John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Cyrus Chestnut, Terri Allard, Free Bridge Quintet: Habitat for Humanity Benefit Concert

This was a just about the perfect afternoon and evening. Brilliant, original music, performed by musicians that love and admire, all for a truly great cause -- Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. It happened a couple of weeks ago, and I should have gotten these photos up on the... Read more →

Nikon Packs It In, iPhone Bails Me Out: Shooting a Sound Check with the Free Bridge Quintet and Hod O'Brien

No excuses. When somebody gives you an assignment, you come back with photos. No excuses. So, yesterday evening, I'm shooting the sound check for the Free Bridge Quintet's concert "A Celebration of Dizzy Gillespie," and my Nikon D7000 decides that it doesn't want to autofocus with the Nikon 35/2 that... Read more →

Celebrating Dizzy: The Free Bridge Quintet & Hod O'Brien, in Concert, 21 October 2011

It's short notice I know, but, folks, you'll want to hear this... Tomorrow night, the Free Bridge Quintet will welcome guest pianist Hod O'Brien to the stage of the University of Virginia's Cabell Hall for a celebration of the life and music of Dizzy Gillespie. The gig starts at 8:00,... Read more →

All Night Jazz Jam at Fellini's for the George Melvin Educational Fund

Last Saturday, the Charlottesville Jazz Society and Fellini's #9 (a great restaurant and my neighborhood pub) hosted an all night jazz jam session to benefit the George Melvin Educational Fund. George, who passed away last year, was a truly beloved figure on Charlottesville's musical scene -- a wonderful teacher and... Read more →

The Free Bridge Quintet @ the University of Virginia, 22 October 2010

(Note: This post is appearing about two weeks after I had hoped that it would, so I'm going to ask you to pretend that it's still sometime in late October.) The Free Bridge Quintet presented its fall concert, on the 22nd, and the whole evening was spectacular. Top to bottom,... Read more →

Saturday Night @ Fellini's: John D'earth, Miles Griffith, & Stephanie Nakasian

It's the twenty-first century, and scientists still aren't very good a predicting when magic will happen. Maybe they should talk to photographers, especially those who moonlight as historians. I knew -- or, at least, I had a strong hunch -- that magic would happen last Saturday night at Fellini's #9,... Read more →

The Thompson D'earth Band: Thursday Nights @ Miller's

Last night, I found myself within one hallowed Charlottesville, Virginia, institution and in the presence of another. The first was Miller's, a fine saloon on the downtown mall; the second was the Thompson D'earth Band, which has graced the bar's stage every Thursday night since the mid-1980s. John D'earth, trumpet,... Read more →