R. Crumb's Early Jazz Greats Card Set. 

Of the three Crumb musical card sets, Early Jazz Greats contains perhaps the most impressive array of well-known characters from American musical mythology, whose contributions began in the early 1900s and continue to inform jazz today. Among the stellar members of this who’s who of jazz royalty are: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Mary Lou Williams, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Earl Hines, James P. Johnson, Joe “King” Oliver, Joe Venuti, Bennie Goodman and many more. All have concise bios; many have details about recording history, including labels. A set belongs in every jazz fan's home.

Crumb himself is widely known for his brilliant, ribald comix and salicious humor. But groove junkies know Crumb’s true love is early American music as evidenced by the output of the Cheap Suit Serenaders. Their three recordings, featuring Crumb and no-slouch-himself-underground-cartoonist-musical sawist Robert Armstrong, prove their love is not just academic. The records are lively and faithful treatments of classic early jazz, folk, ragtime and other early American styles -- even Hawaiian music -- that are clearly labors of love. 

More evidence of Crumb’s affinity for early American music are these three previously out-of-print card sets. Heroes of the Blues, Jazz Greats and Pioneers of Country Music were originally published in 1980 by Arhoolie Records. These sets were most recently reissued by Kitchen Sink Press in 2004 (blues) and 2005 (jazz & country). These are really nice, even more vivid than the originals, which command auction prices of $100 or more. 

All of the 108 cards in the three sets share one commonality, their awesome portraits. These amazing cards are unique and informative tributes to the cream of each genre’s seminal practicioners, each musician deftly and lovingly rendered with nobility and grace in full color by Crumb, himself an early American Music devotee.

The illustrations and bios are heartfelt and informative, but not sentimental. Crumb's sense of style is abundant in these sets. You could probably become a fashion legend with the cool threads worn by the players on these cards. And there are cool guitars, too, which aficionados will recognize.