Saxophonist Dexter Gordon,
photographed in 1948 by Herman Leonard
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The Jazz Heritage Center in San
Francisco announced today a special exhibit for
April's Jazz Appreciation Month: "Jazz Giants: The Photography of Herman Leonard," a collection of some of the greatest jazz photographs ever taken by one of
America's greatest living photographers. The show is Leonard's first in San Francisco since he briefly lived in the city 20 years ago.
The exhibit includes more than 40 classic black and white photographs of jazz legends, including
Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Billie Holliday and Thelonious Monk. The images will be on exhibit April
5 through May 21 in the center's Lush Life Gallery as well as the Koret Heritage Lobby outside the entrance to Yoshi's Jazz Club and
Restaurant, 1330 Fillmore Street, in San Francisco.
Most of the photos in the exhibit will be available for sale through the
JHC and Herman Leonard Photography, LLC.
"There is no better way to appreciate jazz and its role in American culture
and history than through Herman Leonard's photographs," said Peter Fitzsimmons, Executive Director, Jazz Heritage Center. "Every one of
these photos is a masterpiece. We are very proud to bring this incredible exhibit to the Fillmore District, and the entire Bay Area."
The Jazz Giants exhibition is a photographic journey through the
golden years of jazz, particularly in New York and Paris during the 1940s and 1950s. Leonard's friendships with jazz greats allowed him to vividly
capture the magical moments during this critical era in jazz history. Focusing on the life and times of famed artists such as Holiday, Ellington and
Monk (among countless others), this exhibition features a selection from Leonard's extensive photographic history. Leonard's work is also currently
on display at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
"I want to show jazz artists in the best possible light, to tell their
truth but to tell it in terms of beauty," said Leonard, who moved to New Orleans after living in San Francisco from 1989-1990. "Like my
friend Tony Bennett sings, I left my heart in San Francisco and I'm so glad that after 20 years my work is being shared with the people of that
great city, where I spent a short, but important part of my life."
Born in Allentown, PA, Leonard discovered the camera at the young age of 11
and hasn’t stopped shooting since. While stationed in Burma in the Army Medical Corps during World War II he developed film late at night in his combat
helmet. Leonard studied under famed Canadian portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh and had the invaluable opportunity to assist in shoots with
Albert Einstein, Harry S. Truman, and Clark Gable. It was from Karsh that Leonard received his most valuable advice as a
photographer: to "tell the truth, but always in terms of beauty."
In the 1950s he became the personal photographer to Marlon Brando.
In 1956, Leonard moved to Paris and worked in advertising and fashion and
for magazines including Life, Time and Playboy. After living in Europe for over 20 years, Leonard returned to the United States and settled in San
Francisco and began printing his jazz negatives.
In 1991, he moved to New Orleans after visiting the city for an exhibition of his work. The devastation
of Hurricane Katrina not only took his home, studio, and darkroom but over 6,000 of Leonard's original photographs along with many of his exposure
records were lost in the hurricane.
Leonard, now 87 and living in Los Angeles, continues to shoot, develop and
exhibit his comprehensive archive. Most recently, the Smithsonian Institution honored Leonard by housing his entire collection in the permanent archives
of musical history where they are considered as essential to American music history as Benny Goodman's clarinet or Louis Armstrong's horn.
In October 2008, Leonard was honored with a Lucie Award for his
Lifetime Achievement in Portraiture. In June 2009 Leonard was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree by Ohio University, where he also
delivered the 2009 Commencement Address.
The Herman Leonard Jazz Archive was established in 2007 and in 2008 was
awarded a Grammy Foundation Grant for Archiving and Preservation. Herman's goal through the archive is to bring his entire jazz collection, comprising
a visual documentation of America's original art form, back to life and preserve it for future generations.
The Jazz Heritage Center,
located at 1320 Fillmore Street, is the only permanent cultural and educational complex dedicated to the long history
of Jazz in San Francisco and the Fillmore District. Located within the new Fillmore Heritage Center in the heart
of the Historic Fillmore Jazz Preservation District, the non-profit Jazz Heritage Center is part jazz museum,
part jazz cultural center, and part jazz art gallery.
For more information, call 415.377.4565
or visit the Jazz Heritage Center
website.
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