William Claxton: Jazzlife [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

William Claxton (Author), Viktoria Haussman (Editor), Joachim Ernest Berendt (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2006 | ISBN-10: 3822851663 | ISBN-13: 978-3822851661 | Edition: Sgd Ltd

In 1960, photographer Claxton and noted German musicologist Joachim Berendt traveled the U.S. hot on the trail of jazz music. The result of their collaboration was this amazing collection of photographs and recordings of legendary artists.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Limited to 1,000 individually signed and numbered copies

Every copy comes with four signed and numbered, 50 x 60 cm (19.6 x 23.6 in.) ultrachrome prints

Book and prints packaged in a clothcovered box

Prints included:

William Claxton, Jazzlife: Print 1 Metropole Café on Broadway near Times Square, New York City, 1960

William Claxton, Jazzlife: Print 2 Stan Getz by a stage door on Cosmo Alley, Hollywood, 1956

William Claxton, Jazzlife: Print 3 The George Williams Brass Band, New Orleans, 1960

William Claxton, Jazzlife: Print 4 Ray Charles with a Raylette, New York City, 1960

From the Author

William Claxton holds a special place in the history of American - particularly jazz - photography. Since his early career - shooting for LIFE, Paris Match, and Vogue, among other magazines - Claxton has worked with and become friends with many Hollywood luminaries and jazz musicians, most notably Steve McQueen and Chet Baker (whom Claxton first photographed in 1952 when Baker was young and still unknown). Claxton, whose jazz imagery has graced the covers of countless albums and magazine covers for over five decades, is considered the preeminent photographer of jazz music. TASCHEN has also published Claxton's Jazz seen and Steve McQueen.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 696 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; Sgd Ltd edition (October 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822851663
• ISBN-13: 978-3822851661
• Product Dimensions: 25.8 x 21.2 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 39 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,097,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clickin' with Clax*, March 18, 2006

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jazzlife (Hardcover)

If you were a jazz fan in the Fifties this book will be the ultimate visual memory jogger. It is a huge book, too, weighing in at over fifteen pounds (a bit more with its handy carrying box) and with spreads opening to an impressive twenty-three inches wide by sixteen deep. The 696 beautifully printed pages feature an expanded collection of photos originally taken for the 1961 German book 'Jazz Life' produced by Joachim Berendt and William Claxton.

In four months during 1960 these two motored across the America and it would seem photographed every important jazz musician that mattered and what stunning photos they are. Page after page of folks you have been listening to for years and not just recording studio shots but plenty of informal and location photos. Musicians everywhere get a look in, New Orleans, Kansas, St Louis, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, from ragtime to bop to East and West coast styles. Each area has an essay and all the photos are captioned. Looking through the book for the first time with its huge page size and Claxton's sympathetic jazz camera is a rather awesome experience.

There is a forty-two minute CD with the book (the original German edition had two seven inch LPs) of music recorded by Berendt but I thought it was rather bland in its choice of tracks. Predominately New Orleans traditional and spirituals with a very small sampling of other styles some of which annoyingly fade out before the end. I bet at the time though the music added to the book's success in a still rather war-torn Germany.

'Jazz Life' celebrates a great American music style with photos you can almost hear. I doubt there will be anything as good as this published again.

*A Shorty Rogers tune dedicated to Bill Claxton

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art, November 10, 2006

By 

Woodshed (new york, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jazzlife (Hardcover)

I just received this enormous book; yes enormous in every way. Both in vision, content, printing and weight. I have plenty of jazz photo books and some earlier collections by Claxton, but this certainly reaches beyond the rest. It reminds me of the work by the great Cartier-Bresson. It is far beyond publicity shots and the compositions are real and echoes what language can never say. I am reminded of the great writer Albert Murray. He delves deep into the entire ouvre of this American art form. The large two page bleed photos are breathtaking. The book is largely b&w which suits me just fine. One seldom comes across such empathy and passion for a subject and at the same time shoots like a painter. This is a bargain at twice the price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JazzLife, November 3, 2006

By 

Annamarie Rewal (Valencia, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jazzlife (Hardcover)

Gorgeous book. One that I will want to have out and look through over and over. Amazing, you see something different every time you look through it.