Last night a group of enthusiastic and fabulous Soul Train fans gathered on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park to pay tribute to the show’s host, Don Cornelius, who died yesterday.
music
Last October I photographed the legendary saxophonist Von “Vonski” Freeman for The Reader; here are a couple outtakes. I shot him before and during a set at the fabulous, historic Green Mill. Special thanks to Green Mill owner Dave Jemilo for being gracious and hospitable despite (because of a miscommunication) not knowing a photographer was coming that night.
My friend Mike Finch directed, edited, and stars in Rob Crow‘s (Pinback) new music video, So Way; I shot it. It debuted yesterday on the Rolling Stone blog, but the resolution is better at Mike’s Vimeo (below).
Trumpeter Nate Wooley, shot in Brooklyn on October 11th, just before he played a gig with Canada Day. This is for a series I’m doing on imrov musicians. I’ve been loving shooting at night with only available light–challenging but fun. Here his main light is coming from a storefront window. More NYC pictures soon, been (thankfully) working like crazy.
I stopped by Bobby Conn headquarters recently, where I found him in the basement, mixing his new record. The track I heard sounds fantastic, and smells like a chart-topper. I shot his portrait for this week’s Artist on Artist feature in the Reader, where he interviews Bryan Ferry. Above is an outtake, a slight variation on the shot the Reader published. Yes, that is a Lehman Brothers necklace–glad you asked. Here are a couple other portraits I shot of Bobby, from two earlier photo sessions.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the interview. Thanks to Alison Cuddy for having me on the show, and to Andrea Jablonski, the hardworking curator of the exhibit.
This Friday I’m participating in an exhibit with 9 other photographers. We’re showing photographs depicting life at Chicago’s greatest music venue, the Hideout. I’ll be on WBEZ’s Eight Forty-Eight tomorrow morning discussing my pictures for this show.
Above is a portrait of Shellac‘s comely drummer and flower arranger, Todd Trainer. I shot it at the Touch and Go 25th Anniversary concert, which was hosted by the Hideout.
The show is called Scrapbook, and here’s the info:
Friday, September 23rd, 2011 6-11PM
High Concept Labs: 1401 W. Wabansia, Chicago (catercorner from the Hideout)
Featuring photographs by:
Paul Beaty
Brooke Blocki
Carmelo Espanola
Robert Loerzel
Emily Long
Dan Lutger
Suzanne Nathan
Jim Newberry
Chris Roo
Ryan Sweeney
Angeline Evans
Javier Ayala
And posters from Steve Walters, Alana Bailey, Kathleen Judge…and more!
I shot this portrait of Material Issue frontman Jim Ellison at his Chicago home, in 1993, three years before his tragic suicide. The recently formed Material re-Issue–original crack rhythm section Ted Ansani and Mike Zelenko, along with consummate guitarist and singer Phil Angotti–plays a show this Saturday at Lincoln Hall.
It was an honor to be in the presence of U.S. air guitar champion Mr. Nordic Thunder. I photographed him last weekend for the Reader (shot above the Reader cover is an outtake from the session).
The New York Times published a portrait of mine in today’s paper, of the great vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz. I took the shot at the Pritzker Pavillion during a rehearsal for a concert by Mike Reed‘s Loose Assembly (here’s a portrait of Reed I shot earlier this year.) Way to go Shevitz!
Below is a screenshot from the article. And below that is a portrait of Adasiewicz I shot last April in his attic, where he practices.
Pitchfork Music Festival begins today, and I’ll be shooting video again with my friends Miss Mia and Ratso, hosts of the incredible public access television kids dance show, Chic-a-go-go. When I say incredible I’m not resorting to hyperbole; take a look at this list of past musical guests. I shot the picture above at the ’09 festival, right before (I’ve gotta be honest with you, it may have been after) Mia and Ratso interviewed art rock Baltimoreans Ponytail (that’s Ratso with the corrugated feet; Mia to his right, and the other three are Ponytail).
And for you counter-cultural types, you can get your weird-on at the anti-Pitchfork festival, Bitchpork.
I’m excited that a photograph of mine has been selected by the Communication Arts 2011 jury to appear in their Photography Annual 52. The picture is of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, the frontmen of Christian horrorcore rappers Insane Clown Posse, shot for a Jon Ronson story in The Guardian Weekend Magazine. You can see a behind the scenes shot from that session in the archives, here. Below are pics of the Annual, and also a shot I’ve never shown before, of ICP fans outside the Eagle/Rave after the concert they played the night I photographed them.
I shot this portrait of Chicago blues musician Al Harris in 2002, with a Kodak Stereo camera, on loan from my dad.
From Memphis, Tennessee (via Asheville, North Carolina), the indomitable Reigning Sound will be in Chicago tonight, playing a free show at the Empty Bottle (along with Last Year’s Men). Details here, including RSVP link. Above is a 2005 shot I took of Reigning Sound frontman Greg Cartwright, in Wicker Park.
Last Wednesday I photographed Chicago Symphony Orchestra‘s music director and conductor, Riccardo Muti, in his dressing room at Orchestra Hall during an interview with Dennis Polkow, for New City.
Muti is returning to work after an accident last February (he fainted at the podium during a rehearsal, resulting in facial fractures). The maestro will conduct Verdi’s Otello tomorrow–April 7th–and also on April 9th and 12th. More info on the concerts here.
I just started a new self-assigned project, shooting portraits of jazz musicians. Here are shots from the first two photo sessions: Mike Reed (top, shot last weekend on his rooftop) and Frank Rosaly (bottom photo, shot last week at the Hideout during a sound check).
If you’re a jazzer and up for having your picture taken, contact me.
Two swell dudes; the prolific musician (Mekons, Waco Brothers, Skull Orchard), visual artist, and self-styled fat Welsh bastard Jon Langford with Hideout impresario and US Department of Education staff member Tim Tuten. The duo was carousing at the Hideout last weekend at a birthday celebration for the inimitable Sheila Sachs.
One of my favorite people to photograph, Bobby Conn, is playing this Thursday at Chicago’s awesomest music venue, the Hideout. I shot the top picture last September, in Conn’s front yard; I took the bottom one in 2006 on the set of a Bobby Conn music video directed by Usama Alshaibi.
The luminous, witty, and prodigiously talented Diane Izzo died a couple days ago, of complications resulting from brain cancer. I’d been a fan of her music for years, and was lucky to forge a friendship with her, occasionally play in her backup band, and recently to collaborate on a film that she and her husband Marco were producing.
I’m grateful that in the last few years I was able to make several trips to Taos to visit Diane and Marco–ostensibly to work on the film, which was really fun–but even better was spending time talking and laughing with those two, enjoying the profoundly beautiful New Mexico sky and mountains, and meeting their many remarkable friends.
Diane was a great inspiration to me. The planet won’t be the same without her.
Update: Jim and Greg weigh in.
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