Fans of album cover art are in for a unique and entertaining experience — “Cover Story with Paul Morris” will debut on Jerry Jazz Musician on Tuesday, October 8. Morris is an avid Portland, Oregon collector who, in his words, will “share his enthusiasm for the artists who created album covers in the ‘40s and ‘50s.” In addition to being a collector of the art, he is a scholar of it…Here is a hint of what you will find in the first installment of “Cover Story,” in which Morris presents some of the great work of Alex Steinweiss, who is known as the father of the record album cover:

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        The Benny Goodman Sextet cover from 1945 is an example of Steinweiss’s early style, when the illustrator’s pen and brush were his main tools. He relied on flat fields of color and objects that symbolized or referred to the music. Here the instruments of the sextet and surrounded by café tables bearing bold letters. The striking Basie illustration shows clearly how these covers were printed with spot colors rather than four-color process colors. It was printed with three inks: black, blue, and red. The light pole is a recurring element in his drawings.

Check back on Tuesday, October 8 for the complete publication of “Cover Story, with Paul Morris: Volume 1”