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[Text by Clifford Allen]
In 1966, producer Alan Bates spearheaded a series of avant-garde jazz releases for the Fontana label
(both Dutch and UK imprints), now prized by collectors not only for the fact that they document crucial
years in the music (1962-66), but for their beautiful and unique color lithography by Dutch pop artist
and lithographer Marte Röling. Röling's covers are fanciful renditions of the artists' heads, filled with
whimsical cutaways showing the machinations of the jazzman's mind (Tchicai's, on Mohawk, includes group
protests and a saxophone; Marion brown has numerals and valves). The lithographs themselves were culled
from photographs of the artists by Guy Kopelowicz, Ray Ross and others. The sessions' origins are quite
varied; live concerts make up a few of the dates, others were culled from the artists' own tapes. Two
sessions are reissues of material originally released on Riverside in the US (George Russell's The Outer View
and Rod Levitt's Dynamic Sound Patterns). Though the original series was short-lived, reissues have been produced
in Japan, as well as collected on the Arista-Freedom and Black Lion labels - albeit with different cover art.
At least three UK editions are without Röling's cover art. The remaining UK pressings do have Röling artwork. Communication, Mohawk, Rufus, and Jazz Realities have been confirmed as having both black-label English editions and blue-label Dutch pressings.
 Mohawk 681 009 |  Consequences 681 013 |  Tears for Dolphy 688 310 ZL |
 Anatomy of a South African Village 688 314 |  Touching 688 608 |  Nefertiti The Beautiful One Has Come 688 609 |
 Dynamic Sound Patterns 688 706 |  Jazz Realities 881 010 |  Communication 881 011 |
 Juba Lee 881 012 |  Rufus 881 014 |  Urge 883 910 |
 Blood 883 911 |  Look to the Black Star 888 311 |  The Outer View 888 705 |
 Spirits 688 608 |
This list is maintained by Andrey Henkin. Please send comments, corrections or additions to ahenkin@amscan.org.