The documentary film "Jazz Loft," which captures sessions featuring cutting-edge jazz musicians based on audiotapes and a vast collection of photographs taken by photographer Eugene Smith, will be released nationwide from October 15th at Bunkamura Le Cinema and other venues.

Self-portrait, W. Eugene Smith, (c) 1959 The Heirs of W. Eugene Smith.
After working as a war photographer, Eugene Smith published numerous works in magazines such as Life, which was hugely influential at the time, and in the 1970s shocked the world with his photo book of Minamata disease patients. Jazz musicians would come and go, jamming night and day, to the Manhattan loft where he had lived since the mid-1950s. Smith moved to the area as if fleeing friction with the Life editorial staff and family discord, and he immersed himself in recording and taking pictures of the free-spirited performances of these musicians who gathered purely for the joy of music. This film captures the suffocating atmosphere in full detail.

Photo by W. Eugene Smith, 1959 (c) The Heirs of W. Eugene Smith.
Gathering in the loft were musicians such as Thelonious Monk, who was already at the peak of his career, Carla Bley, before she made a name for herself as a composer and pianist, as well as Zoot Sims, Hall Overton, and Ronnie Free. Smith ran recording cables throughout the room to capture their every move and took thousands of photographs. This unique collaboration lasted for eight years. Beyond mere documentation, the film highlights the overwhelming presence of jazz musicians, their ephemeral ways of life, and the renewed resolve of a photographer at a crossroads in his life through his interactions with them.
One of the highlights is the rare, never-before-seen exchanges, such as footage of Monk and Overton rehearsing and discussing the performance that would later result in the renowned Town Hall performance. Smith's archives convey a sense of realism, as if you were witnessing a miracle unfolding right then and there. Be sure to see it in theaters.