Mosaic
Records has made a profound impact upon the jazz marketplace with its
unparalleled boxed sets, but there is another aspect of the Mosaic brand that
is equally important. Mosaic Images maintains the complete collection of the
art of the peerless photographer and co-founder of Blue Note Records, Francis
Wolff. His brilliant imagery is as much a part of the Blue Note mystique as its
wonderful music, and in conjunction with the iconic label's 75th anniversary,
Mosaic has assembled the Blue Note 75th Anniversary Portfolio, a commemorative
portfolio of seven of Wolff's most outstanding photographs of artists from the
label's classic era. Nothing posed, everything in the purity of the moment, yet
every image is so impeccably balanced that it looks like Wolff could have spent
hours framing it.
Art
Blakey, drum master and founder of the Jazz Messengers - one of the music's
most important "universities" - is perfectly framed by cymbals, snare
and toms, his face in concentrated intensity as he presses his elbow into his
snare to get the ideal pitch for the drumstick poised to strike.
The
ice-hot turbulence of the immortal Miles Davis is caught in a moment of relaxed
focus, the model of the cool attitude that he embodied in that era as he blows
smoothly into his trumpet. Horn bent forward in his familiar manner, framing
J.J. Johnson in the background, and casually but elegantly dressed as always.
A young
Herbie Hancock, one hand hovering over the piano keys, looks over his shoulder;
his eyes, viscerally communicative behind his glasses, clearly sending a
meaningful look of unspoken instruction to whoever was its recipient.
The
utterly singular Thelonious Monk at his first session as a leader, sitting
calmly in front of the piano, pointing to his musicians to drive home a
concept; the shadow of his body and arm smears against the wall behind him and
wraps itself around his chest in a gentle embrace.
Horace
Silver, one of Blue Note's signature artists, bent forward over the piano, his
ultra-long fingers poised to strike, wisps of hair dangling over his forehead
and deep shadows making transforming his eyes into endlessly deep pools of
smoldering heat.
Jimmy
Smith, who redefined the B3 organ's modern jazz vernacular in a series of
groundbreaking Blue Note albums, is captured at a Philadelphia club, huge hand
spread like a lion's paw ready to viciously strike, his face contorted in a
rage of agonized joy, screaming to match those of the audience that were
undoubtedly accompanying him in the fury.
From the
legendary Blue Train session, the magnificent John Coltrane preaching through
his tenor in brooding profile, with Curtis Fuller in the background, his eyes
framed between the neck of the tenor and his trombone's slide. The photo
splendidly captures the intense depth of Trane's vision as he focuses on that
miraculous place that only he could see.
Francis
Wolff's genius was his innate ability to portray every aspect of the making of
music - playing, discussing, looking over charts, sharing a joke, relaxing
between takes - and simultaneously depicting the essence of the musicians with
the clarity and depth of Yousuf Karsh. Even more remarkably, he was able to do
this with an almost voyeuristic privacy that simply seemed to go unnoticed by
the subjects of his artistry. The moments he froze in posterity are so
sublimely real and immediate that they make the viewer feel exactly what it was
to have been there at that very moment, sharing in an intimacy that is
incredibly enriching and transcendent.
This limited
edition portfolio (only available through December 31, 2014) comes in a fine,
hand-made folio designed as a stylish brief, with a folded-over flap secured
with a magnetic closure. They are constructed of archival binder board (.098),
bound in smooth, black, linen-textured fabric. The lining is of acid-free paper
in bright white. Each folio contains a vellum sheet commemorating Blue Note
Records' 75th Anniversary with information about all 7 photographs. These
11" x 17" fine art prints with an image size of 10" x 10"
are made with archival pigment inks on 100% acid-free Hahnemuhle watercolor
paper with a matte finish.
This
limited edition set is available exclusively from Mosaic Records.
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