Jazz by tuink

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N E D R A G A E T K C A J / R O L YAT O K O K / N I K C A B AT W E L / A R TA N I S K R E B E W D R A H R E B E / A R U T N E V E I L R A H C / R E D A JT L A C / N O TL I T A N O S L I W Y D D E T & YA R T S E W D L A N O R

EVANS SNAVE MITCHELL LLEHCTIM BOOKS SKOOB

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OPPOSITE & ABOVE: FRONT & BACK OF ORIGINAL CHET BAKER & GERRY MULLIGAN CONTACT SHEET LOS ANGELES, 1954

Photos and text by Bob Willoughby Edited by Christopher Willoughby & Robin Morgan Designed by David Orr First published in the United Kingdom in 2012 by: Evans Mitchell Books 54 Baker Street, London W1U 7BU United Kingdom www.embooks.co.uk ÂŠ 2011 Estate of Bob Willoughby www.willoughbyphotos.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photo-copying or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher.

British Library cataloguing in publishing data A CIP record of this book is available on request from the British library. ISBN: 978-1-901268-58-4

printed in germany

jazz B O DY a n d S O U L

P H OTO G R A P H S a n d R E C O L L E C T I O N S B O B W I L LO U G H BY

foreword by DAVE B RU B ECK

San Francisco, 1950s. I think of this period as the most exciting period in my life. It was a time of youth, exuberance, hope, and change. The arts reflected the movements shaping a post-war society. Life in San Francisco was vibrant. Radio stations still played live music. My first radio broadcasts reached audiences throughout the Western states, as far as Honolulu, out into the Pacific, and into a garage photo lab where a very young Bob Willoughby listened to the new sounds. Improvisation was the operative word then, spilling over (literally) on to the artists’ canvases, and poets’ and authors’ pages, and standup comics’ routines. San Francisco nightclubs spawned satirical humorists Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce; Sunday afternoon sessions of Jazz & Poetry with the two Kenneths, Patchen and Rexroth, Allen Ginsberg and others; while a whole generation went On the Road with Jack Kerouac. Improvisation, along with something Paul Desmond called ESP, was key to the music that Paul and I created together. Someone later dubbed it “cool” (which it was not) and gave the new movement in jazz a geographic designation, West Coast (which was also misleading, as a similar movement was afoot in New York). Whatever it was called, the music had an immediacy that spoke to the young audiences of that period. By 1951 the trio that had broadcast on NBC had become a quartet with the addition of Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. We were making our first West Coast appearances away from home ground, San Francisco, when we met Bob Willoughby. It was a big deal. We got into our cars (mine was a Kaiser Vagabond) and drove to Los Angeles to play at a

club called The Haig, a converted bungalow situated across the street from the Ambassador Hotel. Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and I had made a trade. They would play at the Black Hawk, our San Francisco headquarters, while we took over their regular spot at The Haig. During that initial engagement Bob Willoughby took some spectacular photos of our group. When Fantasy Records was about to release our first recording with Paul Desmond, I recommended that Sol and Max Weiss contact Bob to obtain those pictures. The dramatic black and white photograph that became the cover of the first Quartet LP may have also been the first of such covers that subsequently became almost de rigueur in communicating that “cool jazz” was inside the record sleeve. Fantasy Records, Bob Willoughby and the Dave Brubeck Quartet were all struggling at this time to launch fledgling careers. I understand that Sol and Max made a deal to pay Bob “in kind.” Instead of the new jazz records he expected, he was given a stash of Chinese Opera recordings, the lucrative side of Fantasy’s business at that time. Later, of course, as our careers advanced, and Bob became quite famous for his stills in the movie industry, he photographed the Quartet for Columbia Records and I trust he received just compensation. Paul and I always felt at ease with Bob behind the camera. He not only had a good eye, he had a keen ear, and seemed to know when to snap at an inspired moment. Thank you, Bob, for your superb document of a wonderful period in jazz; a golden era that my son, Darius, a jazz educator, writing of the fifties, described as “the beginning of the beyond.”

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B I LLI E H O LI DAY

THE TIFFANY, LOS ANGELES, 1952 BILLIE HOLIDAY

“Los Angeles in the early ’50s had a sprinkling of small jazz clubs scattered throughout the area. The Tiffany was typical of those rather smoky joints. Billie Holiday was the magnet that drew me there. The other nice dividend was that Wardell Gray and his group were on the same bill. The combination was really symbiotic, for Billie’s plaintive and wistful songs, with a few drinks could make anyone melancholy. Wardell and his music blew a fresh wind into the Tiffany, dispersing the stale tobacco smells, and spilled booze, clearing the air for Billie’s textured voice singing of lost love and regrets. Glowing in the spotlight, she took your heart and wrung it out. We met backstage, and she surprised me when she invited me back to her apartment to take more photographs (some in her favorite hats). She made tea for us, and the memory of those moments with Lady Day is a treasure I hold to this day.”

THE TIFFANY, LOS ANGELES, 1952 WARDELL GRAY

M I LES DAVI S

“There are a few musicians touched with the magic ability to communicate a feeling that is so strong that it can make the hairs on the back of one’s neck rise up. And that, in 1950, on the stage of the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, was exactly what Miles Davis did to me. Standing backstage, while looking through my camera, I heard the sound of an emotion so pure, so honest, that it made it totally impossible for me to concentrate on anything but listening to what Miles was doing on stage. Memorable, but yet I couldn’t tell you what music he was playing. In the end I guess that’s not what the sound that floated my way was all about. Miles was connecting with everyone in the audience, if they could be touched...singing his song to them...to me, through his enchanted trumpet. One of a kind!”

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (following) MILES LISTENING BACKSTAGE

12 (above) HAMPTON WITH MILT BUCKNER, AT PIANO, AND UNKNOWN (opposite) LIONEL AND BASSIST ROY JOHNSON

LI O N EL HAM PTO N

“Listening to Benny Goodman records when I was growing up in Los Angeles, I found the excitement generated by Lionel Hampton and Gene Krupa in the Goodman small groups (which were my favorites) made it just too hard to stand still (Milt Jackson did the same thing for me in the Modern Jazz Quartet). I played those old 78s until they were worn to the nub. Naturally when I had the opportunity to photograph Lionel, I was really looking forward to it. His agent gave me an address in East L.A., which I discovered was a union hall, rented for the night to rehearse Hamp’s big band. The hall was so small that the musicians filled the room from the front to the back. The brass were blowing right into the front wall! The band was already in full throttle when I arrived. I could not believe the sound level! The walls of the building were rocking, throbbing...not quite an earthquake, but the seismic levels surely could be recorded. When I packed up my gear to leave, I was happy enough, but I could hardly hear what Lionel was saying as we said goodbye. Driving

home it must have been at least 20 minutes before my hearing started to return. This first meeting with Lionel was unforgettable! Just recently I have discovered Lionel’s recording of Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Star Dust,’ which has become the touchstone to me of that era of his music. Recorded at a ‘Just Jazz’ concert in Pasadena, August 4th, 1947, it is so remarkable that I bought ‘The Lionel Hampton Story’ 4-CD set, just for that one track. Charlie Shavers, Willie Smith, and Corky Corcoran (who I had forgotten about until now), Tommy Todd, Barney Kessel (marvelous), Lee Young, and my all-time favorite on the bass, Slam Stewart (bowing and singing along). Lionel and these great talents go on for over 15 wonderful minutes. Gentle jazz that takes me back to another time. Charlie Shavers having such great fun, and Lionel also singing along as he plays... encouraging himself, filling in the beats...it is simply great! If you find it, see if you don’t agree, it is a time capsule of what music was really like in Los Angeles in 1950.”

“My next encounter with Lionel was even more exciting. He gave the students at Hollywood High School a free concert during their lunch break. He created a windstorm that blew every kid’s door down! He started off slowly, lulling them gently until he found their rhythm, and built on it…and wham! They were screaming to the end. I’m sure the teachers had to bring the students down with nets after Lionel’s demonstration in physics. His energy and enthusiasm were contagious. It was wondrous to see how he stirred everyone up. When you were listening to his music you could not be apathetic. When I left the gym that day my head was spinning with the excitement he had generated...what a gift!”

15 HOLLYWOOD HIGH GYMNASIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (opposite) LIONEL HAMPTON LEADS THE BAND (above) LIONEL AT THE DRUMS

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G EO RG E S H E AR I N G

“Norman Granz brought his famous ‘Jazz at the Philharmonic’ to the cavernous Shrine Auditorium in 1950, and this was too big a treat for me to miss. It was the one chance each year to hear the greatest jazz musicians in person...even if I could hardly see them from the back of the top balcony. Oh, but it was great! One year I was able to get backstage with my camera, thanks to the indulgent Granz. So here for the next few pages are the way these jazz legends looked then (now 56 years ago). George Shearing (left) and his quintet’s uniquely liquid sound was really a counterpoint to the music of say, Dizzy Gillespie, who was playing on the same bill. Shearing’s gentle sound was more like a soothing wave rolling over one. One almost forgot the flame-throwing trumpets wielded by Dizzy and Roy Eldridge.”

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950

ELL A FITZG ER ALD

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950

“Wonderful Ella Fitzgerald was a songwriter’s dream. Ella could bop with the best, but when she sang a ballad there were no tricks. It was so honest, so pure, her words rich with so much meaning, that her musical legacy will never grow old. Ella was without any doubt the best female singer of American popular music we’ve had to this day.”

G EN E KR U PA

“Oh yes, and don’t forget there was a spectacular drummer named Gene Krupa, who set the Benny Goodman small groups aflame. He kept the driving rhythm through Goodman’s monumental recording of ‘Sing, Sing, Sing.’ I can still see him up there on the bandstand chewing gum, open mouthed, his neck hunched way down into his shoulders, perspiration flowing down his face, torturing those drums as if they deserved capital punishment, and as happy as he could be. He was a wonder to behold. On some of those early 78 DISC (Asch Recordings) sessions of Charlie Ventura’s trio, he was billed as ‘The Chicago Flash’ (for contractual reasons), but no one could ever mistake his magic touch. If you can ever track down ‘Body and Soul’ (DISC 2500B-847) it is so amazing that anyone interested in really great jazz should hear it. The flip-side, ‘Stompin’ at the Savoy,’ ain’t bad either!”

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950

B I LLY EC KSTI N E

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950

“Billy Eckstine was blessed with a wonderfully rich baritone voice (the press at the time referred to him as ‘The Sepia Sinatra,’ which of course he hated). He was very handsome; the ladies loved him. His voice had a resonance that touched you when he sang such hits as ‘My Foolish Heart’ and ‘Prisoner of Love.’ He had several very good bands, with really great sidemen. He also played a mean trumpet, but was better known for his romantic ballads. I don’t think he got the breaks that his talent deserved. I photographed him several times and liked him very much. Once in a while on the local jazz station here in the Alpes-Maritimes one hears that memorable voice coming through, and it stops me and my mind wanders back to that time long ago, when a singer really sang a song, without all the shouting and yodeling that passes for singing today.”

CO LEMAN HAWKI N S

“The marvelous tenor sax of Coleman Hawkins, whose breathy syrup of tone took classic songs to another dreamy realm. He was really so moving at times, along with Ben Webster (another of my all-time favorites), that I can close my eyes as I write here in my office in the hills of Vence, and be transported back to those romantic days, now so long ago. I still remember the first time I heard his unforgettable rendition of Johnny Green’s ‘Body and Soul.’ That was the moment I became his fan for the rest of my life.”

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 COLEMAN HAWKINS BACKSTAGE

ROY ELD R I D G E

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (above) ROY ELDRIDGE PERFORMING (opposite) RELAXING BACKSTAGE

“I had heard Roy ‘Little Jazz’ Eldridge’s high-flying trumpet on Krupa records, and his duet with Anita O’Day on ‘Let Me Off Uptown’ was one of my high school favorites. And there I was in Shrine heaven hearing him in person and yelling for more and more encores, and I knew I had to get down and photograph this fine talent. Those were the days of a special spirit and enthusiasm in our country, when music touched your feet... your mind, and you wanted to jump up and down and shout for more.”

D IZ Z Y G I LLES PI E

“What a performer Dizzy Gillespie was! The audience loved him, for he was a consummate entertainer. He could have the fans laughing one minute with his onstage antics, and the next screaming for more, as he literally blew them away with his brilliant stratospheric orbits. What pleasure he gave to us all! My first memory of bebop was of Dizzy playing those puzzling flatted-fifths notes, and then one day it just fell into place for me. I’d be listening to his records as I worked in my darkroom at night, and singing right along...oh yes, I can still hear the music whenever I see those photographs. In retrospect, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis form a memorable triumvirate. There are other fine trumpet players and I don’t mean to diminish any of them such as the great Bunny Berigan or Chet Baker, who had a very individual style that I love. But those three, I feel, were the greatest influence on jazz music.”

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950

C HAR LI E VENT U R A

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950

“The night that I photographed Charlie Ventura he was so exciting, sailing into unexplored territory, while the fans in the Shrine Auditorium jumped stomping to their feet. ‘JATP’ favorites like ‘How High the Moon,’ seemed made for his style of improvisation. I have some of those Norman Granz records still (I hate to throw them away, even if I haven’t a turntable to play them on). The tracks Ventura made with his and Gene Krupa’s great trios are still playing in my head, especially; ‘Dark Eyes’ — I played my 12-inch 78 so often that all that was left was surface noise — and later Jackie Cain and Roy Krall bopping along on ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’ — terrific! Charlie Ventura, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young, oh yes! I play their CDs 50 years later, and never tire of the magic moods and energy they created. A great legacy for all lovers of jazz.”

LO U I S AR M STRO N G + H I S ALL- STARS

“In 1950 Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars were playing at the Bal Tabarin in downtown Los Angeles, and I made my way down there with my old Speed Graphic and flash bulb (the early days of my photography). With his ‘golden’ trumpet, gravelly voice, trademark white handkerchief and famous sidemen, it was difficult to concentrate on taking photographs, and not just sit and enjoy their musical journey back to New Orleans.”

THE BAL TABARIN, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (opposite) ARMSTRONG ONSTAGE

“Louis Armstrong reflected in the mirror of his dressing room at the Bal Tabarin in Los Angeles (above). This appeared in the short-lived but revolutionary Flair Magazine, and for me as a 23-year-old was a great thrill. Armstrong started recording in the early ’20s, and went on for the next 50 years. I think he influenced more musicians, and the direction of music in the U.S., than any other single musician. Every time I think of Ella Fitzgerald imitating him it makes me smile. Singing together, they sounded like they were having such a great time. The then very young bassist Arvell Shaw (facing page), went on to play with ‘Satchmo’ for the next 20 years.”

36 THE BAL TABARIN, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (above) ARMSTRONG BACKSTAGE (opposite) BASSIST ARVELL SHAW

THE BAL TABARIN, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (above, left) ARMSTRONG AND VELMA MIDDLETON PERFORM ONE OF THEIR SIGNATURE SONGS, ‘BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE’ (above, right) EARL ‘FATHA’ HINES

“Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines’s association with Louis Armstrong goes back to the early ’20s—far before my time—and when I caught up with him in Los Angeles, I had no idea about his background, other than I would see his name on my early 78s. Only later would I read that he was in Al Capone’s ‘band,’ when in 1928 he opened at The Grand Terrace Hotel in Chicago, which they then played for 10 years, and became the most broadcast band in America.”

39 (above) LOUIS ARMSTRONG ALL-STARS JACK TEAGARDEN, TROMBONE, AND BARNEY BIGARD, CLARINET (right) DRUMMER COZY COLE

MGM STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1956 ON THE SET OF HIGH SOCIETY

“In 1956 I caught up with ‘the man’, Louis Armstrong, on the set of MGM’s ‘High Society,’ and he was the same smiling gentleman that I had first met five years earlier. This time I was photographing him for Glamour magazine, with his co-stars Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly.”

STAN KENTO N O RC H ESTR A

“Stan Kenton and his big orchestra brought a dramatic new sound to music, with his ‘Artistry in Rhythm.’ It wasn’t jazz, and it wasn’t big band swing, but it was something special. There were great arrangements by Kenton, Gene Roland, Bill Holman, Pete Rugolo, Bill Russo and many others... but in the end it was always Kenton. This new sound wasn’t for everyone but it certainly gave a much needed shot in the arm to the music of the time, and influenced musicians for generations after. Kenton also had a gift for picking fine musicians, and the people who came out of his orchestra read like a roster of things to come: Art Pepper, Lee Konitz, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, Maynard Ferguson, Frank Rosolino, Milt Bernhart, Shorty Rogers, Laurindo Almeida, Bob Cooper, and the chirpy voice of June Christy.

I thought they were amazing, and went down to Balboa, to the Rendezvous Ballroom, to photograph this new wave of sound. Shelly Manne (facing page) was a really talented drummer...one could really call him a timpanist, as he could create rhythmic sounds on the drums that I’ve never heard anyone else do, simply by moving his hands across the drum skins in tension. He was also a marvelous entertainer in concert...and at recording sessions he would always have the other musicians breaking up during rehearsals. In the foreground is the lovely vocalist June Christy.”

RENDEZVOUZ BALLROOM, BALBOA, CALIFORNIA, 1950 (opposite) JUNE CHRISTY AND DRUMMER SHELLY MANNE (above) STAN KENTON

STAN KENTO N O RC H ESTR A

“Shelly Manne on drums drives the band forward (above). Milt Bernhart standing for his solo, behind him on trumpet is Maynard Ferguson, and in the foreground on guitar is Laurindo Almeida. These are now historic photographs. Maynard Ferguson’s trumpet gets liftoff into outer space (facing page). I was told that he played higher notes at this time than any trumpet player in jazz history. He blew notes so high only a dog could hear (and if he did, I know he would be wagging his tail)...you can hear his trumpet orbiting over many of Kenton’s greatest arrangements of this period. In later years Bob Cooper and his very cool tenor saxophone (facing page, bottom right) would team up with Bud Shank for some marvelous recordings. Cooper was married to Kenton vocalist June Christy.”

RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM, BALBOA, CALIFORNIA, 1950

ART PEPPER + J U N E C H R I ST Y

“Vocalist June Christy (above) leans on the piano and chats with Stan Kenton as they wait for rehearsal to begin. In remembering her, I think of ‘Something Cool,’ which I’ve never heard anyone else sing. I guess it belongs to her. She had a relaxed voice, and at the time I found it hard to decide which I liked best: June, or Anita O’Day. Both had that husky, intimate delivery. Art Pepper (facing page), one of the unique alto saxophone sounds of the era, was in fine form when he played in the Kenton band. I think this is where he really started to flower.”

RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM, BALBOA, CALIFORNIA, 1950

D U KE ELLI N GTO N O RC H ESTR A

“By the time I was finding my way through jazz, Duke Ellington was already a legend. Musicians I knew regarded him with awe, but somehow I just didn’t connect with his music. Yes, there were pieces that I loved like ‘Take the A Train’ and ‘Caravan,’ but it was only when I went to photograph him at Gene Norman’s ‘Just Jazz’ concert at the Shrine Auditorium in 1951 that the impact of his music really hit me...Something like knowing a reproduction of a famous painting, and then seeing the original...it was a revelation! I had not been able to hear the tonalities on my early 78s, merging and blending with each other. The orchestra was so disciplined that they played as one. I was just a kid with a camera, and Ellington was a real musical awakening.”

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (opposite) DUKE ELLINGTON LIGHTING GENE NORMAN’S CIGAR (following) DUKE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (above) RAY NANCE, BACKSTAGE (opposite) NANCE ONSTAGE

“Ray Nance, Ellington’s heavy hitter in the trumpet section (think of his marvelous solo on ‘Take the A Train’) also played jazz violin in a similar manner to Stéphane Grappelli of the Hot Club of France. A great all-round entertainer, he additionally sang in an infectious manner. Then, all of Duke’s sidemen—such as Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves and Quentin Jackson—were superb. The great arrangements of Billy Strayhorn and others always ensured a true musical banquet!”

“Paul Gonsalves (above) created jazz history on his tenor sax, with a tour de force of 27 choruses that he took on ‘Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue’ with Ellington’s orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956. It was almost seven minutes of such sensational improvisation, and the audience of 7,000 were on their collective feet cheering him on. Not only the audience cheered, but the orchestra as well. It stands to this day as an amazing explosion of creative juices. Johnny Hodges (facing page, bottom), acknowledged as one of the greatest alto sax players in jazz history,

joined Ellington’s orchestra in 1928 and continued with Ellington until his death. Known for both romantically haunting ballads, and up-tempo jazz, he, like Ben Webster (who was also with Ellington), was marvelous to hear. Quentin Jackson (facing page, top) is tuning up backstage at the Shrine, where all of these images were made.” 54 SHRINE AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (above) PAUL GONSALVES, BACKSTAGE (opposite top) QUENTIN JACKSON (opposite bottom) JOHNNY HODGES

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B I G JAY M cN EELY

“This was really something! It was 1951, and I had been listening in my darkroom to the late-night disc jockey Hunter Hancock. He was advertising a jazz concert at the Olympic Auditorium (which was the local L.A. fight arena), starting at 12 midnight! The idea of starting a concert that late was so intriguing that I had to see what it was all about. As I walked in, the concert had already begun, and the hall was rocking on its foundations. I could see the audience on their feet screaming... you could taste the energy in that air. To this day I have never seen or heard anything to match it. It was my introduction to the amazing Big Jay McNeely. Big Jay stood in the middle of what normally would be the fight ring, playing his heart out, and the crowd was exploding around him. He created some sort of resonance with the audience, so that in some weird way, he seemed to be playing them! It was so mind-boggling that I found myself scrabbling for my cameras as I ran toward the fireworks, afraid I was going to miss it all. I needn’t have worried: Big Jay was a marathon player. I was so caught up in the excitement that I just climbed right up on the stage without thinking. Big Jay was strutting up and down playing chord after riff after riff on his sax, honking his way through 45 minutes of pulsating, explosive rhythm. He knelt, he sat, he laid flat on his back, playing into the faces of orgasmic girls. He appeared away on some kind of space flight, perspiring until his clothes were soaked. He tore off his wet jacket without even missing a beat. And the near-hysterical crowd just kept screaming, ‘Go! Go! Go!’” OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1951

61 OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1951 (above) BIG JAY PLAYING TO THE CROWD (opposite) AL BARTEE IN ACTION

62 OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1951 (above and following) AUDIENCE REACTION (opposite) DJ HUNTER HANCOCK, TRUMPET, AND SAX

66 OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES, 1951 (above) BIG JAY, BLOWING (opposite clockwise from top) THE HALL, BIG JAY, HIS FANS (following) BIG JAY BLOWS ON HIS BACK

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT, OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM, 1951

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Disc Jockey Hunter Hancock, who organized the concert, fans the now soaking wet Big Jay with a towel. I stopped in my tracks when I saw this bass player, as he seemed to be floating somewhere out in space. Emotionless in the eye of the hurricane that swirled around him. What a night. Normally I love the complexities of good jazz, the quiet romanticism of Coleman Hawkins or Paul Desmond dreaming of Audrey Hepburn. I was never prepared for the raw, sexual response that Big Jay seemed to release with his music. I think the images show it as it was that night, now over 57 years ago. As I claimed in the beginning, it was really something!â&#x20AC;?

72 BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT, OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM, 1951 (above) KOKO TAYLOR (opposite) SMILINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; SMOKEY LYNN

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CARMEL, CALIFORNIA, 1954 PAUL DESMOND AND DAVE BRUBECK IN CONCERT

DAVE B RU B ECK + PAU L D ESM O N D

“In 1950 my darkroom was out in our garage, and I had to do all of my printing and film processing when it was dark. So there were often all-night sessions with the radio keeping me company. That’s when I first heard Dave Brubeck in his latenight broadcasts from San Francisco. Dave has a unique and explosive style, mixing classical music forms with jazz, and I loved it. Like a tightrope walker, he would play on and on and on, chords upon chords, thundering on into the unknown. Surely he must fall. ‘He can’t resolve that,’ I would think…I’d just stop my printing and hold my breath. Then with unbelievable genius... or luck (could he be that good?) he would arrive back to earth with such a wild flourish, safe and sound. To me it was the exhilaration of a rollercoaster ride! When I heard he was coming to Los Angeles to play at The Haig, I made arrangements with Dick Bock to let me photograph Brubeck and his quartet. That’s when I first met Paul Desmond, he of the most elegant musical lines ever played on alto sax. Desmond and Brubeck were a unique combination, challenging each other musically every night. Amid fugues and phrases from other songs mid-flight, they were totally communicating to each other. One night I heard Paul play a phrase of ‘Where Did You Get That Hat?’ and we looked over to the door, to see a lady arriving with a very exotic creation on her head. They were having fun and I feel the symbiosis between those two brought new life into the jazz of the era. You can still listen to their records and wonder at how tuned in they were to each other. How musically inventive and exciting that they still are all these years later.”

78 THE HAIG, LOS ANGELES, 1950 (above) DAVE BRUBECK (opposite) PAUL DESMOND; DAVE BRUBECK; JOE DODGE, DRUMS; BOB BATES, BASS

“To me, Paul Desmond playing his saxophone was a poet. His gentle and elegant sound is unique to this day. In some of his solo flights he would transport one to wooded glades, and misty landscapes, and then play phrases from ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’! I can still hear Dave say, ‘Yeah’ when Paul would play one of his lyrical lines in answer to Dave’s crescendos. Paul and Dave were totally different in character and musical backgrounds. Together they were a marvelous creative amalgam, producing a spark between them, pushing each other further and further into new musical territories. I’ve been at some of their performances when I have never heard more exciting musical ideas. Really inspired sessions (alas rarely recorded), but magic...oh yes!”

PAU L D ES M O N D

PAUL DESMOND RECORDING SESSION, 1954

“Paul Desmond, the quiet man, seen here at an L.A. recording session in 1954. Paul’s solo albums were very good, his distinctive romantic alto voice as elegant as ever. But there was magic with Dave Brubeck. I felt he needed the catalyst of Brubeck pushing him and, as importantly, Paul pushing Dave to create the fireworks that their earlier recordings had. Audrey Hepburn was Paul’s dream girl. When I was working on ‘My Fair Lady’ at Warner Brothers Studios in 1963, he asked if there was any chance that he could meet her. It was a very ‘closed set’, and I went through major difficulties getting clearance from the director and half a dozen others, and of course Audrey. Paul and I had lunch at the studio, and afterward we walked over to the sound stage. As we neared the stage door, he stopped. He looked at me with that gentle face, and told me he couldn’t do it. He wanted his ‘dream to stay a dream.’ I know I must have stood transfixed to the spot for several minutes watching him walk back to his car. Amazing, but quite Paul. He did dedicate one of his compositions to Audrey, a melody that conjured up a lyrical forest sprite, reflecting his special dream. I never saw him again, and in 1977, when I heard that he had died in New York, it made me quite sad to think that such a special soul had left us. I know Audrey would have liked him!”

CAL TJAD ER

“I photographed Cal Tjader at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco; he was a fresh breath of air in the jazz scene there. His wizardry on the vibes, combining jazz with a unique Latin sound, was very exciting, but when the great Cuban drummer Mongo Santamaria joined his group, the effect was explosive! I found it was impossible to stand still when Tjader and his group were playing. Why he didn’t achieve a greater success I never understood. He made a lot of wonderful records on Fantasy, and died very young, like another wonderful San Francisco musician, Vince Guaraldi. Their recordings are still fresh and alive, after all of these years.”

THE BLACK HAWK, SAN FRANCISCO, 1957 (opposite) CAL IN ACTION (above) A FAN JOINS THE GROUP ONSTAGE

G ER RY M U LLI GAN

LOS ANGELES, 1953

“The sound that Gerry Mulligan produced in the early ’50s, with the quintet that featured Chet Baker, is well known now, but you can imagine hearing it for the first time back then. I was so excited that I contacted Harper’s Bazaar. Some of these photographs were the result of that first session. A young band, their sound was happy and fun-filled. Mulligan’s resonating baritone sax rumbled like rude words said in Italian, something a little like his own temperament. I was at The Haig in Los Angeles one night, and a few people at the back of the room were talking and laughing rather loudly. Mulligan just stopped playing, folded his arms over his big sax and waited...looking directly at them. The rest of the people turned to see what he was looking at. These suitably chastised patrons, realizing they were the cause of the silence, scrunched down in their seats (and promised to sin no more). Gerry looked around the room like the schoolmaster checking his pupils, and when the room became more attentive, gave a quiet nod to his group and then the music continued. When they recorded together, Mulligan and Baker were heaven made. With Chet’s plaintive trumpet and wistful vocals floating on top, and Mulligan’s cheeky baritone playing underneath... well, they were just perfect!”

“Gerry Mulligan was always a perfectionist. When it came to maintaining that elusive sound he was looking for, even more so. As I watched his total concentration as he listened to the rehearsal before the session (above), I was very impressed. I can recognize part of the great lineup of Chico Hamilton, drums, Joe Mondragon, bass, and Bud Shank, sax, on the far right. The shot of Mulligan playing the piano (left) as he worked out the chord progressions is a rare one: his groups never used a piano. The one opposite, of Mulligan directing the rehearsals, was used by Harper’s Bazaar in 1953.”

87 GERRY MULLIGAN RECORDING SESSION, LOS ANGELES, 1953 (opposite top) MULLIGAN LEADING THE GROUP (opposite bottom) MULLIGAN AT PIANO (above) MULLIGAN, PHOTOGRAPHED FOR HARPERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BAZAAR

CH E T BAKER

“In person Chet Baker was quiet, and seemed rather shy. At least that’s what I felt when, in 1954, I covered one of his first recording sessions with Gerry Mulligan. His playing then was coming from somewhere inside of him, and his music stopped me short. I found it very hard to concentrate with the plaintive sound of his trumpet in my ear. Looking around the recording studio it seemed to also touch everyone there. It was the only recording session that I’ve photographed where the other musicians applauded after a take. It was on ‘My Funny Valentine.’ As I was leaving I saw him sitting alone after the session was over (pages 94–95). Most of the other musicians had left and I had put away my cameras and was about to leave. The image of him sitting there like a lost child seemed to sum up my first impression about this talented young man from Oklahoma... alone within himself. Chet’s life was one selfinflicted wound after another, and to see that haunted face in his later years was tragic. Here he is the way I like to remember him, before the world weighed him down.”

RECORDING SESSION, LOS ANGELES, 1954 RECORDING SESSION, LOS ANGELES, 1954 (above) CHET’S TRUMPET AND THE MUSIC (above) CHET’S TRUMPET AND THE MUSIC FOR IS YOU’ FOR‘I’M ‘I’MGLAD GLADTHERE THERE’S

“I was reading a quote from Russ Freeman, the fine pianist, arranger and composer, who worked closely with Gerry Mulligan on this recording date (and on so many others on the West Coast at the time). Russ said that Chet didn’t know anything of chord sequences, and Russ would carefully lay them out for him. The amazement came with what Chet did with them! He and Gerry Mulligan have both said that Chet was the finest intuitive trumpet player they have ever worked with. On the facing page, Chet Baker leans into the music when it is the ‘magic time’ for him.”

90 FANTASY RECORDING SESSION, LOS ANGELES, 1953 (above) RUSS FREEMAN, PRODUCER DICK BOCK IN BOOTH (opposite) CHET BAKER

92 FANTASY RECORDING SESSION, LOS ANGELES, 1953 (above) CHET BAKER & BUD SHANK (opposite) CHET BAKER LAYING IT DOWN (following) CHET, AFTER THE SESSION

PEG GY LEE

LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA, 1953

“Peggy Lee was truly a special singer...and my memories of when she sang with the Benny Goodman Big Band still ring in my ear today. Her records were the ones that we were all dancing to in Junior High…‘Why Don’t You Do Right?’ Oh yes! We knew all the words, which we sang as we bopped along with her. She won the Down Beat and Metronome polls year after year. One award after another, and her records sold in the millions. She was up there in the stars. These photographs were made in Lake Tahoe where she was rehearsing in 1953 and I had completely forgotten about them. Recently I went back to the files and happily rediscovered these seldom seen images from over 50 years ago. I could not include other singers without Peggy, who contributed so much to popular music. The jazz station here in the Alpes-Maritimes often plays her recording of ‘Fever,’ and I still sing along with her and think of other sunny days.”

ja j jaz azz jaz ja jj

â&#x20AC;&#x153;hollyw 98

az jaz zaz z zz jaz j jaz

woodâ&#x20AC;? 99

100

B EN NY G O O D MAN

101

“I don’t remember when it was that Benny Goodman first rang my bell. I know while I was still in high school I used to spend some of my Saturday mornings going through the stacks at Ray Avery’s Used Record Shop, hoping to find some of those early Goodman 10-inch 78s. I think one of the memorable things about those early recordings was that they had such drive, like a juggernaut out of control…. well, that’s not quite right, as who had more control than Goodman? But the pace that Krupa, Lionel Hampton, and Teddy Wilson set for those recordings... well it was to me the pinnacle of the era. Imagine how I felt years later, when I was assigned by Universal Studios to photograph ‘The Benny Goodman Story,’ and some of his original sidemen that they had brought together again for the film. I never thought in a million years that I would ever have the opportunity to photograph Goodman, or Harry James...or Teddy Wilson! Wow, these were just names out of my youth. There was the maestro himself: Benny Goodman, as I could have only imagined him before.”

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1955

“The first pleasure was to photograph the prerecordings for the film. There they were: Goodman, Gene Krupa on drums, Teddy Wilson on piano, Urbie Green on trombone, Buck Clayton on trumpet and Stan Getz (the new boy in town) on tenor sax. It was just great. When driving to Universal Studios this first day of recordings, I said to myself, ‘I must tell Benny how much pleasure he had given me over the years...’ but that never happened. Goodman seemed to have an unseen wall around him,

posted with ‘No Entry’ signs. In fact, Goodman took no notice of me taking photographs, and while I wished to say all of those complimentary things, in the end I probably only introduced myself, and told him what I was doing there. The session was amazing, since none of the musicians had any sheet music, as you can see above. That was a first for me on any film recording session. Stan Getz added a new flavor to the familiar music, and best of all it was great to be part of this timewarp of such a joyous recording session!”

102

103

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1955 (opposite) STAN GETZ AND BENNY GOODMAN (above) GENE KRUPA HUNCHES INTO HIS DRUMS AND KEEPS THE MUSIC STEAMING DOWN THE ROAD!

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1955 (above) BUCK CLAYTON, TRUMPET; STAN GETZ, SAX (opposite) URBIE GREEN, STAN GETZ (following) BENNY GOODMAN LISTENING TO PLAYBACK

“Buck Clayton and Stan Getz, blowing up a storm! On the following spread, Goodman, alone in the recording studio, faces the big Universal Studios speakers and listens to what they have recorded that day, knowing that the film’s soundtrack will represent his music for an entirely new audience.”

104

106

107

“When the orchestra was going to be filmed, it became more of a class reunion than a film set. There was Martha Tilton (top) sounding just like she did 20 years earlier. Memories flooded back to me of high school dances and the smell of girls with perfumed soap. When Teddy Wilson (above left) brought the great trumpet player Ziggy Elman on the set, there was a stir from everyone. Remember his brilliant solo on ‘And the Angels Sing’? He also was the composer. I also captured Teddy Wilson

(facing page), waiting for filming to begin, Lionel Hampton in the background, and Harry James and Gene Krupa (following spread) in the studio lights reminiscing about times gone by.”

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1955 (top) MARTHA TILTON (above) TEDDY WILSON AND ZIGGY ELMAN (opposite) TEDDY WILSON, PIANO, AND LIONEL HAMPTON (following) HARRY JAMES AND GENE KRUPA WAITING ON SET

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FR AN K S I NATR A

113

“To leave Frank Sinatra out of a book on jazz, when I have included Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, just isn’t logical. Sinatra was surely the best male singer of popular music in any era. His voice was a musical instrument. He relates that he learned his breath control from watching and listening to Tommy Dorsey playing trombone. His music is played today everywhere in the world. He had an amazing run, and I had the privilege of working with him many times over the years. Sinatra’s voice reached an amazingly wide audience—one that spanned all ages. He could swing, yes, but what I keep hearing from younger people is that the words he sang touched them. They would put on Sinatra records when they were alone, dance to them, romance to them. And though Frank’s public persona was relaxed, no one really knew the concentrated effort he put in to achieve that image.”

SANDS HOTEL, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, 1960 (opposite) REHEARSING (above) ONSTAGE (following) JUDY GARLAND SPECIAL

114

115

“He was the boss. On all of the recording sessions that I photographed with Frank, it really didn’t matter who was directing the orchestra. Frank would stop rehearsals and do the directing himself. Softer here...more punch in the brass...a change of tempo. He knew just what he wanted, and no one could argue with his success. Musical director Saul Chaplin (above) points out to Frank some changes in the score, when Frank stopped the recording session on the 20th Century Fox Studios film of ‘Can-Can.’ In the background Frank’s arranger Nelson Riddle runs the orchestra through the changes. Frank and Nelson made wonderful music together when Frank shifted to Capitol Records in the early ’50s. Those arrangements still sparkle today. Hollywood 1955 (facing page): Frank stopped the soundtrack recording session for ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ and checked the score to see what he felt was wrong. You can tell from the expression on the faces of the studio musicians that they haven’t witnessed anything like this before. Composer Elmer Bernstein was Oscar-nominated for this score.”

116

117

CAN-CAN, 20th CENTURY FOX STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1959 (opposite) SINATRA AND SAUL CHAPLIN DISCUSS THE SCORE THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, UNITED ARTISTS, 1955 (above) SINATRA REVIEWING THE SCORE (following) SINATRA LISTENING TO PLAYBACK

118

119

120

CAN-CAN, 20th CENTURY FOX STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1959

B I N G C RO S BY + FR AN K S I NATR A 121

“I’m just adding this little shot of Sinatra meeting up with Bing Crosby on the set of ‘Can-Can,’ as they were the two singers of my generation, and I think rather rare.”

B I N G C RO S BY G R AC E KELLY LO U I S AR M STRO N G 122

HIGH SOCIETY, MGM STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, 1956

“One more. Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and the crew are treated to an impromptu concert by Armstrong on the set of ‘High Society.’ That’s me reflected in Armstrong’s trumpet.”

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STUT TGART 1992 + 1994

In 1992 I had a telephone call from Ulli Pfau asking me if I would like to photograph their Jazz Gipfel ’92, in Stuttgart. I was flabbergasted, telling him that I hadn’t photographed jazz musicians for so long, I couldn‘t even think when the last time was! He had seen my Jazz in L.A. book, and he told me that he considered me “the elder statesman of jazz photography.” I thanked him and said that was very kind, but that I had retired here in the south of France, and I really wasn‘t sure if I could still cut it. He persisted so, and then my wife Dorothy picked up the tune, so in the end I gave in and we went to Germany.

There were terrific people to photograph: The Modern Jazz Quartet, Lee Konitz, Red Rodney, and Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, whose music I knew so well, but our paths had never crossed when I was photographing in those early years. Gerry Mulligan was doing his ‘Re-Birth of the Cool,’ and I also discovered marvelous new musicians I didn’t know, such as Marcus Roberts and Chick Corea. Later that same year Jazz Magazine published some of these images and their caption read:

“BOB WILLOUGHBY’S WEST COAST PICTURES ARE SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE

IMAGES IN JAZZ. BUT THAT WAS NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO: EVER SINCE THEN, JAZZ FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR WILLOUGHBY.”

R EU NI ON

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 (above) MUSICIANS INCLUDE: PERCY HEATH, JON FADDIS, JAMES MOODY, FREDDIE HUBBARD, MILT JACKSON, ART FARMER (facing page, above) RAY DRUMMOND CHATS WITH FELLOW BASSIST (facing page, below) GLEN MOORE AND PERCY HEATH

“The first thing I noticed backstage (even before many of the musicians had time to unpack) was that it quickly became a happy reunion with friends they obviously hadn’t seen for some time. I discovered that so many of the musicians are touring on these jazz concerts to the Far East and Eastern Europe (where jazz is still a big draw) that their paths rarely cross. It’s a new world for some of these musicians. The one-night concerts are no longer just in the U.S.A., but almost anywhere else in the world.”

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B AC KSTAGE

133

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As I wandered around backstage at the concert hall, I could hear music coming from every side, tuning up for the coming concert. It was all quite discordant, since no one was playing the same melody. I found Lee Konitz in the control room playing his alto saxophone while he watched the Wimbledon tennis tournament. As I walked down the hall, there was Art Farmer rehearsing alone in his dressing room. I poked my head in and asked him if I could take his photograph.â&#x20AC;?

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 (opposite, above) LEE KONITZ (opposite, below) ART FARMER

J OH N Mc LAU G H LI N

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992

â&#x20AC;&#x153;John McLaughlin, purist and inventive guitarist, has basically gone his own way. After leaving Miles Davis (notably playing on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew) he formed several different groups, all heavily into an electronic sound, and all worth listening to. Electronics was my second big surprise on my return to photographing musicians. Everything was wired, as you can see above.â&#x20AC;?

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MA R CUS ROB ERT S

137

“When other musicians were onstage, I would always see the blind pianist Marcus Roberts in the wings listening and learning. His memory is phenomenal for every style of music. The following spread shows him rehearsing in the empty theatre.”

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992

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LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 MARCUS ROBERTS REHEARSING

139

MA R CUS ROB ERT S + W YNTO N MARSALI S

141

“Marcus tries his hand at the clarinet, while Wynton Marsalis watches with an almost fatherly pleasure. Marcus and Wynton recorded together on several albums, and one could not mistake the lovely bond there was between these good friends. Wynton told me at lunch one day when I mentioned this: ‘Marcus, he’s the man!’ If I had to pick my favorite people, and talents at this concert, the votes in both cases would go to these two.”

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992

G E R RY M U LLI G A N

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 (above) GERRY MULLIGAN, ART FARMER (opposite) GERRY CONDUCTING

“When I met Gerry Mulligan again for the first time since the mid-50s, he was still the long thin man I had known, but his hair had turned completely white. I said, ‘Gosh, Gerry, you’ve gone all white.’ He looked wryly over the top of his glasses at me, and replied with a great line: ‘That’s a terrible thing to say to a sax player.’ For this concert he had returned to the original sound that he had created 40 years before, and his ‘Re-Birth of the Cool’ was most likely meant for the old fans like me, who knew it all so well, and wanted to hear it one more time.”

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NEW YORK JAZZ G IAN T S 145

“Tom Harrell has won the Downbeat critics’ and readers’ polls for trumpet in 1977 and for years after, yet I had never heard of him before photographing him. Shows that I hadn’t been keeping up with contemporary jazz musicians.”

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 (opposite, top) LEW TABACKIN ON TENOR SAX, JON FADDIS ON TRUMPET (opposite, bottom) TOM HARRELL, PLAYING WITH THE NEW YORK JAZZ GIANTS

LI NCOLN C E NT E R JAZZ O R C H E ST R A

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992

“Ronald Westray is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. His biography also tells me that he is the Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Texas in Austin. This night he was wound up and ready for liftoff...for all I know he still may be in orbit out there in the stars. He was part of the ‘Jazz Futures’ group. Brian Blade on drums at the back.”

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JA N G A R B A R E K G R O U P

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 (above)

EBERHARD

WEBER,

BASS,

JAN

SAXOPHONE (opposite) THE NOW-FAMOUS MANU KATCHÉ

GARBAREK,

ALTO

“The Jan Garbarek Group was a new experience for me in jazz, with a unique sound. Garbarek joined Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet in the ’80s and his haunting solos brought him a lot of notoriety. Jan was joined by the German composer Eberhard Weber (on his unusual bass), and the now-famous Manu Katché on drums.”

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CHARLIE M ARIAN O + PAT M ETH ENY

151

“The Jazz Open ’94 concert had only a few musicians that I had heard of, such as Charlie Mariano, who I remembered at one time played with Shelly Manne in California, and of course Ornette Coleman. I realized just how out of touch with the contemporary jazz world I was, and decided then that this would definitely be the last outing for me. Pat Metheny, American jazz guitarist, heads his own group and has recorded widely in the U.S. and Europe.”

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1994 (opposite) CHARLIE MARIANO (above) PAT METHENY

O R N E T TE CO LEMAN

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1994

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ornette Coleman tore up the scenery in Stuttgart. He also played trumpet during the same concert. Other than the music, one of the things that made a big impression on me was the amazing number of photographers out in front. There easily were 30 or more of them, all vying for position, and the competition was serious. It made me think how lucky I was those 50plus years ago, when I was probably the only photographer out there, waiting for that magic moment to click my shutter.â&#x20AC;?

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E LLI S MARSALI S “Ellis Marsalis, fine pianist and father of the extraordinary Marsalis musical family. I had his CD of ‘Heart of Gold,’ which included ‘Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.’ I tried making conversation and told him that Tommy Wolf, who had written it was an old friend; let’s just say he was not as user-friendly as his son, for sure.” LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992

154

JOHN LEW IS

155

“John Lewis, always the demanding perfectionist, this time paired The Modern Jazz Quartet with the Kammerorchester Arcata from Stuttgart. The MJQ at this concert were a big disappointment to me, remembering their wonderful blend of classic and jazz so well. To me this was just painful listening. The only time the music ever got off the ground was when Milt Jackson gave the patient the ‘kiss of life’ with his enchanted vibraphone.”

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W YNTO N MARSALI S SEPTET

157

“Wynton Marsalis and his Septet had been delayed in Paris by some industrial action, and arrived too late even for the basic ‘soundchecks’. He surely was very tired from the long bus ride, but was so generous with his time that at the end of the evening he gave one encore after another. There was however one really special moment at the end of the concert, with the enthusiastic German crowd begging for more. Wynton joined up with Marcus Roberts for another encore, one that I will never forget. This was the kind of music that had excited me all of those years before. Sparks were flying, they triggered a tsunami of musical magic that was pure genius. The other musicians crowded the wings. Some of the audience, who had started to leave, thinking the concert over, were

stopped in their tracks. Wow! The sad thing was that the TV crew had stopped recording, and this great musical moment was lost. One could only dream that sometime in the future one would be able to hear the like of these two, at this level, on record. Like Brigadoon, it probably only happens once every hundred years. They are the ones that set the benchmark for great music at Jazz Gipfel ’92.”

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1992 (opposite) ELLIS MARSALIS PROUDLY WATCHES HIS SON FROM THE WINGS (above) WYNTON, WITH WYCLIFFE GORDON ON TROMBONE IN THE BACKGROUND

W YNTO N + ELLIS MARSALIS

LIEDERHALLE, STUTTGART, GERMANY, 1994 ELLIS AND WYNTON MARSALIS (following; 1) WYNTON WITH MARCUS ROBERTS BACKSTAGE (following; 2) WYCLIFFE GORDON WATCHING WYNTON

“Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, father and son, played encores for the enthusiastic German audience who were standing up and begging for more. You can see Ellis almost dancing afterwards, so proud that they were playing together. On the following spread Wynton Marsalis and Marcus Roberts stand in the wings, waiting to be announced for the finale and most wondrous moment of the entire concert. One final thing I would like to say: in looking into Wynton’s face one can see reflected the kind of person he is. This was before I knew about him helping so many young musicians, and without hearing his music, I could have told you that he was a very special human being.”

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index

KOKO TAYLOR

BILLIE HOLIDAY

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

THE TIFFANY LOS ANGELES, CA 1952

(cover)

(page 4-5)

HOWARD RUMSEY BOB COOPER

WARDELL GRAY

HERMOSA BEACH, CA, 1955

THE TIFFANY LOS ANGELES, CA 1952

(1st spread)

(page 6)

LIONEL HAMPTON

WARDELL GRAY

HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL LOS ANGELES, CA 1952

THE TIFFANY LOS ANGELES, CA 1952

(2nd spread)

(page 7)

OSCAR PETERSON LOS ANGELES, CA 1950s (3rd spread)

MILES DAVIS SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 8)

DAVE BRUBECK

MILES DAVIS

THE HAIG LOS ANGELES, CA 1952

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(foreword)

(page 10-11)

BILLIE HOLIDAY THE TIFFANY LOS ANGELES, CA 1952 (page 3)

LIONEL HAMPTON LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 12)

LIONEL HAMPTON LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 13)

BILLY ECKSTINE SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 25)

LIONEL HAMPTON

COLEMAN HAWKINS

HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 14)

(page 26)

LIONEL HAMPTON

ROY ELDRIDGE

HOLLYWOOD HIGH SCHOOL LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 15)

(page 28)

GEORGE SHEARING

ROY ELDRIDGE

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 18)

(page 29)

ELLA FITZGERALD

DIZZY GILLESPIE

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 21)

(page 30)

GENE KRUPA

DIZZY GILLESPIE

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 22)

(page 31)

CHARLIE VENTURA SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 33)

JACK TEAGARDEN BARNEY BIGARD THE BAL TABARIN LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 39)

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

COZY COLE

THE BAL TABARIN LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 34)

(page 39)

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

THE BAL TABARIN LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

MGM STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1950

(page 36)

(page 41)

ARVELL SHAW

SHELLY MANNE JUNE CHRISTY

THE BAL TABARIN LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 37)

LOUIS ARMSTRONG VELMA MIDDLETON THE BAL TABARIN LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 38)

RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM BALBOA, CA 1950 (page 42)

STAN KENTON RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM BALBOA, CA 1950 (page 43)

EARL ‘FATHA’ HINES

KENTON ORCHESTRA

THE BAL TABARIN LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM BALBOA, CA 1950

(page 38)

(page 44)

MAYNARD FERGUSON BOB COOPER RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM BALBOA, CA 1950 (page 45)

RAY NANCE SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 53)

ART PEPPER

PAUL GONSALVES

RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM BALBOA, CA 1950

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 46)

(page 54)

JUNE CHRISTY

QUENTIN JACKSON

RENDEZVOUS BALLROOM BALBOA, CA 1950

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

(page 47)

(page 55)

DUKE ELLINGTON

JOHNNY HODGES

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 48)

(page 55)

DUKE ELLINGTON

BIG JAY McNEELY

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 50-51)

(page 58-59)

RAY NANCE

AL BARTEE

SHRINE AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 52)

(page 60)

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 61)

(page 67)

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 62)

(page 67)

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 62)

(page 67)

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 63)

(page 67)

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 64-65)

(page 68-69)

BIG JAY McNEELY

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

(page 66)

(page 70)

BIG JAY McNEELY CONCERT OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951 (page 71)

KOKO TAYLOR OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951 (page 72)

PAUL DESMOND LOS ANGELES, CA 1954 (page 80)

PAUL DESMOND LOS ANGELES, CA 1954 (page 81)

SMILINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; SMOKEY LYNN

CAL TJADER

OLYMPIC AUDITORIUM LOS ANGELES, CA 1951

THE BLACKHAWK SAN FRANCISCO, CA 1957

(page 73)

(page 82)

DAVE BRUBECK PAUL DESMOND

CAL TJADER GROUP

CARMEL, CA 1954

THE BLACKHAWK SAN FRANCISCO, CA 1957

(page 76)

(page 83)

DAVE BRUBECK GERRY MULLIGAN

THE HAIG LOS ANGELES, CA 1950

LOS ANGELES, CA 1953

(page 78)

(page 85)

DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET THE HAIG LOS ANGELES, CA 1950 (page 79)

GERRY MULLIGAN LOS ANGELES, CA 1953 (page 86)

CHET BAKER BUD SHANK LOS ANGELES, CA 1953 (page 92)

GERRY MULLIGAN

CHET BAKER

LOS ANGELES, CA 1953

LOS ANGELES, CA 1954

(page 87)

(page 93)

CHET BAKER

LOS ANGELES, CA 1954

(page 88)

(page 94–95)

CHET BAKER’S TRUMPET

PEGGY LEE

LOS ANGELES, CA 1954

LAKE TAHOE, NV 1953

(page 89)

(page 96)

RUSS FREEMAN DICK BOCK

PEGGY LEE

LOS ANGELES, CA 1953 (page 90)

CHET BAKER LOS ANGELES, CA 1953 (page 91)

LAKE TAHOE, NV 1953 (page 97)

BENNY GOODMAN UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955 (page 100)

BENNY GOODMAN STAN GETZ

TEDDY WILSON ZIGGY ELMAN

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955

(page 102)

(page 108)

GENE KRUPA

LIONEL HAMPTON TEDDY WILSON

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955 (page 103)

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955 (page 109)

BUCK CLAYTON STAN GETZ

HARRY JAMES GENE KRUPA

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955

(page 104)

(page 110-111)

URBIE GREEN STAN GETZ

FRANK SINATRA

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955 (page 105)

SANDS HOTEL LAS VEGAS, NV 1960 (page 112)

BENNY GOODMAN

FRANK SINATRA

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955

SANDS HOTEL LAS VEGAS, NV 1960

(page 106-107)

(page 113)

MARTHA TILTON

FRANK SINATRA

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955

SANDS HOTEL LAS VEGAS, NV 1960

(page 108)

(page 114-115)

FRANK SINATRA

BACKSTAGE REUNION

20th CENTURY FOX HOLLYWOOD, CA 1959

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 116)

(page 130)

FRANK SINATRA

RAY DRUMMOND

UNITED ARTISTS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 117)

(page 131)

FRANK SINATRA

PERCY HEATH GLEN MOORE

UNITED ARTISTS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955 (page 117)

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 131)

FRANK SINATRA

LEE KONITZ

UNITED ARTISTS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1955

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 118-119)

(page 132)

BING CROSBY FRANK SINATRA

ART FARMER

20th CENTURY FOX HOLLYWOOD, CA 1959 (page 120-121)

GRACE KELLY BING CROSBY LOUIS ARMSTRONG MGM STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, CA 1956

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 132)

JOHN McLAUGHLIN LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 134-135)

(page 123)

MARCUS ROBERTS

TOM HARRELL

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 136)

(page 144)

MARCUS ROBERTS

RONALD WESTRAY

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 138-139)

(page 146-147)

MARCUS ROBERTS WYNTON MARSALIS

JAN GARBAREK EBERHARD WEBER

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 140)

(page 148)

GERRY MULLIGAN ART FARMER

MANU KATCHÃ&#x2030;

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 142)

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 149)

GERRY MULLIGAN

CHARLIE MARIANO

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994

(page 143)

(page 150)

LEW TABACKIN JON FADDIS

PAT METHENY

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 144)

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 151)

ORNETTE COLEMAN LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 153)

ELLIS MARSALIS LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 154)

JOHN LEWIS LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 155)

WYNTON MARSALIS ELLIS MARSALIS LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 158)

WYNTON MARSALIS ELLIS MARSALIS LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 159)

WYNTON MARSALIS MARCUS ROBERTS LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1994 (page 160-161)

ELLIS MARSALIS

WYCLIFFE GORDON

LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992

(page 156)

(page 162-163)

WYCLIFFE GORDON WYNTON MARSALIS LIEDERHALLE STUTTGART, GERMANY 1992 (page 157)

Bob Willoughby (1927—2009) studied cinema at the USC Cinema Department and design with Saul Bass at the Kahn Institute of Art. His first magazine assignments were with Harper’s Bazaar in the early 1950s. He was soon discovered by Hollywood film studios and was the first “outside” photographer to be hired by them, beginning a 20-year long collaboration with the publicity departments of all of the major studios. Willoughby’s photographs are included in the collections of The National Portrait Gallery,

Washington, D.C.; The National Portrait Gallery, London, England; The National Media Museum, Bradford, England; the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; the Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium; The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, CA; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Tate Gallery Collection, London; and the Musée de la Photographie et de l’Image, Nice, France. Bob Willoughby is survived by his wife Dorothy and his four children: Christopher, Steven, David and Catherine.

www.willoughbyphotos.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A heartfelt thank you to some people without whom this book would be a rather different beast: David Orr for his incredible design sense, passion for jazz and devotion to the project. If you look up ‘labour of love’ on Wikipedia — there’s a picture of David. The lovely Sharon Lineker for her real attention to detail — I can only imagine the lives destroyed if not for her careful proofreading. To the wonderful crew at The Icon in Los Angeles; Bonny Taylor-Diadhiou, Heather Rasmussen, Paul Batoon and Carlos Chilin. They could have anything on their walls but chose Paul Desmond. My sincere thanks to Lord David Evans, the true grand vizier of this enterprise, for taking on the project in the first place. And to Caroline Minshell, the unflappable interface between Evans Mitchell Books and the Colonies.

— Christopher Willoughby los angeles, 2012

YB H G U OL L I W B O B L O U I S A RSMNS T A KdE n R a/ A T EGEO/ TDO AVHEPB R U B E C K ORIOTNCGE /L CL HOECT EB R S LHBPAAR R B A R N E Y B I G A R D / J U N E C H R I S T Y / B U C K C L AY T O N / O R N E T T E C O L E M A N B O B C O O P E R / M I L E S D AV I S / P A U L D E S M O N D / B I L LY E C K S T I N E R OY E L D R I D G E / D U K E E L LI N GTO N / Z I G GY E L M A N / J O N FA D D I S

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A R T F A R M E R / M AY N A R D F E R G U S O N / E L L A F I T Z G E R A L D

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C O L E M A N H A W K I N S / P E R C Y H E AT H / E A R L ‘ F AT H A ’ H I N E S J O H N N Y H O D G E S / B I L L I E H O L I D AY / Q U E N T I N J A C K S O N

H A R R Y J A M E S / M A N U K AT C H É / S TA N K E N T O N / L E E K O N I T Z

G E N E K R U P A / P E G G Y L E E / J O H N L E W I S / S M I L I N ’ S M O K E Y LY N N S H E L LY M A N N E / C H A R L I E M A R I A N O / E L L I S M A R S A L I S

W Y N T O N M A R S A L I S / J O H N M C L A U G H L I N / B I G J AY M C N E E LY

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P AT M E T H E N Y / V E L M A M I D D L E T O N / G L E N M O O R E / G E R R Y M U L L I G A N R AY N A N C E / A R T P E P P E R / O S C A R P E T E R S O N / M A R C U S R O B E R T S

H O WA R D R U M S E Y / B U D S H A N K / A R V E L L S H AW / G E O R G E S H E A R I N G F R A N K S I N AT R A / L E W TA B A C K I N / K O K O TAY L O R / J A C K T E A G A R D E N

M A R T H A T I LT O N / C A L T J A D E R / C H A R L I E V E N T U R A / E B E R H A R D W E B E R R O N A L D W E S T R AY & T E D D Y W I L S O N

— K C E B U R B E VA D y b D R O W E R O F —