Jan Persson (22 July 1943 – 15 November 2018) was a Danish freelance photographer who worked for Danish newspapers and magazines in and around

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Early on, he specialized on documenting the jazz scene, later also the visiting beat and rock musicians who visited Copenhagen during the 1960s and the 1970s. His works have been documented in a series of books and exhibitions (see bibliography and exhibitions) and his pictures are used on more than 1,000 album and CD covers.

Career

Persson supplied photographs to ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' since 1962, ''Jazz Special'' (DK), ''Musica Jazz'' (IT), ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' (UK) and Danish newspapers ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

'', ''

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, 'Berling's Times'), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' is ...

'' and ''

Ekstra Bladet is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) . Retrieved 22 Se ...

''. His photographs were published by a number of magazines, reissue record companies, and documentary films on the history of both jazz and rock music. Persson's jazz and rock photographs feature American jazz greats

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

to rock icons

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. His photographic archives have been exhibited internationally. More tha
15,000 pictures
are now in the files of

Aalborg University Aalborg University (AAU) is an international public university with campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1974, the university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variety of subje ...

in Denmark.

Award

Persson received the

Ben Webster Prize The Ben Webster Prize is an annual jazz award set up by the Ben Webster Foundation to honour Denmark, Danish and United States, American jazz musicians as well as other professionals active in the promotion of jazz in those countries. The American ...

in March 2004.

Death

Persson died in 2018 at age 75 due to cancer in a hospice near Copenhagen. He was survived by his wife, MajBritt Persson, and three children from an earlier marriage, Christina Persson, Louise Persson, and Julie Lund.

Bibliography

Jan Persson's books (primarily in Danish)
* * * * Finn Slumstrup Gyldendals bog om Jazz ("Gyldendal's Book on Jazz") (Gyldendal Publ. Coorp., 2003) * Erik Moseholm Den Hemmelige Krystal ("The Secret Crystal")(elkjaeroghansen, 2003) * Peter H. Larsen & Thorbjørn Sjøgren NHØP (Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen)(Gyldendal Publ. Company, 2005) * Torben Bille & Jan Persson: Gas (Gasolin) (Gyldendal Publ. Company, 2006) * Finn Slumstrup Jazz – En musikalske guide (Gyldendal, 2007) * Torben Bille & Jan Persson Midt i en Beattid ("The World’s Greatest Rock Stars in Denmark 1964-74") (Gyldendal Publ. Company, 2008) * Christian Munch-Hansen By af Jazz ("City of Jazz") (Thanning og Appel 2008) * Frank Büchmann-Møller & Henrik Wolsgaard-Iversen Montmartre, Jazzhuset i St. Regnegade 19, København K (Jazzsign & Syddansk Universitetsforlag 2008) * Tore Mortensen Fortællinger om Jazzen. ("Tellings of Jazz") (Aalborg Universitetsforlag 2010) * * ;FURTHER REPRESENTED IN THE FOLLOWING PUBLICATIONS: * Lee Tanner The Jazz Image, Masters of Jazz Photography (Harry N. Abrams, New York 2006) * Richard Williams Dylan, A Man Called Alias (Bloomsbury, London 1992) * Richard Williams Miles Davis, The Man in the Green Shirt (Bloomsbury, London 1993) * Richard Williams Jazz, A Photographic Documentary (Studio Editions Ltd., London 1994) * Lee Tanner & Lee Hildebrand Images of the Blues (Freedman/Fairfax, New York 1998) * Scatti Jazz: La Tradizion del nuova (Lucianno Vanni Editore, Milano 2003)

Exhibitions

* Musikhuset Århus, Denmark,1990 * Govinda Gallery, Washington, USA ”Monks World", 1997 * The Jazz Gallery, New York, USA ”Images of Miles Davis", 1998 * North Sea Jazz Festival, Den Haag, Holland with Gorm Valentine & Jørgen Bo, 1999 * Travelling Exhibition in Spain with Gorm Valentin & Jørgen Bo, 2001 * Missouri History Museum, St.Louis USA. 24 fotos af Miles Davis, 2001 * Travelling Exhibition in Italy with Gorm Valentin & Nicola Fasano, 2003 * Studio Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2005 * The Jazz Bakery, Los Angeles, USA, 2005 * Copenhagen Central Library, Denmark, 2006 * Gladsaxe Main Library, Denmark, 2007 * Casa Bossi, Novara Jazzfestival, Italy, 2011

Awards

, Denmark, 2004 * Jazzformidlerprisen (The Jazz Communicator Award), Denmark, 2009 * jazzahead! Skoda Award, Bremen, Germany, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Jan Place of birth missing Place of death missing 1943 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Danish male artists 20th-century Danish photographers 21st-century Danish male artists 21st-century Danish photographers Album-cover and concert-poster artists Ben Webster Prize recipients Berlingske people Danish magazine people Danish photojournalists Deaths from cancer in Denmark Ekstra Bladet people Jazz photographers Photographers from Copenhagen Politiken photojournalists Rock music photographers