D2504

American Music

 Charlie Mingus & Thelonious Monk

Collins Cover Announcement 

JAZZ MUSICIANS

CHARLES MINGUS AND THELONIOUS MONK

This is the first of what I consider to be an extremely attractive set. The renditions of the musicians themselves and the background design and colors combine to make these COLLINS FDCs something special. Also I must admit that I used two different stamps in the series on each cover to continue my self-imposed policy of keeping the pace of yearly FDCs at a reasonable number. But...I also must admit that after looking at this Jazz set, the two stamp/two musician format turned out to be a very, very attractive COLLINS Cachet series. Needless to say, I'm very happy to offer this one now and the four others that will be ready in the near future.

Charles Mingus toured with the Big Band of Louis Armstrong. He also worked with Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charles Parker. As a "bassist", he developed a strong identity melding counter melodies and inner harmonies. He also was a Jazz composer and pianist. My cachet shows him playing the bass against a vibrant, colorful background that only watercolors could achieve.

Thelonious Monk was a brilliant, unorthodox pianist and composer. For years he was not accepted by the public, but during this period he was venerated and studied by fellow musicians. Finally the public at large realized just how great his talent was. His audacious musical ideas, dissonant chords and haunting melodies were unprecedented. While performing with the Cootie Williams Band, he wrote his most famous composition -- "Round Midnight". I considered various cachet ideas and I hope the "unorthodox" pose I chose would have made Thelonious smile. It's a direct overhead view looking straight down at him at the keyboard. The background colors I chose for Monk are somewhat muted and mysterious to convey his unprecedented and haunting contributions to the world of Jazz.

Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk come together for a perpetual Jazz duet on this COLLINS First Day Cover. You'll dig it. Item #D2504. $11.25.

Summer 2025 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 25 D2501 and D2504 — Jazz Musicians — Louis Armstrong & Coleman Hawkins (01) and Thelonious Monk & Charles Mingus (04). Three other Jazz covers are included free with the lot: (D2502, D2503, and D2505). This lot has a total of five Collins first day covers — 9/16/95

These covers, highlighting two amazing jazz musicians on each, are dynamic and colorful. D2501 has portraits of Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins, and D2504 portrays Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus.

Armstrong (affectionately known by the nickname "Satchmo") was noted for becoming "the beacon, the light in the tower, that helped the other musicians navigate the tricky waters of jazz improvisation." Hawkins was the very first artist to move the tenor saxophone from the reed section to the status of a solo instrument in jazz. He became a noted composer, and in 1939 he cut the record that was to become his definitive performance, "Body and Soul." Monk was a brilliant but unorthodox pianist and composer. Because he was unusual, it took a number of years for the public to acknowledge how great his talent was. However, he was venerated and studied by his fellow musicians. Mingus toured with the Big Band of Louis Armstrong. He also worked with Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Parker. He was a bassist and developed a strong identity melding counter melodies and inner harmonies. He was also a jazz composer and pianist.

The three covers which are complementary are still in stock and include: D2502 — James P. Johnson and Jelly Roll, D2503 — Chrlie Parker and Eubie Blake, and D2505 — John Coltrane and Erroll Garner. The essence of ja77 is truly captured in these hand-painted Collins J3Z7 Musicians covers, and the "mood" background colors set the stage for the individual portraits of the musicians. A truly marvelous set of five dramatic and dynamic covers.