IT'S easy to see why jazz musicians were so taken by Herman Leonard's photographs. "Jazz Giants," the exhibition of his works running through Jan. 13 at the Fahey/Klein Gallery, includes images of the most famous names in jazz, from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, depicted in ways that touch the impact of their art and the essence of their personas.
A shot of Duke Ellington at the piano is illuminated by two celestial beams of light descending from above; a pork-pie hat perched on an open saxophone case and a smoking cigarette on a Coke bottle suggest, without actually revealing, the presence of Lester Young; Charlie Parker, eyes closed, is caught in mid-solo, a Bird in free-flight; Frank Sinatra is seen in performance, from the rear, as he gestures, cigarette in hand, to the indistinguishable gray mass of his audience.
