jazz
My view of 2019 included plenty of great music from all over Chicago, especially my photographer debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I braved the polar vortex along Lake Michigan and gazed at the night sky in far west Texas. And right in the middle of all of it, I stepped in front of the camera to ask Bridget a very important question. Wishing you joy and beauty in 2020!
January: My visit with a snowy owl on Northerly Island.
January: the polar vortex gripped the city, so I went outside.
February: the Lunar New Year parade winds through Millennium Park.
March: Punditry in all its glory at the Spertus Institute.
April: Gauthier Dance Company at the Harris Theater, mixing it up with the audience.
May: The Chicago Children’s Choir painting the town red in Millennium Park.
May: David Finckel and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Harris Theater.
May: Marc-André Hamelin in recital against a spring sunset at Northwestern.
May: Jane Glover and Music of the Baroque opening its Musical Feast Gala.
June: My exhibit of jazz photography extends through the summer at PurePoint Financial.
July: the Bitter Jester Music Festival rocking out under Fourth of July fireworks.
July: after a 4-hour photo shoot, I ask Bridget to marry me and she says yes!
August: Kurt Elling belts it out at the Green Mill.
September: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg addresses an adoring audience at the 30th Anniversary Gala for Cedille Records.
September: Music of the Baroque opens its 49th season.
September: Third Coast Baroque opens its season at Nichols Concert Hall.
October: The Chicago Children’s Choir concludes another record-breaking Red Jacket Optional gala.
October: Scott Speck and the Chicago Philharmonic open their 30th season - my 6th as their photographer.
October: Fourth Coast Ensemble sings to a packed room at the Logan Center.
October: Vladimir Kulenovic leads the Lake Forest Symphony.
October: Victor Yampolsky leads the Northwestern Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Beethoven’s Ninth.
October: Wu Man gives a wide-ranging recital on the pipa at the University of Chicago.
November: I make my debut covering the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Maestro Riccardo Muti honors Acting Principal Horn Daniel Gingrich.
November: Wynton Marsalis drops some wisdom in the schools during the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s weekend residency in Chicago,
November: the Marcus Roberts Trio joins the Chicago Philharmonic for one killer rendition of Gerswhin’s Piano Concerto in F.
November: bonus shot of Marcus Roberts.
November: the Pleiades Cluster (right) and a billion other stars, appear above Big Bend National Park.
November: a magical sky on the border above the Rio Grande and Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend National Park.
December: Ashley Bryan (96) celebrates the release of his memoir, Infinite Hope, at the Univ of Pennsylvania.
Here is a selection of my year in music photography, leading off with an image from the Chicago Children's Choir that sums up 2017 in general. It's a pretty awesome privilege to be able to do this for a living.
All photos © copyright 2017 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
Chicago Children's Choir raising voices at its 61st Annual Red Jacket Optional Gala.
The triumphant Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra performs at its 70th Anniversary Gala.
Victor Goines at the Green Mill. Selected as "Best Photo in a Club" during the Logan Center for the Arts jazz photography exhibit.
Bitter Jester Music Festival
Chuck Webb at Navy Pier
Birds-eye-view of Bella Voce at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Benny Golson plays his classics at Jazz Showcase.
Kurt Elling lights up the Green Mill.
Myra Huang, Shannon McGinnis, Sarah Shafer, Douglas Williams, and Nicholas Phan at the Collaborative Works Festival.
Susanna Phillips and Myra Huang give a glowing recital during the Collaborative Works Festival.
Jorge Federico Osorio plays Brahms for the Cedille Records gala.
My on-stage view of Jane Glover conducting Music of the Baroque.
Chicago Children's Choir Gala
The Chicago Philharmonic opens its season with Carmina Burana.
Third Coast Percussion premiering a work by Augusta Read Thomas with the Chicago Philharmonic.
Nicholas Kraemer conducts Bach with Music of the Baroque.
Kate Carter and Louise Chan perform on the Dame Myra Hess series at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Steve Reich backstage with percussionists at Northwestern University.
Steve Reich takes a bow with percussion ensembles at Northwestern University.
This was a wild ride of a year. I shot tons of fabulous music. Philip Glass signed my photo of Philip Glass playing Philip Glass. I covered Kurt Elling in the studio and created his latest batch of publicity portraits. Spektral Quartet's album "Serious Business," which includes my cover photo, was nominated for a Grammy. I sat next to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for 15 seconds. I gazed at the Milky Way from the tiny island of Islesford, Maine. And right in the middle of it all, I presented my jazz photography portfolio at the American Embassy in Vienna, Austria. Thanks to all of you for being a part of a wonderful 2016! Enjoy this gallery of a few of my favorites.
Chicago Children's Choir 60th Anniversary Gala
Kahil El'Zabar with Fulcrum Point New Music Ensemble
Branford Marsalis, Victor Goines with the Northwestern Jazz Band
Glass/Glass/Glass
Kurt Elling at the Green Mill, on film
Kurt Elling in studio recording "The Beautiful Day"
Kurt Elling's "The Beautiful Day"
Ailyn Perez, Craig Terry during the Collaborative Works Festival
Kelley O'Connor, Matthew Gemmill at the Collaborative Works Festival
Justice RBG, photo by Liz Markel
eighth blackbird 20th Anniversary Gala at Thalia Hall
Grammy-nominated album!
Scott Speck, Chicago Philharmonic
Presenting jazz photos at the American Embassy in Vienna
Ramona Steiner at Jazz Land, Vienna
Vienna, my old friend
Milky Way in Maine
Back in May, Kurt Elling and his band - pianist Stu Mindeman, bassist Clark Sommers, guitarist John McLean, and drummer Kendrick Scott - put down the tracks for "The Beautiful Day," Elling's first Christmas album. I was there to get a behind-the-scenes look, and I managed to avoid tripping over the cables or ruin any takes. Finally, after several months, the album is due out on Friday!
Photos © copyright 2016 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
What a thrill to hang with the incomparable Kurt Elling and his band last week. One of the best voices in jazz, a top-rate entertainer, and overall good guy. He welcomed me into his dressing room at City Winery - fresh off his all-star performance at the White House for International Jazz Day - and let me fire away during two high-flying shows. I joined Elling and company in the studio a few days later to document some of the recording of their upcoming holiday album. Pictured: Kurt Elling, vocals; John McLean, guitar; Stu Mindeman, keys; Clark Sommers, bass; Kendrick Scott, drums.
Photos © copyright 2016 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
In November, I had the great fortune of spending three days on three different campuses of the Music Institute of Chicago. From a roomful of musical toddlers to the New Horizons senior band, there was music from everyone, reminding me of my own days of Suzuki cello. The enthusiastic students, teachers, MIC staff, and parents gave me a rich and memorable experience. The future of music is in good hands.
Photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
One of the major highlights of 2015 - three of my photos were selected for inclusion in "Chicago Jazz: A Photographer's View" at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts. My pictures were featured alongside some terrific images from around the city, and I had a chance to meet some photographers I've long admired - Stan Lee, Jasmine Kwon, Mark Sheldon, Farrad Ali, and Jack Siegel. Many thanks to Bill Michel and the Logan Center for a great show and fun evening. Below, my images from the Green Mill and performance shots of saxophonist Bernard Scavella and drummer Greg Artry.
Photos © Copyright 2015 by Elliot Mandel. All rights reserved.
I was fortunate to photograph jazz singer Bruce Henry and his band at Jazz Showcase as part of a benefit evening in support of my friends at Sharing Notes. I've seen first-hand how the fine artists of Sharing Notes bring beautiful music to hospital patients of all ages - often in bedside performances - and it was great to see an enthusiastic audience come out to support this group on a snowy Monday night. From the stage, Bruce Henry's multi-octave tenor range belted out a high-energy set, backed by some great solos from each of his bandmates. More info on Bruce here. More info on Sharing Notes here.
I wish the Pharez Whitted Group had a standing gig at the Green Mill. These guys played some of the hardest-hitting, soulful music I'd heard at the Mill all year. From my seat down front, I had clean views of most of the band (no music stands!), so I snapped away.
My affinity for jazz has grown in the last year alongside my approach to photography, and I believe the two are related. I've discovered that, for me, photography is largely improvisational. I arrive at a shoot with an idea of what I want, but the final product is often a collaboration between the subject or client and myself. The best images come from on-the-spot decisions, and I've learned to embrace the unknown or unexpected. Jazz teaches me this lesson every time.
Thanks to Pharez Whitted (trumpet), Eddie Bayard (sax), Lovell Bradford (keys), Jon Wood (bass), and Greg Artry (drums) for a weekend of killer music.
I'm pretty lucky to have one of the world's greatest jazz clubs three blocks away from my apartment. Recently, I've seen saxophonist Victor Goines, who performs around the world with the Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; and accordion virtuoso Julien Labro and the Hot Club of Detroit. Click through the gallery below for some views from my table.
Last Saturday night, I did two really awesome things. 1) I spent 3 hours listening to the great jazz pianist Willie Pickens at the Green Mill while he fired off Thelonious Monk tunes like it weren't nothing. And 2) I met and photographed trumpeter Pharez Whitted, who is a very nice guy but will knock you over with trumpet solos. I love photographing musicians. They do their thing, I do mine, but I've never thought of them as mere entertainers. There is art, there is the moment of creating music, and they've spent years learning how to be really good at it. Photographing musicians is a privilege, and a task I am continually drawn to purely out of respect for their work and for a love of music.
Pharez Whitted blows a mean trumpet at the Green Mill.
In the green room at intermission, legendary jazz pianist and vocalist Patricia Barber turns to me and asks, "How the f*** do I follow that?" She was referring to a performance by percussionist Nicholas Reed of Marta Ptaszynska's "Space Model," a work for three sets of percussion instruments and recorded track. Reed's seamless playing held the audience in rapt attention, igniting waves of applause. Pianist Lisa Kaplan and cellist Nicholas Photinos, both of eighth blackbird, opened the show with the haunting "Habil-Sayagy" by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh. The Pacifica Quartet followed with Elena Firsova's String Quartet No. 11, "Purgatorium," playing with its trademark precision and sensitivity. I didn't have an answer to Barber's very serious question, other than to say, "I'm glad I don't have to."
Barber was just as intense during her set as she was before it. Sensing the enormity of the concert - the 10th anniversary of the new music series Contempo at the University of Chicago curated by Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Shulamit Ran - Barber gave a performance both searing and deeply touching, poignant and beautiful. Drummer Ari Hoenig, bassist Patrick Mulcahy, and guitarist Gilad Hekselman provided ample solos and witty accompaniment. But it was Barber who carried the full weight of the music. I know this because I witnessed it from the front row, often dropping my camera from my eye just to watch for a minute. It was an honor to photograph these artists, and to share for the briefest of moments the space they occupy.
Patricia Barber: Completely awesome jazz pianist, vocalist, poet.
Patricia Barber rocking the Steinway.
eighth blackbird's Lisa Kaplan (piano) and Nicholas Photinos (cello).
The Pacifica Quartet in the spotlight.
Percussionist Nicholas Reed
