He has no face, just a bald white head and raised arms, and the whole band moves around him. Ray Ventura's Collégiens made their first record, for Columbia, in October 1928, recorded for Odéon from 1929 and signed with Decca in 1931. The notation "la Martinière .32" in the top-left corner of the lithograph points to 1932.
Designer unknown.
On the poster
A near-abstract white figure stands at the centre, arms raised in a conductor's gesture, legs planted wide. Behind it a crowd of white line-drawn jazz musicians fills the gradient ground: brass, banjo, double bass, tuba and rhythm section in a loose arc. The colour runs from deep burgundy-rose at the top to pale apricot at the foot. Stepped vermilion capitals with a black shadow read "RAY VENTURA".
Condensed black type below reads "ET SES COLLEGIENS" (and his Collégiens), and spaced capitals at the foot read "SUR DISQUES DECCA EXCLUSIVITE" (on Decca records, exclusive).
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.

