The Jazz Loft Project, based at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, will host a celebration at the West End Wine Bar in Durham on Thursday, December 3, from 6 to 10 p.m. to mark the publication of The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965 and the launch of www.jazzloftproject.org. Author and Project Director Sam Stephenson will give a reading, answer questions, and sign books, followed by a performance by former jazz loft resident Ronnie Free and his Trio. This event is free and open to the public. Durham's The Regulator Bookshop, will be on site to sell copies of the book.

The Jazz Loft Project has worked for more than a decade to uncover the stories of a legendary NYC jazz haunt, at 821 Sixth Avenue. There, in a dilapidated, five-story loft building, some of the biggest names in jazz--Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Roland Kirk, Zoot Sims, and Bill Evans, among them--jammed with underground musicians and crossed paths with assorted other figures of the day. Photographer W. Eugene Smith lived in the building and, from 1957 to 1965, made approximately 4, 000 hours of recordings on 1, 741 reel-to-reel tapes and nearly 40, 000 photographs, the largest body of work in his career. Smith's opus has remained in archives until now.

Author Sam Stephenson has spent the past decade researching these materials and interviewing more than 300 people who experienced the loft scene firsthand. “This is gold as far as the history of the music goes, “ says trombonist Roswell Rudd. “This is one of the missing pieces of the jazz puzzle."

The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965 (Alfred A. Knopf, November 24, 2009) features over 200 images and extensive text about the people and events of the loft. The book has already received a starred review and Pick of the Week in Publishers Weekly, and the New York Times called it “the most chaotic and soulful gift book this year, no contest." The recently watched website, www.jazzloftproject.org, features streaming audio of Smith's recordings, photo galleries, biographies of more than 600 people who passed through the loft, an extensive timeline of events, and a blog with new information and stories updated regularly.

In conjunction with the book and website, a 10-part radio series will air on WNYC and NPR beginning in November and a traveling exhibition will open at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts in February 2010. The exhibit will come to Durham, to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, February 3--May 22, 2011.

For more information on the Jazz Loft Project, book, radio series, and exhibition, please visit jazzloftproject.org.

About Sam Stephenson

Sam Stephenson, director of the Jazz Loft Project at the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University, has been studying the life and work of Smith since 1997. He has authored two books on Smith, Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project (W.W. Norton & Company in association with the Center for Documentary Studies, 2001) and W. Eugene Smith (Phaidon 55, 2001), and curated a traveling exhibition of Smith's work organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. He is also working on a biography of Smith, to be written when the Jazz Loft Project is completed.

About The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

The Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University offers extensive programs and courses in the documentary arts: photography, film/video, audio, narrative writing, and other means of creative expression that capture and convey contemporary memory, life, and culture. From international awards to award-winning books, from exhibitions of new and established artists to nationally broadcast radio programs, from university undergraduate courses to popular continuing education institutes, attracting students from across the country--the Center for Documentary Studies is actively engaged in sharing documentary work with broad and diverse audiences and in educating students of all ages and levels of expertise.