• Episode 1: Introduction

    Oct 30, 2015
    While W. Eugene Smith lived in a rundown loft in Manhattan’s Flower District, he recorded audio tape compulsively. More than two decades after his death, those tapes finally resurfaced.
  • Episode 2: Enter W. Eugene Smith

    Oct 29, 2015
    Before W. Eugene Smith lived in the thick of New York’s jazz scene, he was a famous photographer for LIFE magazine. What compelled him to leave that life behind?
  • Episode 3: The Tapes

    Oct 28, 2015
    In this episode, hear samples of the spontaneous bursts of musical collaboration that were preserved, and kept in remarkable quality, on Smith's tape recordings.
  • Episode 4: Hall Overton

    Oct 27, 2015
    By day, Hall Overton was an instructor of classical music at Juilliard. By night, he was living, teaching, and playing jazz piano at the Jazz Loft.
  • Episode 5: Before the Loft

    Oct 26, 2015
    Like many of New York City's most influential artists, most of the prominent jazz musicians of the 1950s came from someplace else. This is the story of how the Jazz Loft came to be.
  • Episode 6: Drummer Ron Free

    Oct 25, 2015
    Ron Free was the the Jazz Loft’s "house drummer" from 1958 to 1960, before his struggles with addiction forced him out. His musical legacy, though, remains intact on Smith's tapes.
  • Episode 7: Flowers at 6 AM

    Oct 24, 2015
    As each all-night jam session at the loft came to a close, musicians stumbled out into the fragrant air of the surrounding flower shops.
  • Episode 8: Monk at Town Hall

    Oct 23, 2015
    In early 1959, a genuine stir was created in the loft -- even among the more seasoned jazz players -- when Thelonious Monk turned up to rehearse.

Pagination