From 1957 to 1965 legendary photographer W. Eugene Smith made approximately 4,000 hours of recordings on 1,741 reel-to-reel tapes and nearly 40,000 photographs in a loft building in Manhattan's wholesale flower district where major jazz musicians of the day gathered and played their music. Smith's prodigious work has remained in archives until now. The Jazz Loft Project is dedicated to uncovering the stories behind this underground crossroads in American cultural history. MORE The Jazz Loft Project at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University was made possible through the generous support of the Reva and David Logan Foundation, with significant additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammy Foundation).

W. Eugene Smith: Before I took over so much of it (the loft building), it used to be a rather interesting and exciting place. There was this strange painter on the top floor, and a musician underneath, and my quiet and gentlemanly conduct to offest all that (laughs). No, but we've had up to three sessions going at once around here. I used to have it pretty well miked so I could flip switches and record a session going on in any one of the places, and even while I was still printing (in the darkroom) or doing other work. MORE

The Jazz Loft Project, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, 1317 W. Pettigrew Street, Durham, NC 27705
jazzloftproject.org | 919.660.3668 | 919.681.7600 fax | lauren.hart [at] duke.edu