The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff [Hardcover]

Michael Cuscuna (Author), Charlie Lourie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2001

From 1941-1965 Francis Wolff took thousands of photographs during the rehearsals and recording sessions that made Blue Note Records the world's most famous jazz label. This book presents over 200 of those intimate photographs and the text details the history of the label and the fascinating stories behind some of its most legendary recordings. A valuable reference section includes biographies of the artists and the names and dates of the sessions at which the photos were taken.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1939, Wolff (1907?-1971), a professional German photographer, came to the U.S. and became partners with Alfred Lion at Blue Note Records, an innovative new recording company producing masterpieces by talented young jazz musicians such as Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, John Coltrane and many others. Wolff managed the company's business affairs, and he also attended recording sessions, taking thousands of informal photographs of individual musicians at work. Some of these photographs appeared on Blue Note album covers and later in booklets offered with reissues of classic jazz recordings produced by Mosaic Records, which Cuscuna and Lourie founded in 1982. Most of them, however, were never seen by the public, and many of the over 200 duotone photographs in this large-format volume, beautifully designed by Schnider, are here reproduced for the first time. Intimate and unposed, these portraits reveal Wolff's genius for capturing the musicians' various moods and their joy in music-making. The brief but lucid text outlines the history of Blue Note Records and its relationship to its artists, adding to the appeal of this stunning book.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

When Alfred Lion, founder of Blue Note Records, retired in 1967, his partner, Frank Wolff, presented him with the label's photographic archive as a keepsake. It fit into a single carton. For 19 years it remained unopened, until Lion gave it to the owners of the Blue Note masters, Mosaic Records, to illustrate their reissues. Wolff, a lifelong jazz aficionado, fled Germany in 1939 and met up with his old friend Lion in New York. In addition to managing Blue Note's business affairs, he photographed 28 years of Blue Note sessions. The results are spectacular. Many of the giants of the period, including Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock (who writes the introduction), Jimmy Heath, and Art Blakey, are captured in mid-note, or in silent contemplation, seemingly unconscious of the photographer's presence. This is the crowning feature of the work: the practice of genius is captured in its essence. Each photograph is listed by subject, album being cut, album headliner, site, and year. An index of featured artists and their Blue Note work is included. Recommended for all photography collections. Essential for all jazz collections.?Adam Mazmanian, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (May 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847819124
• ISBN-13: 978-0847819126
• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 11.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,287,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, December 31, 1999

By 

Bruce Caines (New York City) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff (Hardcover)

Yes, there IS a calendar version of this book but the calendar just scratches the surface of this collection.

I intitially borrowed this book while looking for reference images for a video project. It became obvious to me in a very short time that I would HAVE to purchase this book. Even though I am a professional photographer and filmmaker, there are very few photography books I am willing to spend my money on. There are many I like but few I wish to own. This book, like all of the photo books I've purchased, moved me in a powerful way. These are beautifully executed, intimate black and white portraits. Most of the photographs are spontaneous and shot during recording rehearsals. Several of the images graced the covers and sleeves of the records produced by the jazz record label, Blue Note.

Francis Wolff was not just Blue Note's primary photographer (and quite talented), he was also the label's co-founder. His already skillful eye was that much more in tune (no pun intended) with his subjects and sensitive to the working environment. He was able to capture subtle moments few likely could. Most images are illuminated by a single light source, spotlighting the artists and capturing them in moments of thought, exhilaration, playfulness and intensity.

Seeing greats like Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, a young Herbie Hancock and Hank Mobley in these intimate moments early in their careers is powerful. The design is outstanding and the printing if these photographs is impressive. This is a must have book for the music lover, photographer, or photography lover. If you don't fit into one of the above catagories, don't sweat it. You will love this book simply because it is beautiful.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For lovers of jazz, jazz musicians and B&W photography, December 15, 1997

By 

André Sainderichin ([e-mail]) (Antwerp, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff (Hardcover)

Good, insightfull text, great photographs, oustanding print quality: a must have for all lovers of jazz, jazz musicians and photography. The photographer's empathy for his subject(s) just oozes from the pages of this wonderful book. There's a picture there of a dreamy John Coltrane, that just totally catches the sensitivity, the intelligence, the emotionality of a great musician and a great human being! A must buy !

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sounds of Wolff, August 2, 2009

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff (Hardcover)

Earlier this year I reviewed Blue Note: Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff, that I originally thought was a paperback version of this coffee-table book. In fact both books are separate editions and full of Wolff's stunning photos. Just look through these pages at the two hundred photos and so many of them seem like covers for a twelve-inch Blue Note LP minus the lettering. No wonder Reid Miles wonderful cover designs looked a treat when he had these great images to work with.

Unlike the paperback all the photos in this book were take in Rudy Van Gelder's windowless recording studio with the musicians merging into the black or dark grey background, this gives them extra credence because there are no detractions to take your eye away from the person. The players are the cream of the East Coast sound during the fifties and sixties and several get repeat shots, Hank Mobley appears eleven times for instance. A couple of the ladies are included too, Melba Liston and Shirley Scott. A nice touch, I thought, was the name, included in the captions, of the LP recording session that the photos were taken at.

The book is a beautiful print and design job, photos in 150 screen, though not the best for quality reproduction I think the original prints must have been of the highest quality because they do look very impressive on the page. In the first few pages there are essays about Blue Note records and Wolff. The design and typography is first class.

The Blue Note paperback I mentioned is smaller and has some great color shots, probably more text and a slightly busier layout and if you like Wolff's images I think it's well worth getting. Both books are a visual celebration of some of the greatest jazz ever recorded. You can almost hear it!

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.