Overview
William Claxton's "Jazz" is an exciting and original collection of over seventy duotone portraits of such jazz greats as Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Gerry Mulligan, Mahalia Jackson, Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, Art Pepper, and Max Roach. Hailed as a classic and now available in an elegant paperback edition, Jazz is perhaps the first art photography book devoted to jazz musicians. By turns exuberant, joyful, and contemplative, Claxton's keen, intuitive photographs capture the nuances of the intimacy between jazz musicians and their music. With a foreword by Leonard Feather and an afterword by Terry Southern, this seminal classic is a must for anyone who appreciates jazz and fine photography.Editorials
From the Publisher
The pics by photographer William Claxton are mature, expressive and precise: this glorious paper edition of his 1987 classic is timeless. It's safe to say that these photos have played as big a role in the jazz renaissance as a whole stack of reissues. Time Out New YorkWith stunning black-and-white photography, Claxton captures the moodiness of the genre, the intimacy of his subjects, and the romanticism of a lost age of genius. Buzz
--Buzz, January 1997
The 1950s jazz scene continues to grow in its fascination. Is it the musical genius of players like Stan Getz, Art Blakey, and Miles Davis? Or is it the image of jazz cats like Chet Baker, dressed in a suit, stooped in a corner of some dark, smoky club, playing their hearts out? Judging from William Claxton's latest book, Jazz, it's the latter. Finally available in a soft-cover edition, Claxton's book is, first and foremost, an art book that just happens to be about such jazz greats as Miles Davis, Chet Baker, and Billie Holiday. With stunning black-and-white photogrpahy, Claxton captures the moodiness of the genre, the intimacy of his subjects, and the romanticism of a lost age of genius.