Byard Lancaster – It’s Not Up To Us album art
Contributed by Florian Hardwig on Oct 31st, 2025. Artwork published in
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It’s Not Up to Us is the debut album by Pennsylvanian saxophonist/flautist Byard Lancaster (1942–2012). Recorded in 1966, it came out in 1968 as one of the first releases by Vortex, a sublabel of Atlantic Records dedicated to jazz.
Artwork by Marvin Israel, with photography by Michael Wilderman. The title typeface is Photo-Lettering’s Halloween. Read more about its origins in last year’s post.
On the back, the religious statement by Lancaster is set in all-caps Lightline Gothic. “Stereo 2003” uses Neuland licht, and the track list and credits are in Helvetica. The Vortex logo (not part of this design) features Futura Black.
