Jazz Heritage Center Presents The Photography of Herman Leonard

Herman Leonard's first show in San Francisco in twenty years

Exhibit celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month

Free Exhibit on Display: April 5th - May 16th

PUBLIC CELEBRATION: APRIL 7TH - 6:30pm

(San Francisco) -- The Jazz Heritage Center (JHC), San Francisco's only permanent complex dedicated to jazz art and jazz history, announced today a special exhibit for April's Jazz Appreciation Month: Jazz Giants: The Photography of Herman Leonard--a collection of some of the greatest jazz photographs ever taken by one of America's greatest living photographers. The show is Leonard's first in San Francisco since he briefly lived in the city twenty years ago.

The exhibit includes more than forty classic black and white photographs of jazz legends, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Billie Holliday and Thelonious Monk. The images will be on exhibit April 5th -- May 16th, 2010 in the JHC's Lush Life Gallery and in the JHC's Koret Heritage Lobby outside the entrance to Yoshi's Jazz Club and Restaurant. (1320/1330 Fillmore Street, San Francisco.) Most of the photos in the exhibit will be available for sale through the JHC and Herman Leonard Photography, LLC.

“There is no better way to appreciate jazz and its role in American culture and history than through Herman Leonard's photographs," said Peter Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, Jazz Heritage Center. “Every one of these photos is a masterpiece. We are very proud to bring this incredible exhibit to the Fillmore District, and the entire Bay Area."

The Jazz Giants exhibition is a photographic journey through the golden years of jazz, particularly in New York and Paris during the 1940s and 1950s. Leonard's friendships with jazz greats allowed him to vividly capture the magical moments during this critical era in jazz history. Focusing on the life and times of famed artists such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk among countless others, this exhibition features a selection from Leonard's extensive photographic history. Herman Leonard's work is also currently on display at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

“I want to show jazz artists in the best possible light, to tell their truth but to tell it in terms of beauty." said Leonard, who moved to New Orleans after living in San Francisco from 1989-1990. “Like my friend Tony Bennett sings, I left my heart in San Francisco and I'm so glad that after 20 years my work is being shared with the people of that great city, where I spent a short, but important part of my life."

Sponsors: This exhibition is sponsored by Jazz Cellars Winery, and is presented in collaboration with Herman Leonard Photography, LLC.

Overview of the Jazz Heritage Center (JHC)

The Jazz Heritage Center is the only cultural and educational complex dedicated to the long history of Jazz in San Francisco and the Fillmore District. Located within the new Fillmore Heritage Center in the heart of the Fillmore District, the non-profit Jazz Heritage Center is part jazz museum, part jazz cultural center, and part jazz art gallery. By showcasing art and historical exhibitions, concerts, films and youth programming, the JHC is working to preserve and promote jazz, an American national treasure, while celebrating its presence as an active, living art form in San Francisco and beyond. The JHC includes the Lush Life Gallery, the JHC Public Lobby, the Take Five Gift Shop, and, soon, the JHC Screening and Presentation Room.