Alexander Jarman

Free Action

Alexander Jarman
Free Action

This week's featured album art comes from the German label MPS, the first to exclusively release jazz music in that country. Pianist Wolfgang Dauner, known for his onstage antics, created the album art for his own Free Action (1967). It was Gigi Berendt (wife of MPS producer Joachim Berendt) that steered the bold aesthetic vision of the record label, and we'll have more posts on her album artwork in the coming months. For Free Action, she served as designer, taking Dauner's painting and stretching it across both the front and back covers, making for a beautiful reason to open the gatefold album all the way.

The title track, Sketch Up and Downer, is listed below.