Mambo for Kittens

Music critic Dan Armonaitis: Sound Observations: I’ve been looking after a jumpin’, rockin’, screamin’ cat

"Having volunteered to take care of a kitten for a friend who was traveling, I thought the feline might provide a muse as I struggled to come up with something to write about for this column. But every time I tried to focus on a possible topic, she’d hop in my lap and distract me with her soft fur, warm purr and all-around tenderness. As the clock pushed toward midnight before the column’s deadline, I wondered if that darn cat was on the verge of causing me to go to work the next morning empty-handed.

"But just as everything seemed hopeless, the kitty jumped off the couch and slowly walked away. The next thing I know, I look up and she’s crawling across the top of a high back chair during one of her mischievous jaunts toward the spiral staircase in my living room.

"At that precise moment, I found what I’d been looking for. Marrakesh, the kitten, had provided a muse after all. Hanging right in the pathway that the kitty took, I have a framed copy of a 1955 RCA Victor album called Mambo for Cats that features fascinating abstract artwork by renowned commercial illustrator Jim Flora. I purchased the LP for 50 cents at a garage sale nearly two decades ago solely on the strength of its eye-catching cover. I had no idea what the music would sound like, but, at that moment, I really didn’t care.

"It turns out the album is full of some amazing instrumental Latin jazz performed by orchestras led by seminal musicians Damirón, Don Elliott, Tony Martinez, Noro Morales, Perez Prado and Al Romero."

Flora tattoo #5 (and 6, 7, 8, etc.)

We've posted a series of photos of Floraphiles sporting skin art. We neglected this one—actually more than one—sent by Kelly Kimball in 2010. Multiple camera angles required to view the entire anatomical exhibition:

As best we can discern, the details are derived from Mambo for Cats, the Little Man Press, and The FCC's Expanding Demanding Universe, though there might be other sources.

If you missed our prior Flora skin art posts:

Fresh Ink and Flora tattoo #4
Bix, birthday boy
Fresh ink and Flora tattoo #2
Demonstrated commitment!

The Miraculous Mambo Returns!

In 2012 we sold our 200th and final oversized Mambo For Cats screen print, the last of a limited edition produced by Aesthetic Apparatus of Minneapolis in 2006. Almost immediately, a legion of Floraphiles—especially those fond of felines and Latin terpsichore—began clamoring for this work to be restored to our catalog. The nature of limited editions precludes us from issuing the work in an identical (or even comparable) format. Two hundred hand-numbered, Flora family-authenticated, 20"-square Mambo screen prints (and two dozen proofs) exist. There won't be any more. Want one? You'll have to search on the secondary market—which means find someone who bought one and wants to sell it. We don't control that market, and price is determined by supply and demand.

But we do control the underlying image, and limited edition print protocols permit us to issue the work in an altered format. Consider it done. To celebrate the publication of The High Fidelity Art of Jim Flora, our fourth anthology—and one which specifically features all of Flora's known album covers—we've revived Mambo for Cats. This week we're launching an edition of 200 hand-numbered, 11-1/2"-square, archival-quality fine art prints. It's about 40% smaller than the screen print, and is produced on different paper with different inks via an entirely different printing process (inkjet, or giclée). The giclée image is slightly smaller than a 12" LP cover in order to accommodate a 3/4" margin on an untrimmed 13" x 19" sheet of 310g Hahnemühle stock. (A smaller margin would make matting problematic.) One other significant difference: the screen print was on cream-colored stock; the giclée stock is white.

Upon learning about the new Mambo edition, ears began to perk up in the Flora community:

We also offer a Mambo mini—a 7"-square archival quality print. This is an open edition, meaning the prints are not numbered nor is the edition limited. To date we've sold about 150 minis.

We can't guarantee these Mambo kitties will have nine lives, but for now they're happy to embark on their third.

Mambo for Cake

Someone who co-admins this blog recently had a birthday and his girlfriend concocted the above cake (based, of course, on this.) The (edible) elements were commissioned from a designer on Etsy and meticulously assembled by wondergal Beth Sorrentino on a chocolate cake she baked. The cake was presented to the surprised Flora archivist at Café Frida in New York. After dozens of cameras (including that of Otis Fodder, above) documented the delicacy, it was summarily disassembled with knives and forks.

Beth confides: although the original RCA Victor album was a 12" LP, the cake replicates the rare (in fact, never seen) 10" version.

Flora Mambo font

New from P22 Type Foundry:

Based on playful hand-lettering from the 1955 Jim Flora Mambo For Cats RCA Victor album cover, the set includes "Flornaments," consisting of 72 miniature figure icons (dingbats) from Flora artworks. Samples:

Meow! Introducing the Mambo Mini

Our large (20" x 20") Mambo For Cats limited edition screen print is almost sold out. We're now offering a miniature (7" x 7") giclée open edition print of this renowned Flora 1955 RCA Victor LP cover. At $25.00, it's a great alternative for those on a limited budget—or with limited wall space.

Iz pussyfootin on ur Floraz, hiping new boook

Takashi Okada of Tokyo alerts us that volume 2 of his kitty-themed LP sleeve anthologies will be published imminently. The cover (above) features — well, it doesn't quite feature Flora's Mambo For Cats, but the artwork does play a "supporting role." The photographer is apparently distracting the cover model with a cheezburger.

WFMU art benefit

WFMU, our favorite free-form, listener-sponsored radio station, is holding a benefit art sale. Participating artists include Cindy Sherman, James Siena, Jad Fair, and others. The only deceased contributing artist is Jim Flora, whose 1955 Mambo For Cats LP cover Barbara and I adapted for this limited edition fine art print. The edition of 15 was donated; all proceeds from sales benefit non-profit WFMU.

猫ジャケ 素晴らしきネコードの世界

Japanese TV stars use odd commodities for dislodging food particles.

the kontinuing KittyGate kronicles ...

Jim Flora ink

Since early 2006, Jim Flora Art has partnered with a hip Minneapolis screen printing shop called Aesthetic Apparatus. Dan Ibarra and Mike Byzewski of AA first produced a Mambo For Cats edition of 200, then a Pete Jolly Duo edition of 125. Both prints featured classic Flora 1955 RCA Victor LP covers. A month ago we launched the Primer for Prophets series.

JFA didn't just hire these guys off a Google search—besides their meticulousness and penchant for perfection, the AA team are Floraphiles eager to continue producing new Flora screen print projects. They are also NICE. We like NICE, and we prefer working with NICE.

Here's a video clip of Dan and Mike at work (on a non-Flora project). Their job sounds tortuous.

HT: the so-nice Sara Soskolne

Mambo print hits milestone

Jim Flora Art LLC recently sold #100 of the Mambo For Cats limited edition screen print. As originally announced, the first 100 prints (of 200 produced) were sold for $150/ea., with the caveat that prices would be increased as stock was depleted.

JFA is now releasing a block of 25 more prints at $175/ea. The 1955 illustration originally appeared on a 12" x 12" RCA Victor LP cover, but the print measures an outsized 20" x 20". The edition was produced using three acrylic screen printing inks meticulously matched to Flora's original colors on archival 100-pound off-white cover stock. All prints are numbered and authenticated.

If your budget is limited but you'd still like a Jim Flora LP cover in a 20" x 20" archival screen edition, the Pete Jolly Duo print (also featuring a 1955 RCA Victor illo) sells for $125. (Price applies to #2-51 of the print run of 125, after which—well, you know the drill).

The Flora Files

Artifact from the archives: 1954 RCA Victor requisition order for the {ahem!} legendary Mambo For Cats album cover illustration. The work was commissioned by label art director—and longtime Flora buddy—Robert M. Jones, who signed the PO (fee unspecified). The finished sleeve encased a 12" slab of vinyl, we seem to recall.

This iconic Flora design was featured in The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora, and has recently been marketed as a t-shirt, a fridge magnet, and a fine art silk-screen print. It was also featured full-page in Eric Kohler's 1999 book In The Groove: Vintage Record Graphics 1940-1960 (Chronicle), although the colormatching is inexact. Copies of the original LP fetch beaucoup bucks on eBay. Oh, and it was an alt-universe postage stamp, too.

It's a Flora World. We just live in it.

The Flora Juggernaut appears unstoppable. Our new book, The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora, now in its 15th printing since publication a fortnight ago, leapfrogged two Harry Potter totboilers to perch Kong-like atop the New York Times Best-Seller list. Statues of the artist are currently being commissioned in his birthplace of Bellfontaine, Ohio, and in Rowayton, Connecticut, his adopted hometown. Premiere editions of the new U.S. Postal Service's Mambo For Cats first-class stamp became sold-out collector's items upon first day of issue.

Unfortunately, all has not gone smoothly: witness the crushing disappointment of thousands who purchased the Jim Flora Goats 'n Boats 2007 Hunk-a-Monka Wall Calendar. The calendar was discovered to be defective, with August preceding March, the June grid listing nine Sundays, and November—well, it was there when we sent files to the printer. Refund checks are in the mail. We apologize for the misprints and are working to improve our calendars to 99% accuracy by 2012. Meanwhile, please stay on the line. Your call is very important to us.

And now a message from our sponsor ...

Flora + cats + the mambo = a 1955 record cover that bags beaucoups bucks on eBay and nobody even cares if there's a disc inside because they aren't bidding for the music. We can't sell you copies of this rare LP, but if you'd like a 20" x 20" limited edition, numbered, archival, acrylic silk-screen print of this iconic Flora design, click here. If you don't want it on your wall, but prefer it on your chest, you can wear it by clicking here. And if you don't wear art but your appliances do, click here.

If you don't like cats, make nice with the doggie:

But beware of this guy: