From 1941 to 1965, Francis Wolff took thousands of photographs during the rehearsals and recording sessions that made Blue Note Records the world's most famous jazz label. Many of those photographs were used on Blue Note's graphically striking album covers, but most of Wolff's work has never been seen by the public. This book presents over two hundred of Wolff's photographs - many previously unpublished - of the jazz legends immortalised in Blue Note recordings.

These candid photographs capture John Coltrane in the famous Blue Train session, Horace Silver recording Song For My Father and many other Blue Note artists, such as Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Clifford Brown, Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson and Grant Green.

The text tells the personal history of Blue Note records, from its founding by Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, to their critical discovery of recording master Rudy Van Gelder, and the stories behind many of the label's best-loved recordings. A valuable reference section provides biographical data on the artists and the names and dates of the session at which the photos were taken.

Jazz aficionados and admirers of fine-art photography will value this book for its luxurious first-time presentation of Francis Wolff's work, the jazz history revealed in the text, and the tangible spirit of the era captured in these stunning images.

MICHAEL CUSCUNA and CHARLIE LOURIE have extensive backgrounds in the music industry. In 1984, Cuscuna was asked to help revitalise the Blue Note Record Label. He has since been musical consultant for the film Round Midnight, producer of the Mount Fuji Jazz Festival, and co-ordinator of reissues at Impulse Records. Charlie Lourie has been a marketing executive at Columbia Records, and head of the jazz department at Warner Bros. Records. In 1982 Lourie and Cuscuna founded Mosaic records, a label committed to reissuing classic jazz recordings - many of which were originally recorded by Blue Note.

Designer and jazz-lover OSCAR SCHNEIDER is co-founder and partner of Oscar Schnider Design, Inc., a corporate communications and graphic design firm in New York City. In addition to serving a distinguished list of international corporate clients, his firm has been involved in numerous arts projects, particularly in the field of jazz. It produced a widely acclaimed jazz calendar dedicated to Eric Dolphy, and has recently created the complete Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell CD box sets for Blue Note Records.

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