The Jazz.com Blog
March 05, 2009 · 4 comments
The Jazz Photography of Richard Laird
I have long been familiar with bassist Rick Lairds musical career, but his jazz photography has been a new revelation. Jazz.com is delighted to launch a gallery of his striking jazz photographs today (which you can find here). Walter Kolosky, a frequent contributor to jazz.com, fills you in the on the details of Lairds dual careers below. T.G.
A while back I received an email from Pat Metheny. He was working on the liner notes for the Jazz Icons DVD Series, Wes Montgomery Live In 65. Pat wanted to get in touch with Rick Laird, the original bassist for the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It turns out that a young Rick Laird appeared in some great television footage playing with Wes in the forthcoming DVD release. Pat wanted to ask Rick some questions for his commentary.
I was fully aware of Rick Lairds fascinating jazz career because I wrote a book about the Mahavishnu Orchestra and I came to know Rick as a friend. He talked about playing with Wes, Ben Webster, Sonny Rollins and many more greats. But it wasnt until Pat, another jazz great, mentioned in one sentence that Laird had played with both Wes Montgomery and John McLaughlin that I truly, truly realized what a transitional jazz figure Rick actually was!
In the book I traced Rick Lairds music career until 1983. That is the year he decided to become a professional photographer. Its funny how life works. Rick told me how his photographic career really came about because of Mahavishnu Orchestra bandmate drummer Billy Cobham.
Rick Laird: I was in Tokyo on the last tour. Cobham was a maniac with cameras. I think he had everything. Nikon, Hasselblads, Leicaseverything. I picked up a camera and some lenses in Tokyo. I thought this would be fun to do. After the tour, I set up a little darkroom in my apartment in New York and learned how to develop black and white. I absolutely loved it. I had no plans to be a professional. It just happened.
I spoke to Rick further about his second career and learned that he had become successful supplying stock photos and taking corporate and private photography gigs. He even sent me a wonderful picture he had taken of Dizzy Gillespie. I learned too that he was a high caliber artist. I am now the proud owner of several digital Richard Laird prints of idyllic landscapes, nature and cottage scenes.
Occasionally Rick and I talk about some of his musical experiences and his photography. He mentioned to me that he had taken quite a few jazz shots. But, he really didnt really know where they were these days.
Several weeks ago Richard Lairdhe uses Richard for all of his visual arts work emailed me some images. I have a photographic background myself. Richards images stunned me. Technically, they were brilliant. But more than that, they were of a historic nature. These were unseen images of some of the greatest jazz artists that ever lived. But the element that struck me the most about the portraits was that Richard Laird had captured these legends in an exact moment of creation, introspection or joy. The true personality of the artist was revealed in a way rarely seen.
One conversation lead to another, and now Richard Laird will be making these never before seen jazz images available solely through jazz.com. (You can find the gallery here.) Serious jazz fans and collectors of fine art should take note. Recently Richard and I spoke about it all.
As a child you developed an interest in all of the arts. You even dabbled a bit in amateur photography.
Yes, my Mother gave me a Brownie (a camera) when I was about 12. I loved it. I had the photos developed at the local chemist. I did shots of race cars and motorbikes.
As house bassist at Ronnie Scotts jazz club in London you played with many of the greatest jazz musicians who ever lived. You were also in Buddy Richs band and, of course, you were part of the most famous fusion band that ever was, the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Do you appreciate the jazz history you were part of?
Yes, of course. It was a privilege to perform with all those great musicians. I was 23 at the time and played at Ronnie Scotts 6 nights a week. It was like going to school every night. And of course being the bassist in the Mahavishnu Orchestra was a truly unique experience. It was a bit like stepping off a cliff!
I know you never left music behind. But you left the music business behind because of the grind of being a bassist for hire.
When I stopped playing in 1983, I had been doing it for 24 years. The music scene had changed and I had changed too. Photography had become a passion and I also loved the autonomy of having my own business.
How did your experience as a musician affect the way you approached shooting pictures of other artists?
Well the process of photographing live situations such as jazz clubs or record dates is very much like improvising jazz. Its always in the NOW. And yes, I tried to capture the spirit of these artists, many of whom were my heroes.
You have mentioned to me that taking a successful picture is more than just having a photographic eye. What other elements were necessary for you to take these historic shots?
First, in almost all cases, I had contacted the musicians and asked their permission to photograph them. For example: My number one bass hero, Ray Brown, was playing at the Blue Note in NYC. He was such a gentleman and said it was fine. The other element was technical preparation. Shooting in jazz clubs and concerts is very difficult. Lighting conditions, crowds, nasty club owners and concert promoters can be a challenge. I worked very hard for many years to develop and hone the skills needed to do this work. There was nothing lucky about these shots. They are the result of years of hard work and dedication.
After all of these years you have finally decided to market these fine art prints of these truly remarkable moments in jazz history. Why now?
Why not? I had not looked at these images for a long time. Recently, while going through some files, I saw them and realized they were truly historical. Most of these great artists are gone as are many of the photographs of them. It is my hope that jazz fans and art collectors will have an interest. I also hope that everyone including young people who are discovering jazz will realize that these artists are the Bachs and Mozarts of jazz; the original creators. These pictures were taken because I loved doing them. I hope all these years later they can give some joy to others.
Inquiries about purchasing, commissioning or licensing Richard Lairds artwork can be sent to galleries@jazz.com.
This blog entry posted by Walter Kolosky
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These are wonderful portraits, taken by someone who was part of the music, as well. Wow. Great work, Richard.
Richard, Thanks for making these beautiful photos available- I have seen a LOT of photos of these great musicians, but your photos contain a great deal of warmth and personality that others lack. Clearly these people revealed a part of themselves that you had the instinct to capture. Great bassist-great photographer! Thanks Richard.
looking for an old friend. Tony Scott was active in the 40s & 50s in N.Y. etc! Anyone know anything?
Amazing photographs! These are quite different from any I've seen of artists in general.