Francis Wolff (1907 – 1971) did not consider himself an artist, but rather an amateur photographer. Together with Alfred Lion, who, like Wolff, had fled Germany to escape the Nazis, he founded the renowned Blue Note label. The first music they released were records by boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. From the 1950s and 1960s onwards, virtually all the great jazz musicians came to Blue Note to have their music recorded by sound engineer Rudy van Gelder (who had Dutch parents).
25.000 photographs
One of the appealing aspects of the Blue Note label was that musicians were paid not only for the recordings but also for the hours they spent rehearsing. This often resulted in better albums, but it also gave Francis Wolff the opportunity to photograph his artists in unguarded moments. During his time working for Blue Note, he took over 25,000 photographs. Many of these have since achieved iconic status. Leading museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York have his work in their permanent collections.
Blue Note look
Wolff’s images were used at the time as advertising material, as illustrations for the liner notes and as part of the LP covers. The most beautiful covers were designed by Reid Miles. His distinctive rectangular patterns and artistic, sans serif letters combined with Wolff’s stunning portraits gave Blue Note records their own unique look.
Rembrandtesque lighting
The power of Wolff’s photographs lies both in the Rembrandtesque lighting and in the essence he managed to capture from the concentrated facial expressions of the musicians. His photographs bring the glory days of hard bop and free jazz back to life. Anyone who looks at the images Wolff took of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock and all the others will automatically hear their music as well.
