Just some images of Jazz that are a little bit more intimate, hopefully a little more revealing about the making of the music than just a blowin' shot. --JK
Growing up in Boston, listening to Symphony Sid on the radio play Diz & Monk & using fake ID’s to get into jazz clubs like Storyville & Connolly’s: what a great introduction to jazz!
When I hit I New York City all the major clubs were up & running: the Five Spot, the Half Note, the Jazz Gallery, Slugs & the original Birdland with its seating for the passionate yet broke jazz fanatic---the Peanut Gallery.
In 1994, I was invited by Bill Warrell, founder of District Curators, a jazz arts presenter in Washington, D.C. to exhibit my work. My dearest friend Steve Schwartz (WGBH-FM, Boston ) had recently introduced me to Herman Leonard . I asked Herman if he would do a two man show with me, he agreed. Scott Schwartz (no relation to Steve), an archivist with the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, was at the opening. He asked me if I would like to set up an permanent on-going archive for my jazz photographs at the Museum.
The reception to the show & the invitation from the Smithsonian proved to me that the intimacy of this world I wanted to photograph was not through the performance but through access to the sound check & the rehearsal: that's where the lasting pictures would be.
To loosely quote Herman Leonard: “We are privileged to be allowed into this most intimate of areas, where the creative process can be witnessed”.
This is what interests me as a photographer: photographing the process of making the music/ this jazz music!!! All this time I was listening & learning about jazz but not taking any pictures. It was not until much later when I fully realized that whatever I do as a professional photographer; my true passion for the rest of my life/ my raison d'etre would be to photograph jazz.
When I have a really bad day, I put on a 50’s-ballad by Billie & try to remember that my collection of photographs, “ #628 ” , is sitting next to Herman Leonard’s boxes & on top of the many boxes of Duke Ellington’s thoughts scribbled on motel stationary, notes to Billy 9:30 PM, ideas for new music, etc.
Other AAJ Exhibits
Gallery '99 | Women in Jazz
Visit Jeff's website at http://www.klimanjazzphoto.com/
All photos copyright © Jeffrey Kliman. All Rights Reserved.
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