Thank you all. I'm back from vacation now with lots of pictures (weeks of processing to do) and am finally able to shake the tragedy of the babies. Your kindness is much appreciated.
My brother-in-law Mike (in front of the Sonesta, pic 1a below) and I just returned from a week-long "bachelor" vacation in New Orleans. We are both jazz lovers of long standing, so my first pictures on the cafe will be of jazz. Tonight is #1....the second part will be put up Tuesday or Wednesday.
"Jazz is back on Bourbon" is the theme of a new jazz club in the refurbished Royal Sonesta Hotel, right in the middle of the French Quarter. Truth to tell, a combination of funk and rock had largely displaced pure jazz from the center of the French Quarter to it's fringes, mostly to Frenchmen's Street adjacent to the Quarter, but not in it....so the renovation and launching of a sophisticated jazz club...Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse....in the Royal Sonesta is something of an event for jazz lovers.
This first section is of photos taken on a Monday night, June 1, at the club and afterwards on Bourbon Street. The band in the club is the Bob Henry Tuxedo Jazz Band. The white-haired gentleman was a visiting businessman from St. Petersburgh, FL who also was an accomplished blues harmonica player and singer. Bob Henry dubbed him "Ray from St. Pete" and he played and sang his way into the hearts of the band and the crowd. After a break, the band's singer brought her mother and sister up on stage and they sang as a very accomplished "girl group" who had already released several CDs. The band provided improvisational support at a very high level. In picture #5 you can see the trombonist giving his very best improvised solo of the night as the result of "girl group" inspiration.
This lighthearted, easygoing "partying" is part of the jazz scene in New Orleans, and is quite different from a formal road tour engagement.
After leaving the club, we joined the throng on Bourbon Street and at the corner of Canal Street ran into a (very) young brass band with no name, only a donation box. (We learned later from the proprietor of the Louisiana Music Factory [a music store] that the group called themselves T.B.C. for "to be continued".) In any case these two grizzled jazz veterans stood slack-jawed along with several dozen other folk as these young cats blew the tightest brass you'll ever hear...I mean the only thing we could think to compare them to was the Count Basie band's brass section back in the '50's/early '60's....they were that good. We bought several brass band CD's while in New Orleans, including the supposedly latest and greatest, the "New Renewal Brass Band", and they couldn't hold a candle to these kids. The record store proprieter told us the kids were playing to raise money in order to record a CD....we can only wish them luck. They deserve to be heard and some fame and fortune.
#1a Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/200s f/5.0 at 50.0mm iso360
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#1 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso1800
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#2 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso Hi 1 +0.3
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#3 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso400
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#4 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso1600
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#5 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso Hi 1 +0.3
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#6 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/100s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso200
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#7 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso1600
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You'll be seeing a lot of New Orleans from me in the next few weeks (I have over 400 photos to sort and "develop"). I hope you will like and find acceptable this first batch. I couldn't live without the 50 f/1.4, which took all these shots.
You'll be seeing a lot of New Orleans from me in the next few weeks (I have over 400 photos to sort and "develop"). I hope you will like and find acceptable this first batch. I couldn't live without the 50 f/1.4, which took all these shots.
Hi, Marko. Glad you find them "acceptable". :smile: I rarely use f/1.4 on the 50 f/1.4 because of its visible softness at that focal length...I use f/1.8 as my normally-acceptable minimum, and use f/2.2 when I can. Above that, gains in sharpness are very, very slight. Of course, if the only way I can get the picture is using f/1.4, I will. Fortunately, the increased high-iso sensitivity of the newer cameras such as the D300 make this a less frequent need. Note that a couple of club shots were shot at Hi ! +0.3, or greater than iso3200.
Harry, you just took me on a visit to a New Orleans's music scene. Sure wish I could hear the music they played and sang.
And I'm impressed with the 50 1.4 that you used. It certainly did a good job with the D300 in low light. Thanks!
Welcome back Harry..sounds as if you had a good time and it is always a joy to listen to real musical talent.
The captures are great and your commentary makes it really interesting.
Now if you could just add 10 mins of tbc then I'll be in jazz heaven :biggrin:
Harry, you just took me on a visit to a New Orleans's music scene. Sure wish I could hear the music they played and sang.
And I'm impressed with the 50 1.4 that you used. It certainly did a good job with the D300 in low light. Thanks!
Welcome back Harry..sounds as if you had a good time and it is always a joy to listen to real musical talent.
The captures are great and your commentary makes it really interesting.
Now if you could just add 10 mins of tbc then I'll be in jazz heaven :biggrin:
Welcome back Harry. I love jazz, coming from a family of musicians. I particularly like Dixieland Jazz. Your pictures came out really well. That little lens did a great job. I have the 50mm 1.8 - should trade that in for the 1.4. Looking forward to more, I have never been to NO, so it will be a treat to see them.
Welcome back Harry. I love jazz, coming from a family of musicians. I particularly like Dixieland Jazz. Your pictures came out really well. That little lens did a great job. I have the 50mm 1.8 - should trade that in for the 1.4. Looking forward to more, I have never been to NO, so it will be a treat to see them.
Thanks, Birgit. We heard Dixieland over lunch at a sidewalk cafe in the French Market, and coming out the doors of clubs. It still lives in N.O.....you'd love it.
As for the 50/1.4, while it is soft at f/1.4, it is acceptable from 1.8 and really sings from 2.2 on up. I wouldn't be without it for indoor shooting.
These pictures are from Wednesday night, when Irwin Mayfield (who was the impetus behind the new club) holds forth with a two-hour radio broadcast each week. Mayfield has been called the next Wynton Marsalis, and from what we heard is already up there with Wynton...and his choice of sidemen is equally accomplished. In addition to his small group, Irwin has organized the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra somewhat similar to the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and has commissioned pieces for it. He is a one-man phenom...and a superb trumpet player. And, BTW, he got his start in a sidewalk brass band, we were told.
Mike and I decided that this single two hour gig was as good as any single jazz date we have ever heard, and that includes Marsalis, Basie, Brubeck, Mulligan, Rollins, and many more. Iwin and his group are that good.
The picture of Ella, btw, was done by a local artist and was on display in the window of a gallery in the Quarter, as was the police notice. :smile: I hope I did it justice.
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Now two shots of the man himself, Irwin Mayfield -
#4 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/50s f/2.2 at 50.0mm iso2000
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#5 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/50s f/2.2 at 50.0mm iso1600
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Unassuming looking, but an imaginative and accomplished jazz pianist -
#6 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/40s f/2.2 at 50.0mm iso High 1 +0.3
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The ryhthm section was among the best I've ever heard. Here is the extraordinarily talented bassist -
#7 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso High 1 +0.3
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And here is the equally talented drummer (how do you shoot a drummer wide open - either the drums are in focus (first) or the drummer (second) but not both :smile: -
#8 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/50s f/2.2 at 50.0mm iso High 1 +0.3
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#9 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/40s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso High 1 +0.3
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And, finally, here is Irwin again, signing off the two-hour program. Handsome dude, and at 33 years, a guy with a bright, bright future on top of his already prodigous accomplishment.
#10 Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D AF, 1/50s f/1.8 at 50.0mm iso1250
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Well, that's the end of the jazz. Still to come: zoo, trolleys, houses, industrial. Hope this bit of N.O. has brought you some pleasure.
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