Indianapolis
Jazz Club... Celebrating 57 Years of Traditional Jazz
From Duncan Schiedt:
Dear Friends and Fellow Jazz Fiends:
Photo by Mark Lee - Nuvo
Suspending my usual sense of modesty, I attach a couple of photos
relating to the recent dedication of the splendid
mural painted by artist Pamela Bliss on the south wall of Musicians' Repair and Sales,
in downtown Indianapolis at 332 North Capitol Avenue. The mural was part of
a series of murals in the central part of the city to help celebrate
our hosting of the 2012 Super Bowl.
I had a small
role in its creation through helping with photos I had taken many years
ago of some of the honored players scheduled to be included on the painting. In return, the artist chose to
include an image of me (with camera) at the far
left end of the wall.
I, too, am more venerable than depicted. Needless
to say, before the vandals get around to defacing
the mural, it is better that I put it on the Internet now.
Photo by Pamela Bliss
L to R: Duncan Schiedt, David Young, Jimmie Coe, David Baker,
J.J. Johnson, Slide Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Larry Ridley, Wes Montgomery
All represent a generation of jazz
musicians active here most famously during the post-war
years and associated with the hub of black entertainment on
Indiana Avenue, before the area's gradual decay and disapparance
as it gave way to urban renewal and the dispersal of jazz spots
to other neighborhoods.
I am very impressed with the faithfully-done likenesses of Wes
Montgomery, Larry Ridley, and JJ Johnson, which
came from my camera. The idea to do them in black and white, according
to the artist, was because of a deadline
for completion of the work. She thinks it was better that way, and I
concur, since I have always done jazz photos in
B/W, evidenced by the title of my most recent book, "Jazz in Black and
White." It is available at all Woolworth's,
W.T. Grant, Kresge and Cub Foods stores, but act fast, as supplies are
dwindling.
Skoal!
