Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk 1969 Jazz Festival Jumbo Globe Concert Poster....

Description

Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk 1969 Jazz Festival Jumbo Globe Concert Poster. A large, colorful cardboard advertising poster for the Morgan State University Jazz Festival in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday & Sunday, June 21-22, 1969. A stellar line-up accentuates this big window card with seven colors to get the message across: black and white plus Day-Glo pink, yellow, blue, green and red.

Six big stars also have larger-than-usual photographs: Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Thad Jones & Mel Lewis, Nina Simone, Dave Brubeck, and Booker T. & the MG's (comprised of Booker T. Jones on keyboards, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums). A terrifically appealing concert poster, and the only one we've ever seen, let alone offered for sale.

Measures 22" x 35 ¼" and grades to restored Very Good condition. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: Miles Davis had recorded In a Silent Way earlier this year, and it would be released by Columbia Records the following month. It marked the beginning of Davis's "electric" period, and is regarded today as one of his greatest and most influential works.

The legendary Thelonious Monk had been Miles' Columbia labelmate and even shared his record producer, Teo Macero, up until the previous year. He did not release an album in 1969 or 1970, having moved on from Columbia.

Hugh Masekela, "the father of South African jazz," is top-billed on Saturday, but was misspelled with an "e" missing from his name. He had enjoyed the #1 pop hit "Grazing in the Grass" the year before.

Booker T. & The MG's, the Stax Records star musicians from Memphis, had enjoyed two Top 10 pop hits earlier this year culled from movie soundtracks, "Hang 'Em High" and "Time Is Tight."

Nina Simone released two albums on RCA Records this year, Nina Simone and Piano and To Love Somebody. The former LP carried more traditional fare and the latter more contemporary. Selections on To Love Somebody included covers of the Bee Gees' title track, Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'," Traditional/Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!," Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," and an original song called "Revolution" that had enough similarities to the Beatles' song of the same name that John Lennon considered it somewhat of an ‘answer song' to his own tune, and commented positively on it in Rolling Stone.

Dave Brubeck needs no introducing. Gerry Mulligan, listed right below Dave, was now playing the famous saxophone part on Brubeck's iconic "Take Five," which Paul Desmond had played on the original recording.

The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra is interestingly referred to on the poster as the "Mel Lewis-Thad Jones Band." Jones was usually billed first because he was one of the all-time great jazz trumpet soloists, and Lewis was a drummer. Wikipedia states, "The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra was arguably the most influential big band since the swing era."

(Rahsaan) Roland Kirk was a jazz multi-instrumentalist whose 1969 album was called Volunteered Slavery, partly recorded at his Newport Jazz Festival appearance the year before. It included covers of Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" and Bacharach & David's "I Say a Little Prayer."

Young-Holt Unlimited was headed by Isaac "Redd" Holt on drums and Eldee Young on bass – formerly members of the Ramsey Lewis Trio – and scored a #3 pop hit in early 1969 with "Soulful Strut."

George Benson placed his first album on Billboard magazine's LP chart this year with Tell It Like It Is, his seventh album. Making a connection with others on this poster, that LP's lead-off track was "Soul Limbo" written by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and Benson had played in Miles Davis' band until just recently.

Condition details: Poster was once extensively damaged but has been professionally restored to replace missing cardboard in the corners, smooth out creases, fill in colors and replace missing letters (or blacken the lettering) here & there. The resulting jumbo Globe poster is not a stiff board, it's somewhat flimsy, but it's a multi-colored beauty that's difficult to tell where, or if, any of the Day-Glo colors were patched. This giant window card still has multiple surface creases, such as on Nina Simone's upper lip, Dave Brubeck's face, all around Thelonious Monk and all over Miles Davis. But they're essentially a non-issue once you stand a few feet back, just like all the condition issues and repair. Interestingly, the word "Love" or something similar was written below Dave Brubeck's photo, and for some reason never removed. Not for condition freaks; rather, for jazz music lovers and collectors who know they'll probably never see another one for sale.