Jazz Seen: The Life and Times

by William Claxton

William Claxton is the preeminent name in American jazz photography, and this 289-page book captures the enormous scope of his talent. From now-legendary shots of jazz icons to newer pictures of lesser-known artists, Claxton has seen it all, and it's all here. As a photographer, Claxton loves movement, and much of the best work here consists of candid shots that capture artists engaged in the moment of creation. No poses, no props, just a musician, an instrument, and magic charging the atmosphere. Claxton is uniquely able to make himself invisible, allowing his subjects the space to emote, create, think. When Claxton does pose an artist, the instrument is never out of Sonny Rollins, young, intense, his horn slung across his hip like a rifle; Wynton Marsalis, grinning like a Cheshire cat, his arms cradling a half-dozen horns; Jacky Terrason, full of energy, lying under his piano. Beyond Claxton's obvious technical mastery, this is an astonishing collection. Claxton has documented so many personalities, so much art, so many stories, that Jazz Seen transcends the ambitions of a mere book of photography. This is history. --S. Duda

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

64 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ian Laird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chocablock with fabulous photos, this collection by the photographer William Claxton is riveting for anyone interested in 1950s jazz.

Why 1950s? Well, that's where most of the photos are from. It struck me as odd that the book has no structure or thematic divisions or any chronological sense at all. The photos are just paraded by us in a random, jumbled fashion. As I looked more closely, I found the bulk of the photos date from 1954 to 1960. There are some either side and then a clump from the early to mid-nineteen nineties. There are none between 1964 and 1992. Why? We never learn. It is nice to see Chris Isaak and the elderly Sonny Rollins, but the book would have been much better if it had been limited to the nineteen-fifties and sixties, a very interesting period musically, and when American jazz men were the best-dressed cats on the planet.

It's nice, however, to see the young Dave Brubeck sans spectacles, Paul Desmond with this sax, sitting behind a desk and the Sonny Rollins Way Out West album cover. There is a lovely shot of Thelonious Monk on a cable car in San Francisco, after overcoming his reluctance for the idea.

My favourite pic is of Shorty Rogers smiling in his son's tree house, with the boy at the bottom the ladder. You have to look twice to see there is a jazz musician in the photo.

Good book, but just for individual photos you might like.