Francis Wolff

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Memorial plaque on Alfred-Lion-Steg , in Berlin-Schöneberg

Francis Wolff (actually Frank Wolff * 1907 or 1908 in Berlin , † 8. March 1971 in New York City ) co-founder, photographer and producer was the on Jazz specialized record label Blue Note Records , which he in 1939 in Berlin with his school friend Alfred Lion in New York operation.

Live and act

After a short career as an advertising photographer in Germany, Wolff emigrated to the USA in 1939 because of his Jewish descent from the threat of the Nazi regime . He was already interested in jazz in Berlin . Therefore, like the later radio author and long-time president of the German Jazz Federation Olaf Hudtwalcker , he belonged to the (conspiratorial) Hot Club Berlin . In New York he met again with his childhood friend Alfred Lion , who had also emigrated from Berlin and was already working on the preparations for his own record label, which was primarily to deal with productions by jazz musicians. During the war, Wolff largely took over the business of the young label and concentrated on recruiting new musicians, while his partner Lion did military service. After the end of the war, Wolff and his friend Lion developed an extensive catalog of musicians for Blue Note and emerged primarily as an innovative designer and photographer with new stylistic devices. The productions of Blue Note set their Phonograms standards not only in music but also through the design. The cover design and the combination with Wolff's mostly coarse-grained black and white photographs were often copied later. Francis Wolff mostly took his photographs during live recordings, concerts or spontaneous sessions with the musicians. For example, impressive portraits of Miles Davis , Charlie “Bird” Parker and Thelonious Monk were created .

In 1967, Alfred Lion slowly retired from Blue Note activities and Wolff was mainly concerned with the financial side of the business. Until his death in March 1971, he continued to produce new jazz records, increasingly as live recordings. Meanwhile, Blue Note was no longer an independent label. With Wolff's death in 1971, a label history spanning more than thirty years came to an end for the time being.

Productions (selection)

  • 9/1966: Charisma by Lee Morgan
  • 10/1967: Hi Voltage by Hank Mobley
  • 10/1967: Mr. Shing-A-Ling by Lou Donaldson
  • 10/1969: Carryin 'On by Grant Green
  • 8/1969: Move Your Hand by Lonnie Smith
  • 5/1970: Live at Club Mozambique by Lonnie Smith
  • 7/1970: Live at the Lighthouse by Lee Morgan
  • 8/1970: Alive! by Grant Green
  • 11/1970: The Scorpion by Lou Donaldson
  • 1/1971: Live at Club Mozambique by Grant Green

Documentaries

literature

  • Graham Marsh, Glyn Callingham, and Felix Cromey: The Cover Art of Blue Note Records Volume 1 ; Edition Olms, Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-283-00244-4
  • Michael Cuscana, Francis Wolff: The Blue Note Years. Francis Wolff's jazz photography . Edition Stemmle, Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-905514-89-3
  • Hans Hielscher, Blue Note record label. How two German emigrants gave jazz a home , in: Spiegel online , January 3, 2019 (online)

Web links

Commons : Francis Wolff  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A film about friendship, love and jazz , on NDR -Online from June 28, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Francis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolff, Frank (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American designer, photographer and producer, co-founder of the record label Blue Note Records
DATE OF BIRTH 1907 or 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1971
Place of death New York City