Comments on: More Jazz Vinyl: Byrd, Trane, Book, Jackie

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:52:54 +0000

thanks Mattyman. I am learning each day.

By: Mattyman

Mattyman — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:55:28 +0000

Well Rudolf, of course Maarten is joking: the movie "Up!" indeed is a Russ Meyer production, but it was released in 1976; way, way later than Hubbard's "Goin' Up, Up, Up!". Of course as a tongue in cheek reference to your Byrd in Hand remark. And about Russ Meyer, this is how his work is described: "Meyer is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful low-budget sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and voluptuous women." I guess that the best European equivalent of his work would be the Tiroler adult films from the 70s ;-) And just in case you want to read more: click here. Totally off topic, but still fun! Mattyman, The Netherlands

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:18:56 +0000

who is Russ Meyer? Sorry for my ignorance!

By: maarten kools

maarten kools — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 10:27:39 +0000

and Hubbard’s ‘Goin up..up..up! is ofcourse a reference to Russ Meyer 🙂

By: Rudolf

Rudolf — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 07:28:50 +0000

when this album was issued, a frequently heard comment was on its equivocal title. Donald has his hands placed on his noble parts, whence “bird in hand” / Byrd in hand.

By: don-lucky

don-lucky — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:22:27 +0000

I just checked out your links Maarten. I love urban photography, and some of your frames remind me of a Chilean-born, New York-based writer, photographer and documentarian. You would definitely enjoy his work involving photographic documentation of American slums and decaying urban environments. Check out ‘the New American Ghetto’,’American Ruins’ or ‘Subway Memories’ if you get the chance… Some of those office interiors of yours also have a mid-century modern ‘Julius Shulman” quality to them as well. Not too shabby man !

By: maarten kools

maarten kools — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:07:35 +0000

as a non- new yorker i would love to know where for example ‘six pieces of silver’ or Goin’ up..(seagram building???) where taken…?

By: maarten kools

maarten kools — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:52:12 +0000

great story!! His photography IS unique in all the ways stated in the Jazz Times article,.. and in time his photographs will hang next to Ansel Adams, robert Frank and William Eggleston…
Mayby his Rolleiflex is still in use by a grandson..?
I keep jazz and photography seperated till now…
The only thing i can come up with is “something like F.Wolff…”,.. ha,ha.. something will come on my path eventually in a way i can make it mine…

Till then i work for dutch magazines and advertising..

here are two works i made with afriend under the pseudonym Vandenboeselaere.

http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=vandenboeselaere&filter=all&commit=Search

By: don-lucky

don-lucky — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 20:04:28 +0000

UPDATE on the Donald Byrd – Byrd In Hand Cover graciously provided by our good friend Larry Cohn:

“As far as the BLP 4019 cover photo is concerned, my explanation would be the following, based on my studies of the all-important timing of each step in the LP process: recording, approval & assigning of cat. #, mastering, test pressing, preparing art work of label, jacket & back liner; pressing release copies, fabricating finished jacket, scheduling of release date, actual release of album to the stores. Many shelved Blue Note titles failed at some point in this lengthy process, and it is the timing that determines the age/era of such things as cover design, labels, physical characteristic of the released disks (e.g., flat rim, dg, P, etc.).
So by my reckoning, BLP 4019 was recorded in May 1959 at Hackensack, two months before Rudy moved. However, the cover art would have been designed and executed later on. So the photo session for the cover could easily have been done by Wolff & Byrd at the new studio location in Englewood Cliffs. Byrd in Hand was not released until December 1959, so you can see that quite some time elapsed between the album’s starting point in May and its finish line in December. Blue Note did not scrupulously match the photographs for an album with the photos from that album’s recording session(s), so there is no reason that the cover shot had to have been made during the same time frame as when the music was recorded.”

Thanks again Larry !

By: don-lucky

don-lucky — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:50:11 +0000

That photo on the cover of BN 2057 (Blue Hour) is one of my favorites as well Blipp… That shot is taken from the corner in Rudy’s Englewood studio, and it never looked as uncluttered as it did that day I am sure! Today, Rudy has built a series of small infill recording booths all along the perimeter walls so you can’t see the exposed cinderblock as much, and the grand piano now sits in the centre of the studio. The only thing missing from this shot is the great wood framed cathedral ceiling above… As for Francis Wolff’s amazing Jazz photographs Maarten, I have often wondered about his technique myself as well so I did some digging for us and came across this quote from an article in Jazz Times…
“Wolff was not an available-light photographer, but he developed the use of auxiliary lighting that simulated the essential character of a jazz club’s spotlit atmosphere. What is marvelous here is that you can observe the evolution to perfection in his style.
We are treated to many pictures from the years of traditional jazz and early bebop where distracting backgrounds and flash-thrown shadows are a bit of a problem. With time, however, he arrived at his ultimate goal, where figures are suspended in deep black—in limbo, as cinema and video photographers would call it. Furthermore, because his electronic flash source is much more intense than club spots, the subjects are completely in focus since depth-of-field is large. But even more important than his superb use of state-of-the-art lighting was his ability to be “sufficiently unobtrusive” while using such generically obtrusive techniques. As a consequence, he was almost invariably able to capture a distinctly natural image of the musicians engaged in their craft. This, of course, is the goal of all jazz photographers; something that is much easier physically when using only existing light, but at the expense of a very narrow range of focus. Frank Wolff was a master at getting just the right balance within his style.”
-Excerpt from: The Blue Note Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff by Lee Tanner (Jazz Times May 2001)
…I picked up a used copy of ‘The Blue Note Years…The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff’, and wish I could have every shot framed on the walls of my already overcrowded office walls. Now that we know you are a photographer Maarten, you will definitely have to share some of your Jazz portfolio with us !