B-flat : 1940s to 1970s Jazz Cover Art as Expression of Culture and Freedom
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2021
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Abstract
As the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 has shown racial equality is still just a dream of the United States. The topic of black liberation and the cry for racial equality has been a common theme in the music of many African American artists for centuries. Especially during the civil rights movement, many black musicians started speaking up in a demand for social justice. The aim of this research is to determine whether the topics discussed on jazz albums between the 1940s and 1970s are re- flected in the respective cover design. Based on a review of the literature on African American history the paper firstly gives an insight into jazz history and what it meant to be a black musician during the time when jazz reached its peak in popularity. The thesis proceeds to analyse cover designs done by white as well as black designers to determine how the typical jazz look was achieved. It becomes clear, that designs were done by black artists only make up a small proportion of jazz album cover art. On this basis, it becomes visible that most cover art has been designed purely for the aesthetic. Furthermore, it is notable, that, for the most part, the African American identity of the musicians was not a subject in the cover art