Jazz Life Book

In 1959 and 1960, photographer William Claxton and noted German musicologist Joachim Berendt traveled the United States hot on the trail of jazz music. The result of their collaboration was an amazing collection of photographs and recordings of legendary artists as well as unknown street musicians.

The book Jazzlife, the original fruit of their labors, has become a collector's item that is highly treasured among jazz and photography fans. In 2003, TASCHEN began reassembling this important collection of material -- along with many never-before-seen color images from those trips. They are brought together in this updated volume, which includes a foreword by Claxton tracing his travels with Berendt and his love affair with jazz music in general. Utilizing the benefits of today's digital technology, a restored audio CD from Joachim Berendt's original recordings has been produced and is included in this package. Jazz fans will be delighted to be able to take a jazz-trip through time, both seeing and hearing the music as Claxton and Berendt originally experienced it.

• Featuring photographs of Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Gabor Szabo, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and many more

• Includes bonus CD of digitally remastered recordings of music made during Berendt and Claxton's journey (originally released in 1960 as two records).

The photographer: William Claxton holds a special place in the history of American -- particularly jazz -- photography. Since his early career -- shooting for LIFE, Paris Match, and Vogue, among other magazines -- Claxton has worked with and become friends with many Hollywood luminaries and jazz musicians, most notably Steve McQueen and Chet Baker (whom Claxton first photographed in 1952, when Baker was young and still unknown). Claxton, whose jazz imagery has graced the covers of countless albums and magazine covers for over five decades, is considered the preeminent photographer of jazz music. TASCHEN has also published Claxton's Steve McQueen.

The author: In Germany, Joachim E. Berendt was called the "jazz pope", and indeed he was the most influential non-musician in the German jazz scene for more than 50 years. He was founding member of South West German Radio (Südwestfunk) and produced more than 250 records, including many issued on the MPS-SABA label. In 1953, he first published The Jazzbuch, which became the most successful history book on jazz worldwide. His collection of records, books and jazz documents became the basis for the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt before he died in an accident in 2000. His contributions to jazz are internationally recognized to this day.