Our fourth Jim Flora anthology is officially available today.
Our first book, The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora (2004), featured Flora's known album covers. Since that book's publication, more vintage covers have been found, as well as the artist's rough drafts and rejected illustrations. The Mischievous Art went through two editions, but is now out of print, highly sought and available only at high prices through rare-book sellers. So we decided to compile a complete collection of Flora record covers (including recent discoveries) and unpublished sketches in one volume, augmented by music images not included in previous volumes. The High Fidelity Art of Jim Flora is the definitive anthology of the maestro's visual compositions, reflecting jazz, classical, and Latin music. Regarding his jam-packed canvases Flora once said he "couldn't stand a static space." There's nothing static about the images in The High Fidelity Art: they wail, dance, bounce, and swing from the chandeliers. They hit notes that shatter glass. This is art to which you can tap your toes and snap your fingers. Flora had a knack for grooving with a paintbrush.
The book features a 1998 interview with Flora which I conducted at his home on Bell Island, in Rowayton CT, just a few months before he passed away from stomach cancer. The interview has not been previously published. We also obtained from the Flora family previously unpublished photos of Jim and rare visual artifacts.
The book is published by Fantagraphics, who have created a spate of High Fidelity Art links for your web perusal:
> YouTube video <
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