William P. Gottlieb
Encyclopedia
William Paul Gottlieb was an American photographer and newspaper columnist who is best known for his classic photographs of the leading performers of the "Golden Age" of American jazz
in the 1930s and 1940s. Gottlieb's photographs are among the best known and widely reproduced images of this era of jazz.
During the course of his career, Gottlieb took portraits of hundreds of prominent jazz musicians and personalities, typically while they were playing or singing at well-known New York City jazz clubs. Well-known musicians Gottlieb photographed included Louis Armstrong
, Duke Ellington
, Charlie Parker
, Billie Holiday
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Earl Hines
, Thelonious Monk
, Stan Kenton
, Ray McKinley
, Benny Goodman
, Coleman Hawkins
, Louis Jordan
, Ella Fitzgerald
and Benny Carter
.
, and he grew up in Bound Brook, New Jersey
, where his father was in the building and lumber business. He graduated from Lehigh University
in 1938, with a degree in economics. While at Lehigh, Gottlieb wrote for the weekly campus newspaper and became editor-in-chief of The Lehigh Review. In his last year of college, he began writing a weekly jazz column for the Washington Post. After the Post decided that it could not afford to pay a photographer to shoot photos for Gottlieb's jazz column, Gottlieb bought his own press camera and began taking pictures for his column.
Gottlieb was drafted into the Army Air Corps
in 1943, and he served as a photo officer and as a classifications officer. After World War II, Gottlieb went to New York City to pursue journalism. He worked as a writer-photographer for Down Beat
magazine (then the leading jazz magazine), and his work also appeared frequently in Record Changer, the Saturday Review, and Collier's. In 1948, Gottlieb retired from the jazz field in order to spend more time with his wife, Delia, and children.
After Gottlieb left Down Beat, he began working at Curriculum Films, an educational filmstrip company. He then founded his own filmstrip company which was later bought by McGraw Hill. Many of his filmstrips won awards from the Canadian Film Board and the Educational Film Librarians Association. Gottlieb also wrote and illustrated children's books, including several Golden Books such as The Four Seasons, Tigers Adventure, and Laddie the Superdog. He also wrote educational books such as Science Facts You Won't Believe and Space Flight.
Apart from his photography career, Gottlieb was also involved in amateur tennis as a hobby. Gottlieb and one of his sons, Steven, were often ranked number one in father-and-son on the East Coast and were twice ranked among the top ten teams in the US. Gottlieb's son Steven has also become a professional photographer. Steven Gottlieb's photographs have been featured extensively on the web sites of both Kodak and Nikon, and Kodak has named Steven one of five "Kodak Professional Icons" in the US. Architect I. M. Pei
stated that "[Steven] Gottlieb transcends traditional architectural photography by interpreting architecture with the vision of a true artist."
Gottlieb died of complications from a stroke on April 23, 2006 Great Neck, New York
.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
in the 1930s and 1940s. Gottlieb's photographs are among the best known and widely reproduced images of this era of jazz.
During the course of his career, Gottlieb took portraits of hundreds of prominent jazz musicians and personalities, typically while they were playing or singing at well-known New York City jazz clubs. Well-known musicians Gottlieb photographed included Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Earl Hines
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
, Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley
Ray McKinley was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader.McKinley got his start working with local bands in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, before joining Smith Ballew in 1929, when he met Glenn Miller. The two formed a friendship which lasted from 1929 until Miller's death in 1944....
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
, Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Benny Carter
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
.
Biography
Gottlieb was born on January 28, 1917 in the Canarsie neighborhood of BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, and he grew up in Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. At the United States 2010 Census, the population was 10,402.Bound Brook was originally incorporated as a town by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 24, 1869, within portions of Bridgewater Township...
, where his father was in the building and lumber business. He graduated from Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
in 1938, with a degree in economics. While at Lehigh, Gottlieb wrote for the weekly campus newspaper and became editor-in-chief of The Lehigh Review. In his last year of college, he began writing a weekly jazz column for the Washington Post. After the Post decided that it could not afford to pay a photographer to shoot photos for Gottlieb's jazz column, Gottlieb bought his own press camera and began taking pictures for his column.
Gottlieb was drafted into the Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
in 1943, and he served as a photo officer and as a classifications officer. After World War II, Gottlieb went to New York City to pursue journalism. He worked as a writer-photographer for Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine (then the leading jazz magazine), and his work also appeared frequently in Record Changer, the Saturday Review, and Collier's. In 1948, Gottlieb retired from the jazz field in order to spend more time with his wife, Delia, and children.
After Gottlieb left Down Beat, he began working at Curriculum Films, an educational filmstrip company. He then founded his own filmstrip company which was later bought by McGraw Hill. Many of his filmstrips won awards from the Canadian Film Board and the Educational Film Librarians Association. Gottlieb also wrote and illustrated children's books, including several Golden Books such as The Four Seasons, Tigers Adventure, and Laddie the Superdog. He also wrote educational books such as Science Facts You Won't Believe and Space Flight.
Apart from his photography career, Gottlieb was also involved in amateur tennis as a hobby. Gottlieb and one of his sons, Steven, were often ranked number one in father-and-son on the East Coast and were twice ranked among the top ten teams in the US. Gottlieb's son Steven has also become a professional photographer. Steven Gottlieb's photographs have been featured extensively on the web sites of both Kodak and Nikon, and Kodak has named Steven one of five "Kodak Professional Icons" in the US. Architect I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
stated that "[Steven] Gottlieb transcends traditional architectural photography by interpreting architecture with the vision of a true artist."
Gottlieb died of complications from a stroke on April 23, 2006 Great Neck, New York
Great Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
.