58 August2019nstereophile.com
You may not know his name,
but if you’re any kind of jazz fan,
his photographs are part of the
imagery in your mind’s eye when
you think about the music. Katz
EARLY IN 2019, THREE JAZZ CDS APPEARED ON A NEW RECORD LABEL.
THEY WERE JASON PALMER’S RHYME AND REASON, JOHNATHAN
BLAKE’S TRION (BOTH DOUBLE CDS), AND ERIC ALEXANDER’S LEAP
OF FAITH. THE LABEL WAS GIANT STEP ARTS.
GIVEN THAT HUNDREDS OF JAZZ RECORDS—MANY OF THEM GOOD—
ARE RELEASED EVERY MONTH, AND THAT NEW JAZZ LABELS POP UP
ALL THE TIME, IS THE RELEASE OF THREE NEW ALBUMS REALLY NEWS?
GIANT STEP ARTS IS NEWS. FOR STARTERS, IT IS RADICALLY MORE
THAN A RECORD LABEL. THE STORY BEGINS WITH JIMMY KATZ.
has documented more than 550
recording sessions and shot more
than 180 magazine covers. Many
of his portraits are iconic: Inscru-
table Ornette Coleman. Mag-
Above:
Jimmy Katz.
Photo by
Jimmy and
Dena Katz
A VISIONARY
JAZZ
CONCEPT
BY THOMAS
CONRAD
GIANT STEP ARTS
