Nothings makes my heart warmer than seeing old school, contrasty, black & white photos of jazz musicians. It could be old album covers, performance shots in smokey jazz clubs or in the recording studio. Regardless, there’s always something very timeless and nostalgic about those photos. I was looking to capture that same feeling in this session with Raffi Garabedian.
Raffi is a talented, Bay Area Saxophone player who is also the brother of my friend Noah. Clearly, jazz runs in the family. A couple of years ago, Raffi reached out about me documenting the process of him and his band recording his latest album. I was totally onboard. I love projects like this when I get to bring my “fly on the wall”, candid style of shooting to the table. Plus, I got to listen to great jazz for a few hours. I put myself in the shoes of someone who was shooting Miles Davis in the studio…how do I make them look like the coolest, bad ass there ever was? I think I got some really great timeless photos that captured the process and the moment.
In addition to the photos, I shot some video as well. They don’t call me “Video Guy” for nothing. The video gives a taste of the music and some motion to the recording. I should have written this piece almost 2 years ago but some how I forgot to. Later today, on May 1st, I’m shooting a very similar project with another set of musicians. Having that shoot later today, triggered me into quickly writing this before then. You can listen and purchase the album “The Crazy Dog” at this link. https://raffigarabedian.bandcamp.com/album/the-crazy-dog-2.