Paolo Parisi – författare

'My music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being...' John Coltrane rose from a hard and impoverished childhood in North Carolina to become one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. From session musician to band member of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, his raw talent and passion for experimentation inaugurated a new movement in music. Positioned at the beating heart of the 50s and 60s jazz world, Coltrane and his quartet created some of the most innovative and expressive music of the age, including the hit album My Favorite Things and the landmark work A Love Supreme. Juxtaposing scenes from Coltrane's personal life - his military career, addictions, political activism and love affairs - against snapshots of his major recordings, Coltrane evokes an extraordinary life and the momentous historical events that formed its backdrop. It is a graphic novel that echoes his work in its structure and style, and forms a testament to a pioneer and legend, whose music continues to inspire to this day.

Cool, talented and transgressive, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s life is just as fascinating as the work he produced.Delve into 1980s New York as this vivid graphic novel takes you on Basquiat’s journey from street-art legend SAMO to international art-scene darling, up until his sudden death. Told through cinematic scenes, this is Basquiat as seen through the eyes of those who knew him, including his father, Suzanne Mallouk, Larry Gagosian and, most importantly, the man himself. Basquiat is a moving depiction of a troubled artist’s life for those interested in both the art and the man who made it.

From his boyhood days spent drawing compulsively through his tragic death, the trajectory of Keith Haring’s life is a story of incredible achievement, luck, opportunity, and extraordinary commitment. This graphic novel looks at every stage of that life, exploring his early influences, the roots of his activism, and his close friendships with other artist contemporaries. It shows readers what it was like to be part of New York City’s vibrant downtown art scene in the 1980s—the nightclubs, art openings, the rise of hip-hop—and how world events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall; the escalation of the nuclear arms race; apartheid; and the dawn of the climate crisis played into his work. They’ll learn how Haring’s own battle with AIDS fueled his advocacy for education and research, and they’ll get to know the figures who were most influential to his work— from Warhol to Basquiat, Fab Five Freddy to Madonna.Packed with key cultural reference points as well as the artist’s own reflections, this graphic biography makes for compulsive, eye-opening reading.