I will pick up any old 1960's Atlantic Records album that I find in the bins at a junk store, without much regard for the artist or the condition of the record, if it has one of the richly colored photographs that appear on many of the covers of that era. After I had accumulated a few of them, I took a look on the back and realized that Lee Friedlander was the photographer for these musician photos.
His photographs from the Jazz at Preservation Hall series are among my favorite album covers. They are similar to his work that appears in his Jazz People of New Orleans book, taken in New Orleans between 1957 and 1974.
I scanned and photographed the cover of Volume I featuring the Eureka Brass Band of New Orleans.
Too good.
A ha! The Eureka Brass Band! So glad you posted this. My grandfather, an enthusiastic and capable amateur photographer, took many lovely photos of exactly these fellows back in the day, an example of which can be seen here:
ReplyDeletehttp://slimbolala.blogspot.com/2005/05/back-in-day.html
I never knew who they were. Now I do. Thank you.
I like your grandfather's photo.
ReplyDeleteThe actual record of the Eureka Brass Band is also pretty great, recorded by Cosimo Matassa in the mid-sixties.
Percy Humphrey played trumpet and led the band, with his brother Willie Humphrey on clarinet, George "Kid Sheik" Colar and Peter Bocage on trumpets, Albert Warner and Oscar "Chicken" Henry on trombones, Emanuel Paul on sousaphone, Josiah "Cie" Frazier on snare drum, and Robert "Some Few Clothes" Lewis on bass drum.
Next time you are over we'll give it a listen.
Hey Billy
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of a photographer named William Claxton? Never heard of him until I saw this book at a bookstore in Paris today
www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/01383/facts.william_claxton_new_orleans_1960.htm
Wonder if there is any connection to Friedlander...the work seems similar.
Looks like Claxton and Friedlander were pals. Here's a picture that Claxton took of Friedlander in his studio: www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0103/wc15.htm. There is a note from Claxton that Friedlander was the best man at his wedding.
ReplyDeleteThe Eureka Atlantic album was cut July 2, 1962. Probably in Matassa's Gov. Nichols studio, where many famous sessions took place. Cheers
ReplyDeletenice to find something about these cats. any chance of ripping the lp so we can hear it? :)))
ReplyDelete