Jazzlife, New Orleans 1960

A love letter to the birthplace of Jazz New Orleans will never again appear as it does in these rare and stunning photographs by William Claxton taken for the book Jazzlife in 1960. While traveling around the US with Musicologist Joachim E. Berendt to record America's original art form, Claxton met and photographed the jazz personalities in every major and minor city, capturing these musicians in their natural environment.

The photographer: 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.