The flyer for Sunday's album cover exhibition at Lounge of III. courtesy Gerald Watson

by Giovanni Russonello

No doubt you know what it’s like: There’s an image on the cover of an album, and it’s striking. Maybe a streetscape or a tapestry or a shot of the band leader’s gaze, with bold lettering blazoned across the top.

You might have listened through that album so many times it won’t even play anymore without skipping; you might be able to sing every saxophone solo on there. But no matter how much you connect with the sounds of that record, you can’t escape the cover image — it’s as much a part of the listening experience as any melody or bass line.

It can almost feel unjust, how some photographer and some designer were arbitrarily handed such control over how we process and how we appreciate the art of someone like John Coltrane, or Charles Mingus, or Eric Dolphy. But there’s an excitement associated with having that extra level of artistry to contemplate. The best covers end up seeming absolutely perfect for the albums they represent, until we’re positive that there could be no better way to illustrate, say, “‘Round About Midnight.”

Gerald Watson describes himself as “a visual person” and a music freak, so he’s always felt a particular love for album art. That’s why the local arts advocate, marketing and design strategist and blogger decided to start up his “Classics” series.

For each iteration of “Classics,”Watson has installed a collection of album covers at U Street hangout and eatery Lounge of III. The first edition featured rap albums, then he moved on to soul, rock and reggae. On Sunday, he debuts the fifth and final installment: “Classics — JAZZ.”

Watson says that by ending on jazz, he’s bringing the series full circle. “It was just one of those things,” he told CapitalBop. “I was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna end on jazz because that’s kind of where it started from.’ And especially with hip-hop music, you know, the artists and producers actually sampling heavily from those cats — I wanted to highlight that. Some people are into jazz, some people aren’t. Some people know [jazz] because their favorite tracks are hip-hop-based.”

Sunday at 6 p.m., Lounge of III will become a full-on bop den, with the walls covered in LP art and jazz-inspired paintings from James Terell, a video of classic jazz greats, local DJ 2-Tone Jones spinning jazz tracks and jazz-inspired cocktails available at the bar.

“What the Classics is — there’s a lot of different things. You’re transported into this time capsule, so to speak, where you have so many different album covers around you that it’s kind of educational, where people are like, ‘Okay, well I haven’t really seen that before.’ There’s the music in the background, so you’re visually stimulated, you’re aurally stimulated,” Watson said. “There’s also a video [with] a montage of various album covers and interviews from jazz greats.”

Watson has been promoting the event with a series of interviews posted to his blog. Make sure to peep the most recent one, with Wayne Adams, who was the assistant of Reid Miles, the legendary cover artist for Blue Note Records.

Tickets to the event are free, and they’re still available. Make sure to grab yours here.

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“The Classics — JAZZ” is at Lounge of III at 1013 U St. NW, and runs from 6 p.m. to midnight on Sunday, Nov. 7.

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