Two Mighty Winds

A couple of months ago, I shot an ad campaign for Sonare Winds, which is a division of Verne Q. Powell Flutes. Artists Lew Soloff and Anne Drummond were just added to their list of endorsing artists and the company wanted fresh, new portraits of both.

Lew is the legendary trumpet player most known for his days with Blood, Sweat, and Tears. If you know the song Spinning Wheel (iTunes link), you’ve heard one of Lew’s famous trumpet solos.

Anne is a young, highly acclaimed flutist and rising star in the jazz world.

We shot all day in downtown Manhattan at 55 Bar and in the surrounding area. Here are the first two ads that are scheduled to run in the April edition of Downbeat Magazine.

I was looking for an outdoor location and spotted this green security gate. It was pretty cold out, but Anne was a trooper and performed for the neighborhood.

I asked company president Steven Wasser to walk through the frame and ignore the talented flutist playing on the street corner. He did it once, and it made the image.

The highlight was at the end of the day when I finally got Lew and Anne together for a shoot. They’re separated by more than a few years, but the jazz world bonds them. I asked them to play a bit and they were able to improvise off each other beautifully.

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