Bob Willoughby r.i.p.

[bakeostrin]

Bob Willoughby was 82. The LA Times obit mentioned that, "A jazz fan, Willoughby made portraits of such famous musicians as Billie Holiday, Chet Baker and Cole Porter."

Willoughby's photos were the basis for the unusually designed book "Jazz in LA" which featured some great Chet Baker pictures. He was more well know for his photographs of celebrities, particularly Audrey Hepburn.

[brownie]

Willoughby's death was reported in this earlier tread

This superb photographer does deserve his own thread!

[Big Beat Steve]

Yes - R.I.P.

His "Jazz In L.A." book, though frighteningly expensive when new, is one I never regretted shelling out for.

Yet no matter what pics he may have taken of Chet Baker and other jazz celebrities, I'd venture a guess his most famous legacy to posterity is that series of concert shots of Big Jay McNeely that yielded that famous stage close-up of Big Jay blowing away lying on his back and working the (WHITE!) teen-aged audience into sheer frenzy. A picture that not only immmortalized the essence of the Honkin' tenor sax but also the transition from R&B to Rock'n'Roll.

I'd venture to say all those jazz celeb pictures, no matter how fine they may be from an artistic point of view, pale by comparison because others such as Claxton, Leonard, etc. often had the same artists in their focus too.

BTW, no doubt a great many who never heard of Bob Willoughby's name may have seen at least one picture of him without being aware of it: One of his shots from that Big Jay concert showing a couple of girls going bezerk in the audience was included in the 1955 international photographic exhibition "The Family of Man" by the Museum of Modern Art (that was revived for another international tour through various museums a couple of years ago).

Edited December 26, 2009 by Big Beat Steve

[brownie]

I don't remember that 'Jazz IN LA' book being that expensive. Original price was DM98. when it came out in 1990-91 which seems reasonable in view of the quality of the photos prints. The book was huge (33,4 by 44 centimeters, about 13 by 19"). 44 pages of some of the best jazz photos ever.

Many photos can be seen here.

It's probably true that the book may be frighteningly expensive by now!

[Big Beat Steve]

Well, Brownie, at the time 98 DM (close to 350 FF) apeared like a lot of money to me for a book that "thin". But of course once you flipped the book open to have a closer look you were smitten by the overall presentation so I just had to have it.

Thanks for that link, BTW. Quite a few of the photos shown there were not included in the Jazz In LA book.

[brownie]

Bob Willoughby's obituary in The New York Times.

[bakeostrin]

That book came out in a signed, limited edition of 200, costing even more. But, Nieswand also reprinted it. The reprint is the same unique format and content and would cost a great deal less than a first printing.

Thanks Brownie for posting the link to the other Willoughby photos. One that appears in the book, but not the display, is the Gerry Mulligan shot featured on "Modern Sounds" issued by Capitol. I think the same photo appears on "Birth of the Cool v. 2". Does anyone know if the Shory Rogers shot on "Modern Sounds" is also done by Willoughby? I found it ironic that Pacific Jazz used a Willoughby photo for the cover of the Chet Baker box set "The Pacific Jazz Years" when all the photos inside the booklet were by Claxton. I also cannot remember whether any Willoughby photo appeared as a Pacific Jazz album cover.