If you’re in Washington, D.C. from now until the beginning of July, do yourself a favor. Stop by the Goethe-Institut, an organization that celebrates and promotes German culture, and take in the exhibit Search for a New Sound: The Blue Note Photographs of Francis Wolff.
Blue Note is the famous jazz label, home to classic works by John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey and hundreds of others, as well as new works by great contemporary artists such as Terence Blanchard and Norah Jones. This year it celebrates its Seventy-Fifth anniversary. This week in D.C. and elsewhere there are concerts and events to mark the occasion.
Blue Note was founded in 1939 by a German, Alfred Lion (1908-1987), who then partnered with his childhood friend Francis Wolff (1907-1971). Lion and Wolff loved jazz music, an enthusiasm that had begun when they heard musicians like Sam Wooding and Sidney Bechet who were touring in Germany. In the 1930s Lion and Wolff, both Jews, came to America to flee Nazi Germany. In America they found a jazz paradise. They hired Rudy Van Gelder, a genius recording engineer who had converted his living room in New Jersey to a home studio. They also paid for rehearsal time and recorded musicians late at night instead of early in the morning; you obviously can often get a better groove from jazz players after midnight than before lunch.
Blue Note eventually came to be known not only as the home of great jazz, but also of groundbreaking, gorgeous album covers. The photographs for these covers were provided by Francis Wolff, who had been a professional photographer in Germany. Wolff would photograph greats like Dexter Gordon, Lou Donaldson, Miles Davis, and Eric Dolphy when they were rehearsing. He used a quick flash, which threw brief light on the subject while keeping most of the background in shadow. The effect was magical and profound. At a time of deep racism in America, these black artists were photographed like royalty.
The graphic designer of the Blue Note album covers was a man named Reid Miles. Miles would take Wolff’s photographs and crop them, then add bold and modernist color and typography. The effect was dazzling. Blue Note covers became iconic both in the jazz and the art worlds.
Search for a New Sound: the Blue Note Photographs of Francis Wolff is at the Goethe-Institut from now until July 3. As part of the Seventy-Fifth anniversary, Blue Note is also releasing five vinyl editions every month of classic albums. You can see some of them here:
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