Monterey Jazz Festival, 1960

There is so much of Jim’s early work to love and find inspiring, but for me the real power and passion lies in the body of work he created in the early ’60s documenting the jazz greats, their supporting casts, adoring fans and even the tools of their trade. That’s why we’ve decided to focus on his exemplary work capturing the Monterey Jazz Festival in its nascent days, specifically his body of work from the 1960 and 1963 festivals, which bookended his intensely productive sojourn in New York City.  And a special thanks to Kitty Margolis, SF-based virtuoso jazz vocalist, who provided invaluable assistance in identifying the early greats that will be featured in these blogs.

In my mind’s eye I can see corduroy-coated, desert boot-wearing Jim prowling around the fog-shrouded, oak-studded Monterey Fairgrounds with his Leica M2 and his 50mm lens in 1960, a relative nobody in the photography world at the time. It was so early in his career, Jim is fresh out of the Air Force and I’m quite sure he didn’t have but a few fixed lens and a couple of camera bodies, if that; most likely he was relying on his 50mm lens, wide open and Tri X film to be pushed later in the darkroom.

I seem to remember Jim telling me he preferred the “normal lens” because it came closest to capturing what you saw with your own eyes. Another thing about Jim’s vision that just jumps out at you studying this work: He is shooting full frame, editing through the lens in real time, in the moment with no lighting equipment and no net. In the age of digital everything all the time and the ability to correct, excuse me, “enhance” even the most egregious of errors via PhotoShop magic and the like, it staggers my mind to think that Jim never even CROPPED a shot. He used to say, “It’s either in the negative or it’s not.”

A Jazz DJ’s Dream

The Monterey Jazz Festival was the brainstorm of Jimmy Lyons, a prominent jazz radio broadcaster in San Francisco, and pioneered the use of the 20-acre Monterey Fairgrounds as a major musical venue, starting on October 3, 1958.  One of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals, this year’s Monterey Jazz will mark the 55th anniversary of the festival, now held on the third weekend in September. In 1997, the 40th anniversay was heralded with the release of a book written by jazz historian William Minor, Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years as well as a three-disc set by the same name of musical highlights spanning those four decades.

Here’s an excerpt from the CD set’s liner notes penned by the former mayor of Carmel, big jazz buff, festival board member and, oh yeah, fairly successful “movie guy,” Clint Eastwood. These notes do a good job of capturing the mood, music and improvisational spirit that Jim must have experienced and found equally inspiring: “I attended the first Monterey Jazz Festival; it was a great event. There was a lot of fog, and old-time airplanes were flying overhead, but it was a lot of fun and everybody had a good time. One of the planes came down out of the fog just as Dave Brubeck was in the middle of a solo. He was jamming away and the audience wondered what he’d do as that plane zoomed overhead. He just broke right into ‘Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder’ -- bang, and then went back to what he was playing. The audience laughed and went with it -- he had them in the palm of his hand. “I came back to the Festival many times through the years. When I moved back to Monterey part-time during the ’60s, it was one of the big events for us, something we always looked forward to. I brought my son, Kyle, to the Festival when he was young, and now he’s performed there himself several times, which makes us both very proud. “Jazz was an important factor in 'Play Misty For Me,' the first movie I directed: We filmed several scenes at the Festival. We shot part of “Misty” in the main arena using a hand-held camera and I had to learn to improvise.

“Improvisation as a filmmaker is analogous to improvisation as a musician. I think in some ways my work has helped deepen my appreciation of this type of music. I’ve also done several jazz documentaries, including one on Thelonious Monk, whom I saw at Monterey. I liked his bold style and seeing him perform at the Festival had a strong effect on me. “Jazz is not only bluesy and forlorn - it also has humor and an upbeat, happy thing about itself. It reflects the independence of the people who were willing to spend their lives playing their music.” And make no mistake, back in the day Jim was there with every fiber of his being, eyes wide open, willing to spend his life to capture the story for all of those not fortunate enough to be there with him.

Stay tuned for more of Jim’s wonderful work from early Monterey Jazz Fests in upcoming blogs.