This is easily my favourite record sleeve design without other collaborators. I had left Toronto for NC by this time so I wasn’t around to direct Corey Bowes’ photo shoot with Chris so I was a little anxious not knowing what I’d get. When I inserted the CD-R with the photos into the tray of my windtunnel G4 (it was 2007 LOL) I breathed a sigh of relief that I had beautiful, cohesive images to begin work with.
Corey captured the emotionally tentative vibe of Chris’ masterwork with images as experimental and exploratory as the performances. His indigo palette underscored the songs’ elegiac sadness in a way that hearkened back to Reid Miles’ iconic Blue Note sleeves. I didn’t have to do much grading to glue these stylish images together beautifully.
In hindsight, I might have simplified the collages, dropping an image or two to recognize I was working within those ridiculously tiny 4.75” CD panels. Corey’s more esoteric shots were a proverbial embarrassment of riches and I must have felt like wanted to include all of them.
Hopefully I made up for that overkill with the negative space on the inner sleeve. It helps that Chris is that rare client willing to trust (or is that indulge) my occasional minimalist tendencies.
I sincerely hope I get to lay out a 12” LP sleeve of this amazing album someday.
