Three jazz legends, stacked, in the July 1952 issue of Coda, Columbia's new release monthly. From the top:Harry James (trumpet)
Benny Goodman (clarinet)
Art Tatum (piano)
Each had a new LP that month: James with Soft Lights, Sweet Trumpet, Goodman's Let's Hear the Melody, and Art Tatum Concert.
As art director, Flora launched Coda in 1943, and provided most illustrations for the (largely classical music) monthly until he was named Sales Promotion Manager in 1945. This change of desk deprived him of artistic assignments. (Coda morphed into Disc Digest under new art director Robert M. Jones.)
In 1952, when Flora was a hustling freelancer, Columbia hired him to revive the publication. By then, Coda—in a downsized format—showcased the label's jazz, popular, and ethnic music roster. It lasted less than two years, by which time Flora had greatly expanded his client base. But because it was a music-related gig, he probably would have continued illustrating Coda as long as Columbia kept the monthly alive.
1 comment:
Flora said that he did not do likenesses, but those are clearly the hands of MechaTatum.
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