Sound Check

  One thing I like about jazz, kid, is that I don’t know what’s going to happen next.                                               Do you? – Bix Beiderbecke

I started shooting jazz musicians during performances and sound checks when I was a kid in college – I’d bullshit my way backstage with a pair of Canon F-1s, loaded with pushed Tri-X, then run home after the show and process the film in Accufine. For me it was a wonderful combination – music and photography. I was completely happy with a camera in my hands and music pulsing through me – I can’t explain it any other way: I felt alive, flawless, bulletproof. Shooting a sound check is a little like being in the band. When you start feeling the groove the drummer will give you a nod. He knows. The guitar player will smile as he sustains a note just long enough for a 1/8th of a second exposure. He knows too. I shot a sound check last night in San Diego. It’s still there. All of it – right where I left it.