Best artwork for listening space

I have about a dozen old beer lights (they all work) hanging on the walls plus old metal signs, mirrors and other alcohol related items scattered around the room. Kind of nice shutting the room lights off and turning a few signs on while listening to tunes. When it gets a little smokey, reminds me of sitting in a bar or club listening to a band.
 
20180811_140448.jpg
Not hanging yet. But, a gift from my lovely girlfriend. Me likes green and music. Only canvas, no glass front art on the walls for me.
 
Soliciting ideas and photos of what you all might have for music or movie related artwork in your listening space.
What are some of the classics one should have on the wall for street cred?

We all have our preferences, but I currently have two pieces of artwork adorning the walls of my listening area. The first is a hand signed 1961 Leroy Neiman serigraph of "The Stags Head" - a Dublin Pub. This is early Neiman, more subtle and subdued than the bolder, brighter primary colors most people associate with Neiman. It's not music related, but I think it goes well with the rest of the decor:

Boston.jpg


The second piece, directly to the right of my listening chair, is definitely music related. It's the official gig poster from a Pearl Jam concert at the Rose Garden in Portland, OR. It's definitely not the typical gig poster, but it's my personal favorite. It's a doomsday clock by the artist Emek. It's hard to get a decent photo of it this time of day - too many reflections. Anyway, here's rough idea of what it looks like (shot at a weird angle to minimize reflections):

Pearl_Jam_Poster.jpg


Photos don't really do it justice. It's hard to capture the depth, detail and luminosity of the print. It truly is a work of art by a talented artist.

Here's an animated GIF, showing some of the detail, from the artists's web site:

pearl_jam_doomsdayclock_emek.gif


My son and I arrived at the show about 45 minutes before the opening act. We always get some merch at every show we attend, usually shirts, sometimes gig posters - if they are exceptional. Well, this one was definitely excepptional. We both spotted it right away, and even though it cost about 2x the average gig poster, I bought two without hestitation, one for each of us. Since we had time, I carried them back to my car and laid them flat in the trunk so they wouldn't get wrinkled or dog eared. By the time I returned to the venue entrance, the poster was sold out. A couple days after the show, I picked up a couple of frames and we have both had them hanging on our walls since.

They do crop up on eBay from time to time, but the going rate is pretty high for samples in mint or near mint condition, but consider it an investment. It was a limited edition print and will likely continue to appreciate - like any desirable piece of fine art. Plus it's just cool to look at.
 
IIRC some of the covers for CTI LP's were also released and sold as posters. A lot of CTI's cover art was especially nice.
 
Pardon my ignorance, but what/who is CTI?

CTI, Creed Taylor Incorporated. It was a well known Jazz label.

From Wikipedia:
CTI Records (Creed Taylor Incorporated) is a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Its roster of
artists included George Benson, Bob James, Walter Wanderley, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, and Deodato. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, then the label went independent in 1970. Its first album release was Wes Montgomery's A Day In The Life in 1967. The latest new release, by the CTI Jazz All-Star Band, was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2009, but released only in Japan in November 2010 on multiple formats.

Kudu Records, CTI's sister label, was launched in 1971 and was oriented towards soul jazz, featuring releases by Grover Washington, Jr.; Esther Phillips; Hank Crawford; Johnny Hammond; Grant Green; Joe Beck; Lonnie Smith; and Idris Muhammad.

Salvation Records was a subsidiary label which released 10 albums during its existence, including material by Roland Hanna, Johnny Hammond, Gábor Szabó, Airto, the New York Jazz Quartet, and, in the 1990s, Faith Howard.[1]

Greenestreet (which featured albums by Jack Wilkins, Claudio Roditi, Les McCann) and Three Brothers (which featured releases by Cassandra Morgan, The Clams, Lou Christie, and Duke Jones) were also short-lived labels affiliated with CTI.
 
I have a small collection of framed George Maas Mercury album covers in the room where I have the bulk of my LP, one being this:

23ef1af0de5c5f3baf4eadc342500c71--record-art-retro-illustration.jpg


In that same room I have a framed LP of Roberts Crumb's cover for 'Cheap Thrills' because that's about as close as I'm going to get to owning an original Crumb work.
I also have a poster from Ravinia Festival since I live about 6 blocks from the venue. They've been doing posters since the early 1900's and there is some really beautiful stuff, like this one (I don't have this one but would like to):

rav-1919020.jpg


In the listening room I have photos shot by my wife and Ansel Adams. Also a painting by a Russian painter Boris Anisfeld. But in general I don't listen to music about stereo equipment and don't hang stereo themed artwork either.

Everybody's different.
 
Last edited:
Play classical only on turntable system. Use simple mirror which gives dimension and interesting light to operating table, especially at night with indirect lighting...Pleasing effects...Mirror..jpg
 
CTI, Creed Taylor Incorporated. It was a well known Jazz label.

From Wikipedia:
CTI Records (Creed Taylor Incorporated) is a jazz record label founded in 1967 by producer/A&R manager Creed Taylor. Its roster of
artists included George Benson, Bob James, Walter Wanderley, Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, and Deodato. Initially, CTI was a subsidiary of A&M Records, then the label went independent in 1970. Its first album release was Wes Montgomery's A Day In The Life in 1967. The latest new release, by the CTI Jazz All-Star Band, was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2009, but released only in Japan in November 2010 on multiple formats.

Kudu Records, CTI's sister label, was launched in 1971 and was oriented towards soul jazz, featuring releases by Grover Washington, Jr.; Esther Phillips; Hank Crawford; Johnny Hammond; Grant Green; Joe Beck; Lonnie Smith; and Idris Muhammad.

Salvation Records was a subsidiary label which released 10 albums during its existence, including material by Roland Hanna, Johnny Hammond, Gábor Szabó, Airto, the New York Jazz Quartet, and, in the 1990s, Faith Howard.[1]

Greenestreet (which featured albums by Jack Wilkins, Claudio Roditi, Les McCann) and Three Brothers (which featured releases by Cassandra Morgan, The Clams, Lou Christie, and Duke Jones) were also short-lived labels affiliated with CTI.

Thanks. Not my preferred genre, so I'd never heard of CTI or Creed Taylor.
 
That's OK grasshopper. One day you'll hear a Jazz tune that captivates you. After that it's all down hill.:D

I've had a copy of Bubeck's Time Out for almost 40 years. Does that count? Take Five was the theme song for a local late night program called Night Beat with Marty McNeely on WGN out of Chicago when I was a kid. Even as a child, I recognized that that song had a smooth, mellow coolness about it.

To steer this back on topic, the cover art on Time Out is some of the coolest ever:

1brubeckoutoftime.jpg
 
Last edited:
How about this from CTI?
41fd2ibYnCL.jpg


One of the major things about the entire Time Out LP was it's use of non-standard time signatures. Take Five is in 5/4 time.
 
Back
Top Bottom