Freedom, Rhythm and Sound

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A new flexibound edition of a Soul Jazz Records classic publication.

This is a unique collection of cover artwork of revolutionary jazz released in the USA in the 1970s, a time of great political and social importance for African-American artists. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and John Coltrane loom large as self-determination, economic power and musical freedom led to artists finding new paths – both musical and economic. Away from the mainstream, many of these musicians chose to ‘take control’ of their economic worth by recording, releasing and distributing their own material. Thirty years later and these artefacts are a striking reflection of the time, pre-desktop publishing, and pre-internet, these small-run (sometimes as low as 500 copies), self-made sleeves are as iconic and historically important as the revolution of D.I.Y. culture that sprang out of punk. Soul Jazz Records have produced many releases relating to this music and this book is the first ever collection of this amazing artwork. It comes with a large introduction contextualizing the music and artwork and relating how the music came about along with interviews with many of the people involved. There is also a CD/LP released by Soul Jazz Records to coincide with the deluxe book, featuring many of the artists that appear in the book.