Fans of the late artist can now shoot with a camera that pays tribute to his artistry and era.
The late photographer Jim Marshall was a true iconoclast with a keen eye, a man who didn’t suffer fools while chronicling the ego-filled world of rock and roll and jazz. Now, fabled German camera manufacturer Leica is paying tribute to his legacy with the Leica M Monochrom Limited Edition Jim Marshall Set.
Exhibition Locations: San Francisco City Hall, Ground Floor Exhibition + North Light Court Banners Opening Reception: Thursday, January 26, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public Exhibition Dates: January 26 - June 17, 2017
The San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries presents
Jim Marshall's 1967
Before he was a famous rock photographer, Jim Marshall photographed jazz, covering the festivals in Newport, Rhode Island and Monterey, California in the 1960s and photographing the biggest stars along with their deeply hip audience. Jazz Festival: Jim Marshall, published recently by Reel Art Press in collaboration with the Jim Marshall Archive, collects some 600 of Marshall’s black and white images made between 1960 and 1966, most of them previously unpublished.
Oh yeah - Reel Art Press does it again! The Estate of Jim Marshall is pleased to announce the launch of "Jim Marshall: Jazz Festival" (Reel Art Press, September, 2016). We lost a true hard-working character when Jim died, and we thank Amelia Davis for her dedication to keeping his work out there, and editing such a rich and fabulous book (and for letting me make an edit for this story! Thank you!) The book covers six years of Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals, on stage and behind the scenes, and is chock-a-block with pics.
The best photographs linger in the mind even after you shut your eyes. It's the same with great jazz songs, whose melodies seem to stay awhile, even after the last note sounds. In both, there's a sense of eternity, which is why the marriage of the two — as in the jazz images of photograper Jim Marshall can seem timeless.
Whenever there’s mention of the work of the late San Francisco photographer Jim Marshall, the first thing most people think of is rock ’n’ roll. A pioneering rock photographer, he was famous for his iconic images of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and many other bands and musicians from the heyday of rock in the late 1960s and ’70s.
Jazz connoisseurs have been hearing that eulogy for at least half a century. They're a picky bunch, often complaining about the quality of contemporary jazz while pointing to some golden era when "real" jazz thrived.
But if jazz did indeed die, what was the cause of death, and when did it pass away?
A new book, "Jazz Festival: Jim Marshall," offers some possible answers. It features a handsome collection of black-and-white photos of jazz icons playing for and mingling with the glamorous crowds at the Monterey Jazz Festival in the early 1960s. The photos were taken by the legendary music photographer Jim Marshall, who captured those final summers when jazz was still widely popular -- and when it started to lose its commercial appeal.
