The Jazz Loft Project - book/website launch
Our friend in Durham at the Center For Documentary Studies, Sam Stephenson, has spent the last 13 years studying a collection of photographs and audio recordings made by the late W. Eugene Smith. These photos and recordings documented the goings on inside a building he owned in NYC at 821 Sixth Avenue from 1957 to 1965. Smith had placed pianos and other instruments in the building, outfitted it with cameras, a darkroom, and had wired the building from top to bottom with microphones so that he could record the proceedings. He opened his building up to jazz musicians and recorded Thelonious Monk, Zoot Sims, Paul Bley, Roy Haynes, Roland Kirk, Chick Corea, and hundreds of others in jam sessions, rehearsals, and casual conversations. He recorded Martin Luther King and President Kennedy giving speeches on radio and TV, Jason Robards reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s essay “The Crack-Up,” and late-night callers to Long John Nebel’s radio show who claimed to have seen UFOs and been abducted by aliens. Smith also kept the tapes rolling when not much was happening. He recorded mysterious voices, people hiking up and down the stairs, taxis honking, and the Sixth Avenue bus chugging by every fifteen minutes.
During this time, Smtih shot over 1000 rolls of film (40,000 images) and recorded 1704 reels of tape. Sam Stephenson and his colleagues have been studying these recordings and photos for the last 13 years, tracking down who was on them, interviewing the musicians and onlookers present at the time in an attempt to fully catalog all of Smith’s photos and recordings. With over 2/3 of this work now cataloged, it is incredibly exciting to see the launch of a book, website and radio series on The Jazz Loft Project. In early 2010, a traveling exhibition of photographs will go on display, beginning with a show at Lincoln Center - traveling around the country.
This week in Durham, the launch of the book and website was celebrated in a party at The West End Wine Bar, featuring a speech by Sam and music by former Jazz Loft resident Ronnie Free and his trio. You can now purchase this lovely book at your local bookstore or order it online. It is an astounding collection of images and stories. The website is simply amazing as well - you can view untold images and listen to recordings that few have even been aware of. Check it out: jazzloftproject.org Absolutely unreal.
Hats off to Sam and his colleagues. We’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.