@williamellisfotoblog

All Things Vinyl & The One LP Project

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 06:37:08 GMT

O ne LP Sessions - 'All Things Vinyl' @Loud & Clear, Edinburgh - Scotland's leading hi-fi specialist

I'm looking forward to a special vinyl day in Edinburgh when you can bring along you a special album and have it cleaned courtesy of Loud & Clear and take your opportunity to participate in the One LP Project.

O ne LP is a unique and critically acclaimed portrait photography project that explores the inspirational qualities of recordings and the impact that they have on people’s lives. Each portrait features the subject holding a recording that is of fundamental importance to them. The photograph is accompanied by a short interview that explores the meaning and value of the selected album.

From Loud & Clear = Do you have an album you love?

One that holds a special place in your heart?

Bring it along and commission your One LP portrait!

One of our customers, Ross, who attended the exhibition of William’s music photography we hosted last year, told us:

"Thanks for the One LP session in Edinburgh. It was great - it really made me think about my connection with music via the albums I know and I’m really happy with the portrait - best one I have!" R oss also purchased the print of Marcus Miller (below) - and says: "The Marcus Miller print really expresses the energy of performance - it’s hanging above my system in pride of place."

The current exhibition @Loud & Clear Edinburgh 'Havana' is on view until December 24th

Preview

About the One LP Project

Marcus Miller: Royal Festival Hall, London by William Ellis

Ross on his print - "The Marcus Miller print really expresses the energy of performance - it’s hanging above my system in pride of place."

24 hrs in Edinburgh - Road Trip to deliver 'Music on a Chink of Light' exhibition

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 14:47:52 GMT

Emerging from the darkroom, blinking into the light, we get this show on the road.....

One of the pieces in the exhibition - Dizzy Gillespie at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, 1990 appearing with The United Nations Jazz Orchestra

Last Tuesday - a beautiful day, John Carroll drove down from Scotland to Manchester to collect the pictures - and me.

As we hurtled along in our tin can, we spoke non-stop of was and when. The time passed quickly - after a brief stop at Tebay Services where we took on board coffee and Cumberland sausage rolls we soon arrived at Abington where John took charge of the craft.

I was then able to stare in a trance at the gorgeous scenery and start an appreciation of the Artist Formerly Known as Prince whom we agreed was not really of this Earth.
We bowled along the Roman road, which as everyone knows was built by Gnaeus Julius Agricola’s legion in 78 AD - you perhaps were unaware of the fact that he was the first person known to have proved Britain an island by circumnavigation.

We eventually rolled into Morningside and become genteel citizens of Edinburgh, a city I have spent quite some time in over the years. My friend Bob Barry from LA and I visited the city a couple of years. He loved it - and the great city of Glasgow equally.
I remember it rained a lot, we visited the National Portrait Gallery for the Robert Mapplethorpe, Diane Arbus and had dinner at The Witchery and almost had to wash the dishes…

Meanwhile back at the ranch - we made good headway through the rush hour traffic and around 6.30 pulled up at the Loud & Clear showroom/gallery on Commercial Quay in the old port of Leith.
The building was a bonded warehouse for storing whisky prior to shipping around the world and the tracks from the railroad that serviced the port were still visible - as is the Scottish Parliament Building.

We unloaded the pictures in the spacious showroom and had a few minutes to enjoy a libation before a short walk to my hotel and later a very good dinner at The Shore.

Preview on the exhibition by Scot Reid for The Scotsman

Followed by 48 hours in Glasgow.......

The Brecker Brothers

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 16:56:23 GMT

The Brecker Brothers, Glasgow, 1992

Randy and Michael Brecker just prior to a performance at the Old Fruitmarket one of Glasgow's atmospheric old venues.

As you can see they were very much in their own world's as I took these photographs in perhaps the least inconspicuous manner possible. i.e. Using a quite large, quite noisy Hasselblad camera on a monopod. By staying in the same position and using short telephoto lens I was able to work at a distance without disturbing the guys. Photographing first Michael then switching focus to Randy who is sat quietly reading a newspaper. - calm and collected, ready to play.

Michael Brecker's Tenor Saxophone

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 16:39:16 GMT

Behind every photograph is a story - the people, the circumstances, the setbacks and successes are all part of the picture.

Michael Brecker's Tenor Sax, Glasgow 1992

Still-life studies in the form of paintings or photographs have always been of great appeal to me.

For me, the beauty and latent power that musical instruments possess is immense - just waiting to be brought to life.

Many years later I met up with Michael Brecker in New York where he was performing with the great McCoy Tyner at Iridium just off Time Square.

I was so pleased to give Michael print - I could see he liked it very much, he thanked me and said "Oh that's a nice one!" and went immediately to show his family who were with him that night.

A very special evening - some photographs will be on the site soon.

Miles Davis

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 15:04:38 GMT

Behind every photograph is a story - the people, the circumstances, the setbacks and successes are all part of the picture.

Miles Davis, Apollo, Manchester, April 1989

From an interview by Jan Veldman of print/web magazine Jazz In Europe
Jan: "In your portfolio there is a classic photo of Miles Davis. Is there a back story here?"

William: "There certainly is! My big break was photographing Miles Davis in Manchester in 1989. I was working in the photographic industry while at the same time freelancing in music photography. When I found out that Miles was coming to the UK, I tried all my contacts to get accreditation - newspapers, magazines, TV but of course, their staff photographers all wanted any available photo passes to shoot Miles.
Eventually I managed to track down the promoter. I really don’t remember how, there was no internet then of course. I called him and I pretty much begged for a pass and eventually he agreed and left a pass at the box office. Hand written on it was permission to shoot for the first three pieces. I turned up covered in Nikons, my Hasselblad and enough film to shoot “Gone with the Wind”.
So there I am, five feet away from a genius. Miles did his trick of walking to the edge .
The set I produced that night ended up being the passport for me to shoot almost anywhere I wanted to. The next year (1990), Miles returned to play at Glasgow Jazz Festival. I actually spoke to him on the phone which was kind of unreal. Amazingly he ended up signing one of my pictures. Later the same year I photographed another legend - Dizzy Gillespie in Glasgow."

The Picture | The Story

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 14:13:16 GMT

Behind every photograph is a story - the people, the circumstances, the setbacks and successes are all part of the picture.

Tony Bennett, Glasgow, 2003

The negative strips below are from a set made for Sony Music Entertainment.

Frame number 17 was selected by the design/marketing team for the cover of the 'All Time Greatest Hits' CD which you can see here.

The concert was held in the afternoon in Glasgow's George Square and was part of the city's superb jazz festival.

There were numerous photographers at the concert as you can imagine - and around 3- 4000 people there to see the great man.
My colleagues had set up en masse just below the microphone stand.

I don't work too well in a gaggle, so I moved stage right to be near the piano in the hope that Mr. Bennett would move to that area at some point during the ten minute photography session. As you can see - he did!

This photograph appears in my current exhbition in Edinburgh in the spacious showrooms of leading hi-fi specialists Loud & Clear.

The Beatles' Boyhood Homes

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 12:01:00 GMT

One Of The Four Lads Who Shook The World

Paul McCartney: Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, 1979 © William Ellis

John, Paul, George and Ringo

The names just roll out, they've been with us almost right from the start. I was born in 1957 and the first memory I have of is them appearing on the New Musical Express Poll-Winners All-Star show in 1964. My family had moved out of Liverpool and were living in a new bungalow in a housing estate that was still under construction. My mum told me that my tribute to the Beatles was riding round the estate on my tricycle with my plastic guitar in the boot giving impromptu concerts to the hapless builders as they tried to eat sandwiches, drink tea or enjoy a quiet smoke. Kids eh....

It was the start of a deep connection with music and the people that make it that has shaped my life. Many years later I realised that jazz had come into my life at that time too through my mother sharing her love for Frank Sinatra - and his music!

The big bands, the arrangements, the textures of sounds, the voice - not unusually, my feelings were instilled subconciously at an early age.

I never photographed Frank Sinatra, Regrets I've had a few, one of them being that I stupidly passed up the opportunity to do so.

Something I can say in mitigation is that I shot the CD cover for the man 'Ol Blue Eyes considered the best singer in the business - Tony Bennett.

Back to the Fab Four, as you see I photogrqphed Paul McCartney in Liverpool in 1979 when he appeared with Wings. I was 22 years old and couldn't believe I was actually going to see him. I had a similar feeling I confess to when I saw the Beatles' former homes - that actually came from normal places, and did all that. I decided to visit them after my very good friend David Leaver told me of his academic interest in and study of cultural tourism. This was allied with his personal odyssey in visiting the site of Buddy Holly's home in and being in Bob Dylan's boyhood home in Hibbing, Minnesota.

We visited the apartment building where Buddy Holly lived just off Washington Park Square where he wrote and recorded demos of many of his songs.

These places have become cultural artefacts and the significance of where these people started their lives has for many people far greater relevance than that of say, Graceland. No disresepct to the King intended - his home in Tupelo, Mississippi would be the one.

Prior to a performance in Liverpool, Bob Dylan visited John Lennon's home on the tour but had to miss out on his planned visit to Paul's because the press was tipped off about his presence.

Funny story - Dylan was picked up by the police in New Jersey in the pouring rain looking for the house where Bruce Springsteen wrote 'Born to Run'.

Someone had called them as he was looking like a very suspicious character - the police drove Bob to his hotel where his manager showed his passport to them - and Bob was released.

There is a fascination of looking for the essence of the elusive flame of super creativity that can randomly appear anywhere in the world. I would like very much to visit Prince's Paisely Park Studios - but I'm just as intrigued by his boyhood home.

'Sometimes It Snows In April.'

Stay Safe.

John Lennon

251 Menlove Ave, Woolton.

John's home as a child and young man is in a leafy residential area quite a way from the city. As you can see, a neat semi-detached house which was bought by Yoko Ono when a subsequent owner died She gifted the house to the National Trust,

It was furnished in the same style as when John lived there. It's hard to describe how I felt being there after having visited the Strawberry Fields Memorial in New York's Central Park many years ago.

Paul McCartney

20 Forthlin Rd, Allerton.

A couple of miles from John's, Paul's home is on a terrace of houses built in the 1949 by Liverpool Corporation - or 'the corpy' as it was known to scousers,

This house is owned by the National Trust and tours are available. Personally I felt my curiosity and connection with the band was sated just by being there in this unremarkable environment and feel the wonder of what 4 guys from my home town did through their music and force of personality, individually and as a band of brothers.

George Harrison

12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree.

George once said of the house, "Try and imagine the soul entering the womb of a woman living at 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool 15. There were all the barrage balloons, and the Germans bombing Liverpool. All that was going on. I sat outside the house a couple of years ago, imagining 1943, nipping through the spiritual world, the astral level, getting back into a body in that house. That really is strange when you consider the whole planet, all the planets there may be on a spiritual level. How do I come into that family, in that house at that time, and who am I anyway?

Ringo Starr

10 Admiral Grove, Dingle.

Ringo's home for 20 years, leaving in 1963 when he joined the Beatles and eventually chose Los Angeles CA as his home. Ringo upset someone when he said on tv that he "missed nothing" about the city when Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

A topiary artwork depicting the Fab Four was vandalised - Ringo's head was removed by a somehow seeking retribution for his ill considered utterance.

Gotta love Ringo though - he's Ringo.

You might like to look at these links.

Perhaps the most comprehensive book on the Beatles - their music and social and cultural significance "Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties" - by Ian MacDonald.

However, the book is hauled over the coals somehwhat by someone who was actually at the heart of the matter -

Paul McCartney interview in Rolling Stone

Paul McCartney - Artist's Edition Photograph

Stan Tracey - The Picture | The Story

info@william-ellis.com (William Ellis) — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 20:19:12 GMT

The Godfather of British Jazz

Photo graphed at the Guildhall, Bath, England in May 2003, Stan was there to perform his Jazz Suite inspired by Dylan Thomas' radio play "Under Milk Wood`" with his long time compadre Bobby Wellns on tenor sax.

The original album was made by a quartet - Stan, Bobby with Jeff Cyne on bass, Jackie Dougan drums., so this duo performance was such an intriguing prospect that the `BBC was there to record for posterity.

I drove up the night before from Poole, Dorset and stayed just outside town and arrived in the Roman City of Bath a couple of hours before the Saturday afternoon gig at the impressive 18th-century Guildhall.

The photo session took place after the soundcheck and was arranged by my friend, production manager Geoff Amos who was running most of the major concerts at Bath International Music Festival that year. Geof has managed world tours by artists like B.B. King.

Stan was known to be quite a private person, warm, thoughtful but not really to keen to chat with people - maybe just a little charmingly shy. For this reason I was a little concerned about how the session would transpire - actually this is normal for me, it's part of the part of the challenge and exitement of making a portrait.

Anyway, when Geoff introduced us I knew straight away things would be fine as Stan said to me, with a little glint in his eye and the hint of a smile - "I don't smile you know."

I like to work quickly, so I had already decided where to work had set up my tripod and Hasselblad - as you can see, just a few feet from the piano and for my preferred composition, asked Stan to sit with his back to the instrument.

The lighting is purely daylight with no reflectors I made 6 exposures on a roll of 120 Tri-X.

Stan liked the picture very much, we made a Special Artist's Edition series of prints signed by Stan and myself.

It is a favourite of mine and I'm proud to say that is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.