Tribute to Herman Leonard
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 
Three years ago, shortly before the introduction of the smoking ban in England, Forest got together with Boisdale to produce a CD entitled You Can't Do That! Songs For Swinging Smokers. It features 20 songs about smoking (and coffee!), including classics such as 'Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette', so we wanted the sleeve to feature an image that reflected the smoky, jazz club environment we were trying to recreate.
I was sent a picture of American jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon. The photographer was Herman Leonard, famous for what Associated Press describes as "his smoky, backlighted black-and-white photos of such greats as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra".
The shape of the photo meant it wasn't suitable for the cover of the CD but we eventually found a place for it on the insert that appears in the back of the CD case (see above).
Of course I had to track down the agency responsible for the copyright and agree a fee. I won't tell you how much we paid but it wasn't cheap. It was worth it however to have a bona fide Herman Leonard photograph on the CD.
The reason I mention this is because Herman Leonard died on August 14 and in tribute the BBC has posted an audio slideshow of his work HERE.
Simon Clark
The Telegragh has an obituary HERE. Funnily enough, the print edition features Leonard's picture of Dexter Gordon.
Reader Comments (4)
Stunning images from a less girlified age than ours:
From Billie Holliday to Lady Gaga.
From Frank Sinatra to Justin Bieber.
From Smoky Nightclubs to Empty Pubs.
Oh, happy, happy us...........................................
(And on WHAT grounds will they ban smoking in Heaven, I wonder ?)
Just beautiful. I hope heaven is a smokey jazz club ;)
87? Looks like all those smokiest of smoke-filled venues didn't make him keel over at the age of five. Strange that...
For Joe Jackson fans
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007tcw7
24.35 mins in
Great to hear that Joe Jackson track again. The man's a master. Thanks Chas.