Through My Lens: Newport Jazz Festival 2016

Angélique Kidjo 

My camera and I spent some time out at the Newport Jazz Festival which took place July 29 - 31. As with the previous week of festival festivities, the weather and music were hot, it thankfully wasn't as dusty as the previous weekend but, I did once again have fun with my pals in the pit. This is what it looked like through my lens.  

Sunday highlights: Lizz Wright, Kamasi Washington and Angélique Kidjo.

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

Jose James

Kamasi Washington

Lizz Wright

Lionel Loueke of Potter, Holland, Loueke and Harland

Casey Benjamin of the Robert Glasper Experiment

Click HERE for more photos or the slide shows below.

Through My Lens: Newport Folk Festival 2016

Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes

Last weekend, July 22 - 24, I was out at Fort Adams in scenic Newport, RI to catch the annual Newport Folk Festival.  It was hot…weather wise and music wish, I came home visually filthy at the end of each day and had lots of fun with my pals in the pit.  This is what it looked like through my lens.

Friday highlights: The Staves, Raury, Matthew Logan Vasquez and Violent Femmes. 

Saturday highlights: Banditos, Ruby Amanfu, Margo Price, Kris Kristofferson doing "Bobby McGee" with Texas Gentlemen & joined by Margo Price, Del & Dawg and Patti Smith.

Sunday highlights: Ian Fitzgerald, Berklee Gospel & Roots Choir, Son Little, Middle Brother, Phil Cook who was joined by The Blind Boys of Alabama and Alabama Shakes.

Friday

k.d. lang

Matthew Logan Vasquez

Raury

Dan Auerbach of The Arcs

The Staves

Violent Femmes

Saturday

Ruby Amanfu

Amy Helm

Banditos

Graham Nash

Margo Price

Patti Smith

Father John Misty

Del & Dawg

Sunday

Elvis Costello

Ian Fitzgerald

Son Little

Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Click HERE for more photos or the slide shows below.

Photographer Adriana Mateo Releases New Book

Adriana Mateo debuted her new book earlier this week. The book, AM Jazz: Three Generations Under the Lens, features a collection of black and white photos of jazz artists around the world. 

The black and white photos, some hundred in all, are shot on the sly. The photographer is present, invisible, her camera a silent instrument. The focus is on details of what is happening inside the studio or on stage as musicians work together. "Capturing these particular moments was very special for me. I can remember each one," says Adriana. "They represent a bond I form with these artists."

You can pick up AM Jazz: Three Generations Under the Lens HERE.

Flashback: Newport Jazz Festival 2014

Winter has been taking a leisurely stroll here on the East Coast.  Folks have been counting down to the days until Spring shows up.  To give us some warm thoughts, we're going to flashback to last summer when we spent time roaming around the Newport Jazz Festival.  The reminiscing has gotten us excited for the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Global Asset Management; tickets are on-sale now.  **And, by the way, $55 flex tickets are still available until March 1…can't beat that price! You should hurry though. After March 1st, they will be the regular price of $74.  But, while we wait for all of the great music that will take place July 31 - August 2, this is what last year looked like.

Friday, August 1

Fort Adams State Park

Fort Stage

Jon Batiste & Stay Human (more photos HERE)

Miguel Zenon & The "Identities" Big Band (more photos HERE)

Cecile McLorin Salvant (more photos HERE)

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society (more photos HERE)

Neal Preston To Release Digital Led Zeppelin Book

 

Legendary photographer Neal Preston will release Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury on April 15. The digital book showcases hundreds of photos, over a hundred never before seen, and contact sheets.  In addition there will be commentary from Preston as well as video and text interview with people who worked for Zeppelin along with other goodies.  The book is available for pre-order exclusively on the iBookstore.  Check out the trailer below.

There are a handful of photographers who photograph music that captured the attention of little me.  Preston is one of those photographers.  I'm sure every Zep photo I ever loved and had on my wall at some point was taken by Preston.

Created with Apple's digital book creation app, iBooks Author, this Multi-Touch experience on iPad is unprecedented in its visual style and layout, letting the reader explore never-before-seen shots of Led Zeppelin and join them not only on stage, but also backstage. Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury contains an intro by Stevie Nicks and has contributions from bands like My Chemical Romance, Heart, Mastodon and many more.

No photographer was granted the access to Led Zeppelin that Neal Preston had. Any photo of the band from the post-1973 era familiar to fans is probably one of Preston's images. Led Zeppelin: Sound And Fury immerses you in the band's inner circle with brilliant on-stage performance photos, backstage candid shots, intimate images from onboard the band's two private planes, as well as snapshots from press conferences, movie premieres, private band parties and more.

Book Signing With Rock Photographer Gered Mankowitz

There will be a book signing with rock photographer Gered Mankowitz this Saturday, September 25. Mankowitz will be at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Soho from 1 to 4 PM signing his book, "The Experience: Jimi Hendrix at Masons Yard." The book features essays along with classic shots of Hendrix and his band as well as unseen photos. The who, what, when & where are below.

Read essays by some of music’s top journalist and page through photographs of Jimi and his band. World-renowned rock photographer Gered Mankowitz did two photo shoots with Jimi and The Experience: Jimi Hendrix at Masons Yard is the chance for fans to experience this moment in time.

Hendrix had just taken London by storm with a BBC session that rocked the music world, cementing him as one of the most influential musicians from his era and Gered Mankowitz captured this historical moment at his legendary Masons Yard Studio. Mankowitz was assigned the task of capturing the bands personality, but he took it one step further and created the visual trademarks the trio is known for today.

These photographs are a mixture of classics (The cover of Hendrix greatest hits album) and never before seen images that will remind readers who Jimi was and might have been, giving a glimpse into sides no one has ever seen before. The Experience gives readers something to hold onto that will undoubtedly conjure up memories from the years when the world had Jimi.

Gered Mankowitz
"The Experience: Jimi Hendrix at Masons Yard"
Morrison Hotel Gallery
124 Prince Street, NYC
(212) 941-8770
www.morrisonhotelgallery.com