portray Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker credibly, he combined a saxophone and a bird. He placed the black lines in abstract areas of colour that formed a warm background. For a dramatic effect, he sometimes let thin layers of dark paint run over the drawings. Martin was responsible for the entire cover design, and he also provided appropriate lettering.
David Stone Martin created his most famous images in collaboration with impresario Norman Granz. Granz organised concert series in the 1940s and 1950s with the successful ‘Jazz at the Philharmonic’ project. Artists such as Nat King Cole, Les Paul, Illinois Jacquet, Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald travelled around the world with the JATP big band. Martin designed the trumpet logo for ‘Jazz At The Philharmonic’, the posters announcing the concerts and the covers of the records that resulted from this project.
David Stone Martin became increasingly adept at visually conveying the power of live jazz. His artworks reflected the joy of making music, but also the miserable circumstances from which it sometimes arose. Like jazz itself, his drawings had a comforting effect.
His artistic covers are loved by a growing group of collectors. As standalone works of art, they are now also on display at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
