WBGO Gallery Exhibition

Photographs by Peter Leitch: A View from the Bandstand

On display April 2 - June 1, 2012

54 Park Place
Newark, NJ 07102

Join us for a free gallery reception on Thursday, April 12, 6PM - 8PM at the WBGO Art Gallery. View the exhibit, meet the artist and enjoy a live performance by Peter Leitch Duo.

imagePhotograph: Kenny Burrell at The Blue Note, NYC

About the Exhibit

Guitarist/photographer Peter Leitch has photographed his musical friends, colleagues and heroes at work on the bandstand and in the studio. Informed and inspired by the work of William Claxton and Roy DeCarava among others, Leitch's photographs capture not only the musicians, in tones of rich deep black and brilliant white, but also suggest the sound of the music. In a frozen moment in time, one can hear the sound when the stick poised in midair hits the snare drum, the sizzle of the cymbal, the dark, sonorous tones and pulse of the bass line, and the bright, linear narrative of the horns.

Leitch says: " Jazz and photography are both arts of the moment. With these photographs I'm trying to show musicians deeply involved with music. Using available light I'm trying to get back to that gritty, in the moment, on the bandstand look."

This exhibit is dedicated to the memory of those artists who are no longer with us, but whose music lives on and continues to inspire.

About the Artist

Peter Leitch, the respected New York-based jazz guitarist , has worked and recorded with such luminaries as Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Woody Shaw, and Jaki Byard and has 15 recordings under his own name. He has in recent years built a solid reputation as a black-and-white photographer, capturing street scenes, landscapes, architecture, and fellow musicians from New York to Mississippi. Although he has had a life-long interest in photography, the native Montrealer remembers one seminal moment when a love for the medium took hold: "Many years ago I went to an Andre Kertesz exhibit and it was like hearing Charlie Parker for the first time!" he said. Since then, he has come to love and appreciate the work of "all the great photographers," in particular Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans , Robert Frank, and Roy DeCarava. Although basically self taught, he has been fortunate to have the personal guidance and mentorship of photographers Robert Walker and the late Paul Hoeffler. Of the parallels between jazz music and photography, Peter says: "Both are arts of the moment. Taking a photograph is akin to improvising lin real time, and the darkroom process is in a way similar to the recording, mixing and mastering processes."

Peter has had solo exhibitions in New York, Newark, St. Louis and Starkville, Mississippi; and shared shows in Cincinnati, Montreal and Newark. His work appears on several CD covers, and has been published in Jazz Times and Cuadernos de Jazz (Spain). In addition, his collaborations with video artist Pamela Timmins have been screened at New York area film festivals and can be seen on YouTube.

A View from the Bandstand will be on display at WBGO from April 2, through June 1, 2012. The gallery reception will be held on Thursday, April 12 from 6-8pm. The WBGO Gallery is located at 54 Park Place in Newark, NJ.

It's free and open to the public. WBGO is a wheelchair accessible facility.

You can also visit the WBGO gallery during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM.

Special thanks to our sponsors Turning Leaf Vineyards and Eastern NJ Chapter of Thrivent Financial.