David Stone Martin, born David Livingstone Martin (June 13, 1913 – March 6, 1992 in
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...
) was an American artist best known for his
illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...
s on
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
University of Tennessee Press
The University of Tennessee Press is a university press associated with the University of Tennessee.
UT Press was established in 1940 by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.
The University of Tennessee Press issues about 35 books each ...
2009.
Biography
David Stone Martin was born June 13, 1913, in Chicago and attended evening classes at the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...
. He was greatly influenced by the line art of
Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an 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
Shahn was bor ...
. During World War II, Martin was an art director for the
United States Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and othe ...
.
By 1950, Martin had produced more than 100 covers for Mercury,
Asch Asch may refer to:
People
* Asch (surname)
*''Asch.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Paul Friedrich August Ascherson (1834–1913), German botanist
Places
* Aš, Czech Republic
* Asch (Netherlands), a village
Other uses
* Asch the Bloody, a ...
, Disc and Dial record albums. Many assignments came from his longtime friend, record producer
Norman Granz
Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo. Granz was acknowledged as "the most successful impres ...
.
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
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
'' and other slick magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. His studio was located in
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
and the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...
.
Martin was the husband of muralist Thelma Martin, who painted the post office mural for the facility in Sweetwater, Tennessee. He was the father of graphic artist Stefan Martin (born 1936) and painter Tony Martin. He died March 6, 1992, in New London, Connecticut, where he had lived in his old age.
Notable album covers
*''
All or Nothing at All
"All or Nothing at All" is a song composed in 1939 by Arthur Altman, with lyrics by Jack Lawrence.
Frank Sinatra recording
Frank Sinatra's August 31, 1939 recording of the song, accompanied by Harry James and his Orchestra was a huge hit in 194 ...
The Astaire Story
''The Astaire Story'' is a 1952 album by Fred Astaire. The album was conceived of and produced by Norman Granz, the founder of Clef Records (and later Verve Records), who was also responsible for the Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, at which ...
'', Fred Astaire,
Clef
A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines, which defines the pitc ...
*''
Billie Holiday Sings
''Billie Holiday Sings'' (MGC-118) is a 10-inch LP album made by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in the United States by Clef Records in 1952. It was her first album for the label, and her first album of original material, following sever ...
'', Clef
*'' Bird & Diz'', Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Clef
*''
Buddy and Sweets
''Buddy 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" (Harry "Sweets" Edison) – 4:31
# "Easy Does It" (Sy Oliver, ...
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time.
Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, ...
,
Norgran
Norgran Records was an American jazz record label in Los Angeles founded by Norman Granz in 1953. It became part of Verve Records, which Granz created in 1956. It is the first letters of Granz's full name.
Discography 10 inch LP series
12 inch L ...
*''
An Evening with Billie Holiday
''An Evening with Billie Holiday'' (MG C-144) is the second 10-inch LP studio album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released by Clef Records in 1953.
In 1956, when the 10-inch format was phased out, the album was reissued by Clef with the ...
'', Clef
*''
Jazz Giant
''Jazz Giant'' is a studio album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, released on Norgran in 1950, 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 Verv ...
'', Bud Powell, Norgran
*''
Lester Young Trio
''The Lester Young Trio'' and ''The Lester Young Trio No. 2'' are jazz trio albums by Lester Young with Nat King Cole and Buddy Rich, recorded in Hollywood, California, in March–April 1946, with the first four tracks being released in 1951.
Re ...
Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio
''Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio'' is a 1954 studio album by Lester Young, accompanied by Oscar Peterson's working trio of the time (featuring Ray Brown and Barney Kessel), plus drummer J. C. Heard. The music on this album was origin ...
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
*''
Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington
''Oscar 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 Pla ...
Piano Interpretations by Bud Powell
''Piano 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.
The album was re-issued on LP by Ver ...