The Blue Note Look

BBC4 offered up a late evening Jazz treat yesterday with the feature length 1997 documentary Blue Note - A Story of Modern Jazz, in honor of the late Bruce Lundvall. In addition to exploring Blue Note's rich history and the label's extraordinary roster of artists (I'm listening to Dexter Gordon as I type this) the documentary acknowledges the contributions of graphic designer Reid Miles and photographer Francis Wolff in establishing the unique Blue Note look, an exuberant, energetic ensemble of Wolff's urban, sometimes noirish photography and Reid's imaginative and playful use of type. As one of the contributors to the documentary admits "Sometimes I get out my Blue Note records just to look at the covers". The best of Reid and Wolff's work can be explored on this page. Meanwhile, here are four of my favorites...