Step into one of the most eccentric and remarkable spaces in New York music history: W. Eugene Smith’s legendary jazz loft. In the heyday of jazz between 1957 and 1965, former LIFE photographer Smith lived in a chaotic mess of an apartment on Sixth Avenue. Musicians would play into the wee hours, including masters like Thelonious Monk, and unbeknownst to them, Smith had the whole joint set up with recording equipment. In his time in the building, he captured 4,000 hours of audio tape and took 40,000 photographs. This enthralling doc digs into his archives and tracks its eight-year saga—until it comes crumbling down.
Co-presented by Beaches International Jazz Festival and Soundscapes.