SKF NOTE: Pre-internet, vinyl album liner notes and photographs were a valued source of information. That was especially true of jazz albums. Liner notes were almost always written by wonderful, authoritative people like Nat Hentoff, Leonard Feather, and Ralph J. Gleason. I write about this topic in Revisiting My Life in Music: The Rise of Writing Influences Pt. 2.

Last week I was going through a cardboard box of my CD’s, looking for specific CD’s, but also uploading forgotten CD’s into my computer. While doing this I was reminded of how fascinating some of the vinyl album and CD photos were. And of how, like great liner note writers, the work of great photographers was also such a source of wonder and learning.

This photo from the CD booklet with Art Blakey’s The Jazz Messengers Columbia CD is a case in point. The viewer is looking at one moment in time with Mr. Blakey in the studio. All those rivets in the ride cymbal! What a great old set of Gretsch drums. Calfskin heads! Timbales??? What the heck is Blakey doing with a set of timbales? That’s not his normal setup.

Great stuff! Enjoy! And if you like drummer photos, The Great Drummer’s Group Facebook page is a great source of rare photos of great drummers.

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