Michael Cuscuna announces the release of Francis Wolff’s Blue Note session photographs

August 8th, 2019

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Blue Note Records co-founder Francis Wolff, in a photograph by Rudy Van Gelder, taken with Wolff’s camera at Art Blakey’s March 6, 1960 “The Big Beat” session

.

.

_____

.

.

Note from the publisher

.

In an April 22, 2019 interview with jazz producer, discographer, entrepreneur and Mosaic Records co-founder Michael Cuscuna, he informed me of news concerning Mosaic’s impending release of photos taken by Blue Note Records co-founder Francis Wolff, who photographed every Blue Note session from 1940 – 1969.

Now that his website showcasing these important and brilliant photos is up and running, I am able to publish this portion of the interview.

A selection of the photographs — published with the generous consent of Mr. Cuscuna — are found at the conclusion of the following interview.

-Joe Maita

.

.

___

.

.

 

© Mosaic Images

 Thelonious Monk with Sahib Shihab (right) at The Village Vanguard, NYC, September 1948.

.

.

___

.

.

 

JJM. Please share your news concerning the Francis Wolff photographs…

MC. In the mid 1980’s, when Mosaic started putting out recordings of Blue Note artists, we found that there were very few photographs in existence for artists like Tina Brooks and Herbie Nichols other than those taken by Francis Wolff.  Alfred Lion – who along with Wolff co-founded Blue Note Records – told me that Francis had given him his entire photo archive after he retired.  So, I got Alfred and his wife Ruth to help me find some of the photos for Nichols and a few others.  Ruth did much of the ground work because it made Alfred sad to go looking through the photos; he missed his work at Blue Note, and he also missed his lifelong best friend, Francis Wolff.  Because of this, Ruth eventually brought up the idea of Mosaic taking over the photo archive and organizing it.  So, that’s what we did.  My partner Charlie Lourie and I flew out to San Diego and worked out a deal with them and brought the photos back to the Mosaic offices in Stamford, Connecticut.

Thus began a two year mission for my wife Lisa – herself an artist and photographer – of unraveling and archiving all the negatives and contact sheets that were in trunks, in aging manila envelopes.  We discovered the archive to be full of riches, and began to exploit it as best as we could.  Of the 20,000 photographs, only about 200 had ever been seen on a Blue Note album cover, or used for a publicity shot or in a Downbeat magazine article.  It is a ridiculous treasure trove and an ongoing search.  In 1995 we began publishing books – the sixth of which, Jazz Images by Francis Wolff, is being published by Elemental in Barcelona.

These photographs have always been a sideline – almost more like a hobby – although we have shown some in exhibitions, and we have also printed select fine art silver gel images and sold them on our website and in galleries.    But Lisa and I finally decided to really do a push, and as we get more time, we have decided that this archive really needs to be seen.  We have created an offshoot of the Mosaic Records website (www.mosaicrecordsimages.com) that you can now visit and see in the neighborhood of 3,500 photographs, which will be available for licensing and prints.  We also want to do more books featuring photographs from this archive.

Not only are the photographs further proof that Francis Wolff was a shockingly great photographer who could capture perfectly framed candid portraits in a sixteenth-of-a-second, but the fact that he was able to document the weekly recording sessions of such an important label means it is also has massive historic significance.  We are just making it part of our mission to get this stuff out there now.

JJM.  In a way this mirrors what you have done with the music, unearthing and releasing great recordings, and now you are on to doing the same with the photographs…

MC. Except for Columbia Records – who had photographers like Don Hunstein shooting sessions on a regular basis – there is really no other important record company that has a photographic document of virtually its entire history, from its beginnings to when the founders retired.  So, yes, in a way it is similar to the mission of Mosaic Records.

JJM.  What would you like to do next with the photos?

MC. I am thinking that our next book may be to feature fifty or sixty great Blue Note sessions, which would include a short essay about the album, the cover art, and then publish an array of photographs  of the various people interacting and the amazing portraits that Francis Wolff did at each of these sessions, making each of them come alive.

JJM.  Was Francis Wolff the only photographer in the studio for these sessions?

MC. Yes.

JJM.  Did any of the musicians bring cameras and take their own photographs?

MC. Milt Hinton, who was an extraordinary photographer, was probably the only one who brought a camera to the sessions – there is a wonderful photo of Francis Wolff shooting Milt holding his camera.  I haven’t seen what Milt shot – it would have been at Ike Quebec’s “Heavy Soul” session.

JJM.  In addition to all of Wolff’s studio photography, I am guessing that there are many taken in other settings.  When he went to Paris while Dexter Gordon recorded for Blue Note there, he probably didn’t take a handful of photographs and put the camera away – he must have taken a lot of shots…

MC. Yes, he did.  After World War II many German Jews never wanted to go to Europe – and certainly many were unwilling to set foot on German soil again, and Alfred was one of them.  Francis had no issue going back – he even went back to Berlin to visit old friends.  So, he went to Europe quite often.

When it became necessary to record somebody in France, like a few Dexter albums, or an Ornette Coleman album at the Golden Circle in Stockholm, or a Hank Mobley in Paris, Francis would always be the one that got on the plane and went over there.  He always brought his camera with him, but because he was producing the albums in an unfamiliar setting, he had to apply all his attention to getting the sound and the music down right on the sessions.  So he didn’t photograph during the sessions, he just shot after them.    There are a lot of great shots of Dexter around Paris, and there is a nice shot of Jackie McLean in Paris in 1961, and, of course, how he got Ornette Coleman, Charles Moffett and David Izenzon to put their overcoats on and stand in the snow in a park in Stockholm in the middle of December still amazes me, but he did!  There are a lot of great photos from that shoot – variations on the cover of the Golden Circle albums.

JJM. Well, this is all very exciting, Michael.  As someone who is online a lot and loves viewing classic jazz photography, at some point I figured I had seen just about every photo available, so to learn that there are another 3,500 Francis Wolff shots to enjoy is great news.  Do you anticipate doing any more gallery showings?

MC. Yes, we have done gallery showings in Madrid and in the Jewish Museum in Berlin and in the Pierre Cardin space in Paris.  We also did a very large show in Kyoto a couple of years ago.  We are affiliated with the Morrison Hotel Gallery, which is basically in Los Angeles and New York and Maui, and they periodically put on shows.

JJM. When we spoke recently about what you want to do with the rest of your life, this photo archive will certainly keep you busy!

MC. There is always something that comes along.  These photographs will just add to the performance legacy that we have of these artists, and of course showcase Francis Wolff’s great work.

.

.

___

.

.

A sampling of the images (all © Mosaic Images) are published with the consent of Michael Cuscuna

.

.© Mosaic Images

 George Benson at Lou Donaldson’s “Alligator Bogaloo” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 7, 1967.

.

.

 

© Mosaic Images

Art Blakey with Percy Heath (left) at a rehearsal for “Clifford Brown Sextet” session,  NYC, August 1953.

.

.

 

© Mosaic Images

Art Blakey’s “A Night In Tunisia” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 7, 1960.

 

.

.

 

© Mosaic Images

Tina Brooks with Jackie McLean (left) at Freddie Redd’s “Shades Of Redd” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ,  August 13, 1960.

.

.

 

 

© Mosaic Images

Don Cherry with Pharoah Sanders (right) at Cherry’s “Where Is Brooklyn” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 11, 1966.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

John Coltrane at Sonny Clark’s “Sonny’s Crib” session, Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, September 1, 1957.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Miles Davis with Tadd Dameron at The Royal Roost, NYC, October 1948. Kai Winding and Max Roach are background right.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

L to R: Art Blakey, a visiting Clifford Brown, Miles Davis and Horace Silver at the “Miles Davis Quartet” session, Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 6, 1954.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Eric Dolphy at his “Out To Lunch” session of February 25, 1964, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

.

.

 

© Mosaic Images

 Kenny Dorham with Joe Henderson (right) at Dorham’s “Trompeta Toccata” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, September 14, 1964.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Dexter Gordon with Freddie Hubbard (left) at Gordon’s “Doin’ All Right” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, May 6, 1961.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Elvin Jones with Reggie Workman (right) at Wayne Shorter’s “Ju Ju” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 3, 1964.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

 Thelonious Monk with Sahib Shihab (right) at The Village Vanguard, NYC, September 1948.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Lee Morgan with Andrew Hill (center) and Hank Mobley (right) at Hank Mobley’s “No Room For Squares” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, October 2, 1963.

.

.

 

© Mosaic Images

Wayne Shorter’s “Etcetera” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 14, 1965.

.

.

© Mosaic Images

Art Taylor at Duke Jordan’s “Flight To Jordan” session, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 4, 1960.

.

.

___

.

.

To visit the Mosaic Images website to view more photographs and get more complete information about them, click here

.

.

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

“Mirabella,” by Samuel Lind
“Queen” by Emily Jon Tobias

Poetry

The poet Connie Johnson in 1981
In a Place of Dreams: Connie Johnson’s album of jazz poetry, music, and life stories...A collection of the remarkable poet's work is woven among her audio readings, a personal narrative of her journey and music she considers significant to it, providing readers the chance to experience the full value of her gifts.

Community

Nominations for the Pushcart Prize XLVIII

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Poetry

"Jazz Diva" by Marsha Hammel
A brief collection of poetry devoted to jazz…and love...Seven poets combine the music of jazz with an act of love…

Poetry

photo of Bill Evans by Veryl Oakland
Six poets, six poems on Bill Evans...A poetic appreciation for the work of the legendary pianist

Feature

Joel Lewis
True Jazz Stories: “Well You Needn’t: My Life as a Jazz Fan” by Joel Lewis...The journalist and poet Joel Lewis shares his immensely colorful story of falling in love with jazz, and living with it and reporting on it during his younger days in New Jersey and New York

Poetry

"The Dancer" by Elaine Croce Happnie
“The Dancer” – a poem by Zoya Gargova

Playlist

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“A Baker’s Dozen Playlist of Ella Fitzgerald Specialties from Five Decades,” as selected by Ella biographer Judith Tick...Chosen from Ella’s entire repertoire, Ms. Tick’s intriguing playlist (with brief commentary) is a mix of studio recordings, live dates, and video, all available for listening here.

Poetry

painting by Henry Denander
A collection of jazz haiku...This collection, featuring 22 poets, is an example of how much love, humor, sentimentality, reverence, joy and sorrow poets can fit into their haiku devoted to jazz.

Community

Nominations for the Pushcart Prize XLVIII...Announcing the six writers nominated for the Pushcart Prize v. XLVIII, whose work was published in Jerry Jazz Musician during 2023.

Poetry

photo of Sarah Vaughan by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
”Sarah” – a poem by Connie Johnson

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Photography

photo of Anthony Braxton by Giovanni Piesco
The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Anthony Braxton...Beginning in 1990, the noted photographer Giovanni Piesco began taking backstage photographs of many of the great musicians who played in Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, that city’s main jazz venue which is considered one of the finest in the world. Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish portraits of jazz musicians that Giovanni has taken over the years. This edition is of the saxophonist Anthony Braxton, taken in January, 2015.

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Poetry

photo by Ric Brooks Knoxville, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“Four Sides Live” – a poem by Justin Hare

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Poetry

photo of Cab Calloway by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Zoot Suit Times (Rhythms From the Past)” – a poem by Oliver Lake

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 17: “All I know about music is not many people ever really hear it”

Short Fiction

photo via joogleberry.com
“A Song and Dance Proposition” – a short story by Richard Moore...Because of his childhood experiences, the story’s narrator loses his singing voice and as an adult neither sings nor dances. But when his marriage falls apart he meets a ‘song and dance man’ who turns out to be Iris, a woman with multiple sclerosis. With her help, he comes to grip with his inhibitions.

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Jazz History Quiz #168

photo of Coleman Hawkins by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Jazz History Quiz #168...In addition to being a top bassist between 1945 – 1960, he was the first major jazz soloist on the cello. He also played on Coleman Hawkins’ 1943 recording of “The Man I Love,” and appeared with Hawkins and Howard McGhee in the film The Crimson Canary. Who is he?

Short Fiction

Tents at Nuseirat, southern Palestine, UNRRA's biggest camp for Greek refugees/via United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
“Remember to Forget” – a short story by Amadea Tanner...Ms. Tanner's story, a finalist in the recently concluded 63rd Short Fiction Contest, is about a war correspondent's haunting revelations after she comes across musicians in a refugee camp.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Interview with Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950’s Quartets...Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

Short Fiction

Mary Pickford, 1918/trialsanderrors, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Bashert” – a short story by Diane Lederman...This story, a finalist in the 63rd Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest, looks at the hopes one man has that a woman he meets the night before he leaves for Camp Devens will keep him alive during World War I so he can return and take her out for dinner

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

“In the Church Library” – a short story by Zary Fekete

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Contributing Writers

Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song;...An interview with Gary Carner, author of Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer; A new collection of jazz poetry; a collection of jazz haiku; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works…

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.

Site Archive