For years, Bernard James kept his film photographs of legendary musicians, from B.B. King to Aretha Franklin to Miles Davis, in photo albums few ever saw. The North Carolina resident eventually framed these images that he shot at music festivals during the 1980s and ’90s, and some were showcased in group exhibits at libraries on his native Long Island. Now he’s taking more steps to share them with the world.
During his first solo exhibit at a Long Island library in March, James sold a few pictures from his archive of about 150 images that he recently cataloged and wants to market more to fellow jazz and blues fans. His candid photos range from intimate closeups to zoom-outs of diverse artists captured in varying moods and postures.
Images of trumpeter Donald Byrd, top left, blues guitarists Buddy Guy and B.B. King, singer India Arie and bassist Stanley Clark were part of Bernard James’ first solo exhibit at the East Meadow Library on Long Island in 2023. (Photo: Joseph Kellard)
Included are snapshots of Al Jarreau and Casandra Wilson sharing a laugh while singing a duet, Tony Bennet standing with crossed arms while beaming at the crowd, and Ray Charles playing his piano decked out in a red jacket and black bowtie.
“That’s one of my favorites,” James said of his closeup of Charles.
Liz Wright / Photo: Bernard James
Another of his favorites features B.B. King holding his Gibson guitar to his face, appearing to kiss it in gratitude to his audience. Jazz and gospel singer Liz Wright was captured singing with eyes closed and one hand raised, looking like she could pop out of the picture frame. James also snapped a photo of diverse vocalist Rachelle Ferrell belting out a tune with her mouth wide open.
“She’s one of those singers who hits those high octave notes that can break a glass,” James said.
Other photos froze trumpeters Terrance Blanchard and Donald Byrd and saxophonists Gerald Albright and Gato Barbieri blowing into their instruments with billowing cheeks. James also caught bass players Stanley Clark, Nathan East and Marcus Miller lost in trance-like zones in the midst of performing.
“If you’re into jazz, you can look at that and hear that,” he said, pointing to his image of Miller. “He’s just in that groove, and look at that face. That’s a lot of what I go for.”
A retired public transportation bus driver for 35 years on Long Island, James shot most of his photos at East Coast jazz festivals from Baltimore to Connecticut to upstate New York.
Aretha Franklin / Photo: Bernard James
His interest in jazz and photography both blossomed at South Side High School in Rockville Centre, where he won county championships with the varsity basketball team in 1971 and ’72. He grew up listening to James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly and the Family Stone, and attended concerts in Central Park that introduced him to B.B. King, Richie Havens and Taj Mahal. Later, a classmate, William Matuozzi, turned him on to bebop-hard bop saxophonist Sonny Stitt, after which he got hooked on jazz.
“I started listening to Sonny and that opened my eyes to everybody else,” he recalled.
Miles Davis / Photo: Bernard James
James’ favorite musicians are Miles Davis, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Little Richard, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry. In addition to buying their vinyl records (which he still spins on his turntable), he also purchased a 110 film pocket camera and took photos mostly of people, including fellow students at school and, later, at reunions.
“I just liked taking pictures, started shooting and tried to figure it all out,” he said. “I’m still learning.”
As his love of music and photographing people continued to bloom, James made his first trip to the Saratoga Jazz Festival in 1981, and he chartered a bus there with groups of fellow jazz lovers every June. He became a member of the performing arts center in Saratoga, enabling him to bring his Nikon cameras and rented telephoto lenses into the stage pit to create his closeups of the performers.
“It was a connection he made where he could enhance his enjoyment of the music by capturing artists as they’re making their presentations,” Galvin Bisserup, a longtime professional photographer, said of James’ marriage of music and photography.
“I just liked taking pictures, started shooting and tried to figure it all out.”
Bisserup is president of the Long Island Black Art Association, an organization James’ late cousin Charles Winslow helped establish in 1969 and whose multimedia artists have through the decades exhibited their work at libraries, schools and other venues across the island and New York City.
James cites his dues-paying membership in the Long Island organization as instrumental in getting his pictures out of his photo albums and onto library walls starting in the 1990s.
“My cousin said, ‘Man, you should do something with these,’” James recalled. “Getting involved in the organization really helped expose me to the public.”
James also had Bissurp help him develop a better aesthetic sense for exhibiting his pictures, and James’ friend owned a framing shop and got him started.
Pictures of singer Tony Bennett, far left, saxophonist Gerald Albright, pianists Oscar Peterson, saxophonist Gato Barbieri, conguero Poncho Sanchez and drummer Roy Haynes were also featured at James’ first solo exhibit. (Photo: Joseph Kellard)
“When you take those images and enlarge, mat and frame them, and really dress them up for presentation, then others can really enjoy and consider purchasing something for their individual collections,” Bisserup said of his advice to James.
The first photo James sold at an exhibit was of Miles Davis. The woman who bought it had named her son after the legendary trumpeter.
“She offered me $200 for it,” he remembered. “I couldn’t believe I got money for that.”
Today, after retiring to Greensboro in 2017, he still finds ways to photograph musicians despite the restrictions photographers have faced at music festivals since the early 2000s. He volunteers at the John Coltrane International Jazz and Blues Festival in Highpoint, North Carolina, every Labor Day weekend. While his main task is to snap photos of well-dressed concert-goers, he still manages to capture some of the performers.
Pharaoh Sanders / Photo: Bernard James
A photo he took there of the late saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders appeared in his solo exhibit, and he gave it to Matuozzi, who sparked his life-long journey into jazz. James may display his newer photos at his next solo exhibit at Lakeview Library on Long Island in September.
Meanwhile, he plans to attend other music festivals in the South, exhibit at his local library and church in Greensboro, and shop more of his archived photos that also include singer Smokey Robinson, Latin percussionist Poncho Sanchez, drummer Roy Haynes and blues guitarist Buddy Guy.
“I’m going through about 20 bins of photos,” he said. “If you say you want a Ray Barretto, I know exactly where it is.”
Bernard James can be contacted at bjames_1@msn.com or 336-676-5142.