The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957–1965

There are few moments in the creative history of America as densely potent as the jazz scene in New York City in the late '50s, when you could find Mingus, Monk, Coltrane, Davis, and Evans all gigging—together or separately—on the same night. And there are few windows on that scene as wonderfully illuminating as this one, the distillation of tens of thousands of photos and thousands of hours of tape W. Eugene Smith recorded at his Midtown apartment, an all-night hangout and jam-session spot for musicians and artists and hangers-on for nearly a decade. Stephenson spent almost that long curating those photos and tapes into this beautiful, recently rereleased book, which grounds the highest of art in the dust and debris of everyday life.