Trading Eights, The Faces of Jazz
Wood engraved portraits of jazzmen by James G. Todd Jr.
Essay by Ted Gioia, Jazz Critic and Historian
Poem by Dana Gioia, Poet and Former NEA Chairman
Out of Print
2016 Fine Press Book Association Book Review
Trading Eights, The Faces of Jazz is an exploration into jazz culture, where the music is played, and those who played it so well. Jazz is improvisation, and this edition brings forth that same spontaneity in portraying the smoky back rooms where jazzmen were kings. Deeply personal, it shares a vision of this unique style of music through the eyes of an artist, music historian and poet.
Paying homage to a quintessential American style of music, known for its spontaneity and improvisation, this edition blends evocative jazzmen portraiture with new and highly personal characterizations of the music. Jazz is embodied music. Here you will find portraits of eight iconic jazz figures, engraved by James G. Todd Jr., an innovator in the field of wood engraving. Accompanying these penetrating engravings are words from jazz pianist and writer Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz, and poetry from his brother Dana Gioia, poet and former Chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts. Wood engraver Richard Wagener has printed each portrait from the original blocks.
Trading Eights, The Faces of Jazz is sixty-four pages and measures 9 inches by 14 inches. The typefaces are Ehrhardt and Janson, cast in lead by Patrick Reagh. The text is printed by Richard Wagener and Patrick Reagh. The binding is by Lisa Van Pelt with French Chagreen quarter goatskin, and with blue-black and grey paste papers she designed in her studio in Philo, California.
Trading Eights, The Faces of Jazz is co-published in one state, in an edition of fifty-five, by Richard Wagener of Mixolydian Press and David Pascoe of Nawakum Press. Forty copies are for sale and signed by the author, poet, and artist.
