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Claxton Jazz Life - New Edition Coming


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The 2008 Taschen edition has 552 pages, measures 10" x 14", and weighs ~9 lbs.

The earlier 2005 edition has 720 pages, measures 13" x 19", and weighs ~17 lbs. In addition to the deluxe edition, there was a "regular" version, which is unsigned, unnumbered, and does not have the clamshell case or prints. It's also considerably cheaper - $200 when first published, and it looks like copies can still be had for less than that. 

I haven't seen the 2008 edition, but I'm assuming that they reformatted or abridged the contents to fit into the lower page count. That's Taschen's usual practice when they republish one of their larger volumes in a smaller/less costly version. 

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RE ^ ; yes regular issue by Taschen is the same book; if you keep eyes open on line, can sometimes be acquired for less than $50 (it's the one earlier posters described as coming in a cardboard box with a plastic handle).  Due to weight, the shipping will cost can raise the cost substantially.

You can get a non-collectible copy of the German first edition (published by Burda) for $25 or less (all text in German).  The revised Taschen edition contains more photos and lacks some of the photos contained in the original.  I think some of the photographs which appeared in color in the Burda edition appear in b&w in the Taschen edition (and vice versa).  Also, the Taschen edition contains some photos that appeared in Claxton's "Jazz West Coast" (the 1955 portfolio published by Linear).  I am not familiar with later editions published by Taschen; currently Taschen offers a 600 page book for $39.95 with a multicolored jacket; smaller size than the 17 pounder.

Ultimately, it is quality, not quantity; that original Jazzlife by Burda was about 275 pages, one of the most collectible jazz books of them all.

Clayton's photos are so excellent; whatever one you get, you will enjoy it.  With the Taschen editions, you get get bonus of reading Berendt's text (unless you could read the original) + additional commentary.

Also, regarding "Jazz Giants"; "Jazz Optisch"; the great thing is you can pick up non collectible copies of those for under $10; "Jazz Giants" is available in the Billboard/Watson Guphill published edition very cheaply (the Japanese edition published by Shinko is the highly collectible one; the other editions may be advertised as with a "slipcase," but it is the Shinko edition in a hard slipcase and outer cardboard container that is collectible.  

"Pictorial History" did not make much of an impression on me (I need to revisit it); similar I thought, to "Black Beauty, White Heat", but not as artistic in its presentation.

Edited by bakeostrin
Add a bit about a couple of books.
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6 hours ago, Dave Garrett said:

I haven't seen the 2008 edition, but I'm assuming that they reformatted or abridged the contents to fit into the lower page count. That's Taschen's usual practice when they republish one of their larger volumes in a smaller/less costly version. 

This is what had me wondering too. I have seen other Taschen books in other fields where they added a smaller-sized, lower-priced edition later on but managed to include all the contents of the earlier one, except that it was downsized, e.g. changing the layout and fitting more photographs on one page. So I wonder what the extra contents of the 700-page editions (vs the 552-page editions) actually are - did they include more previously unseen photographs from that 1960 tour or did they include more West Coast pics by Claxton (which would not be quite as impressive because most of them have been out elsewhere)? And of course IMHO the 552-page editions are the best value by far - 20% less contents (containing what exactly?) but at a price which is only one fifth to one TWENTIETH of the larger editions (depending on which one you go for) is not a bad deal at all.

Re- "Pictorial History of Jazz": You have to consider the time this was first published. There was nothing like this anywhere - and not even for a very long time afterwards (the books by Gene Fernett were nice but narrower in scope). So this book IS a milestone IMO. Of course the focus is on documentary illustrations (which is fine in my book - i just LOVE "Swing Era New York", for example) and less so on art photography. But overall there is a place for all of these.

 

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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6 hours ago, Dave Garrett said:

The 2008 Taschen edition has 552 pages, measures 10" x 14", and weighs ~9 lbs.

The earlier 2005 edition has 720 pages, measures 13" x 19", and weighs ~17 lbs.

 

The currently listed 2016 printing has 600 pages and measures 24 x 33.6 cm (9.5"x13" according to amazon.com site) which is a wee bit smaller than the 2008 edition .

 

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