Right Down Front
Sooner or later, everyone comes to Hawaii. Paris Hilton, George W. Bush. Even my first ex-mother-inlaw from Sacramento, who never went anywhere. I have been to parties in the Islands with Kareem Abdul Jabar, Margaret Thatcher, John McPhee, Vanna White, Princess Diana and
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The book is unusual for several reasons.
One: Eye-catching photography.
Two: Its contribution to jazz history in words and pictures.
Three: Proof dreams do come true, even for old guys. The book grew out of a 25-year friendship that began in Hawaii.
The idea for the book germinated one day in the summer of 1983, in Kakaako at Hudson’s Air Studio. (His graphics art business included doing concert posters for Tom Moffatt, who still has a framed copy of Ron’s poster promoting Rudolph Nureyev’s appearances here in 1981.) I walked in and saw this arresting portrait of Milt Jackson and asked Ron who took the shot. He said he did, and I said, it belongs in a book. That was 24 years ago! That image appears on the cover of Right Down Front , now receiving critical acclaim here and abroad.
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Nationally known jazz critic/author Doug Ramsey calls Hudson “a master of the moment.”
“Hudson makes portraits of musicians in the act of creation. His cover shot of Milt Jackson -eyes closed, one hand grasping his vibes’ mallets, the other raised in affirmation - illustrates the spirit of the book’s title.”
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At 67, Hudson, now based in Seattle, is Monterey’s surviving senior shooter, the photographer who’s focused his camera there longest. Over 34 years, Hudson has appeared, mostly unnoticed right down front, never missing a beat, with camera and zoom lens trained on the long parade of artists who’ve made Monterey the legendary jazz festival it is.
Sort of a legend himself, Hudson attended the second Monterey Jazz Festival in 1959, and began carrying a camera in 1973.
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Since then, he’s never missed a festival, used six cameras (all Nikon) and burned up enough 35mm black-and-white film to wrap a ribbon around the Monterey Peninsula.
“I have shot,” Hudson said, “an average of 23 rolls of film per festival, so 23 times 33 years = 759 rolls times 36, or approximately 27,324 frames.”
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At Monterey, he’s photographed nearly 700 artists at 550 concerts for a total of more than 660 hours of jazz.
Shooting high-speed, black-and-white film in available light, Hudson captures jazz musicians at peak moments, with an eye so keen you can almost hear the music.
You can purchase the book at these sites: http://www.ronhudsonjazzphotography.com/book.php http://www.ronhudsonjazzphotography.com/
Editors’s note: Rick Carroll is the author of 20 books, including IZ Voice of The People, a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book of 2007.
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