Gottlieb Jazz Photos

“Who is Billie Holiday? Look at Bill's shots. Who is Charlie Parker? Look at Bill's shots.”

Jason Koransky, Editor, Downbeat

Billie Holiday's stunning and very famous photo shown on my last post is taken from the archive of William P. Gottlieb jazz photos. Gottlieb was both a notable jazz journalist and a self-taught photographer who's images document the jazz scene in New York City and Washington, D.C., from 1938 to 1948, a time recognized by many as the "Golden Age of Jazz".

His photos are fantastic in the way they capture the essence of jazz, the emotions, the tense and excitement. Looking at them, you can feel the vibe and even sense the beat of the music, go back in time, and bring the stories back to life.

You can view Gottlieb's photos on this flickr set or on his archive site


Photographs: Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. 1948 // Portrait of Louis Armstrong, Aquarium, New York, N.Y., ca. July 1946 // Portrait of Wesley Prince, Oscar Moore, and Nat King Cole, Zanzibar, New York, N.Y., ca. July 1946 \\ Portrait of Sid Catlett, New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947 // Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt (Milton) Jackson, and Timmie Rosenkrantz, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947 // Portrait of Billie Holiday (and her dog Mister), Downbeat(?), New York, N.Y., ca. June 1946