Arthur Elgort: Jazz

Arthur Elgort (born 1940) studied painting at Hunter College but quickly transitioned to photography, finding painting too slow and solitary. Elgort attributes much of his spontaneous and liberated style to his lifelong love of music and dance, especially jazz and ballet. In his long career he has worked on many major advertising campaigns, including for Chanel, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, shot countless fashion spreads and published several books.

This is the first book dedicated to Elgort's Jazz portraits and the list of names it includes constitutes a veritable pantheon of jazz greatness. Featured in the book are portraits of Wynton Marsalis, James Carter, Roy Haynes, George Benson, Milt Hinton, Walter Blanding, Michael Bowie, David Sanchez, Angelo Debarre, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Joshua Redman, James Moody, Jay McShann, Pat McFeeny, Jimmy Scott, Dorothy Donegan, Illinois Jacquet, Ornette Coleman, Don Byron, Aaron Neville, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, John McLaughlin, Jesse Davis, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Christian Mcades, Ron Carter, Wycliff Gordon, Sam Newsome, Roy Haynes, Jon Faddis, Roy Hargrove, Max Roach, Jerome Harris, Jack DeJohnette, Michael Cain, Al Grey, Thelonius Monk Jr., Benny Carter, Jon Hendricks, Stefan Harris, Jervan Jackson, Kenny Baron, Doc Cheatham, Arnett Cob, Tommy Flanagan, Jason Moran, Luther Lafatti, Bradford Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Olu Dara, Jesse Davis, Buddy Tate, Anton Rooney, Flip Phillips, and Sam Rivers. Every now and then a fashion model of the moment pops up in a picture creating a fitting link between this body of work and Elgort's fashion pictures.