Miles Davis, San Francisco, 1961

Miles Davis's two-night stand at The Black Hawk in San Francisco marked a watershed in jazz history, a seminal event transforming the American musical landscape. Davis had never been recorded live in a club with his combo and the performances over the course of two sets a night on April 21 and 22, 1961 more than justify the legend. The New York Times, in its review of the Columbia Records release of the complete Black Hawk shows, called the music the gold standard for straight-ahead, postwar jazz rhythm. Leigh Wiener's shot of the club bathed in the neon and streetlights seductively hints at the promise of the music just behind the door.

© Leigh Weiner, 1961