'Beautiful tribute': Cotuit jazz show spotlights Jack Bradley's photos of Louis Armstrong

More than 500 photos, most never before seen, of legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and other music greats will be at the center of an unusual show that shares the life work of a Cotuit native.

Michael Persico has created “Classic Jazz Visions: The Photography of Jack Bradley” at the Cotuit Center for the Arts as a showcase for longtime friend Bradley’s treasure trove of photographs that he took of Armstrong over more than a decade. Bradley became friends with and photographer for Armstrong from 1959 until the musician’s death in 1971 and captured thousands of images of Armstrong, along with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and many more music icons.

Described as a “unique two-hour-long musical and pictorial tribute,” and an "immersive" experience, the “Classic Jazz Visions” show will feature Persico’s Classic Jazz & Swing Orchestra playing live on stage alongside a slideshow of Bradley’s photos. Mick Carlon — longtime Barnstable teacher and jazz fan, and author of “Travels with Louis,” a young-adult book on Armstrong — will provide narration through the show and talk about Bradley.

“Classic Jazz Visions” will be divided into 12 chapters with a song played for each. The center’s art gallery will also show Bradley's photos for viewing during receptions before and after the show, with prints available for purchase.

All of this comes with the blessing of both the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, New York, and of the widow of Bradley, who died last year.

“I think it’s a beautiful tribute to Jack, and Mike Persico has put together an unbelievable show,” says Nancy Bradley. “I think (Jack) would be awed by what is happening because he was humble as far as his photography work was concerned. He never said, ‘Hey, I’m the great Jack Bradley.’”

Persico, a retired Mashpee Public Schools music teacher, will take the show on the road for stops May 15 at the Spire Center for Performing Arts in Plymouth and June 3 at Sandwich Town Hall. Working as a nonprofit company “dedicated to preserving and promoting the artistic legacy of renowned jazz photographer Jack Bradley,” Persico says he will use all money raised to preserve Bradley’s photos and fund the tour.

Persico says he hopes to eventually raise enough money to bring the show to the Louis Armstrong House Museum. “We’ve been working very closely together and they’ve been very supportive because everything I do for Jack benefits the memory of Louis Armstrong,” Persico says.

The musician and his photographer

The story of how a photographer from Cotuit became friends with one of the world’s most revered and popular musicians is quite simple, according to Persico.

In 1959, after Bradley graduated from Massachusetts Maritime Academy, he went to New York City and at a party he met a young woman who was one of Armstrong’s publicists. She introduced Bradley to Armstrong and his wife, Lucille Wilson, at their house in Queens and Bradley soon began taking pictures of the renowned trumpeter during his studio sessions and tours. Armstrong introduced Bradley to other musicians, including Ellington.

“Jack was a big fan of Louis’,” says Persico. “He idolized him. It was like meeting your hero.”

The bond between the photographer and musician was close and strong, according to those who knew him and Bradley’s March 25, 2021 obituary. When asked what he thinks Bradley would make of the “Classic Jazz Visions” show, Persico says, “Let’s put it this way: Every time we would start to talk about Louis, he would start to cry.”

Bradley’s photos were featured on the cover of the “Louis ‘Country & Western’ Armstrong” album, in DownBeat magazine, and in various other publications. The Louis Armstrong House Museum has praised Bradley as “The Greatest Photo Taker,” according to information from the Cotuit center.

But, Persico says, “by and large, (Bradley’s) big claim to fame was being Louis’ friend.”

Bradley’s love of jazz music went beyond Armstrong, too. His later jobs included road manager, manager, booking agent, nightclub manager, disc jockey and concert producer, and he was founder of the New York Jazz Museum and co-founder, with the late Marie Marcus, of the Cape Cod Jazz Society, according to his obituary. Bradley founded the record store "Vintage Jazz," produced his own Jazz radio show on WFCC, and his huge jazz collection included more than 25,000 recordings and over 10,000 pieces of sheet music, the obituary said.

A labor of love

Persico calls the “Classic Jazz Visions” show “probably the most important thing I’ve ever done in my life.” He has been working on it for several years, with a delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Friday’s presentation will be the first live performance, and Persico describes the location as “poetic” since Bradley was born and raised in Cotuit.

“I started as his assistant (in 2013) and became his dear friend and manager because there were other people still contacting him for his pictures to use in magazines and books,” Persico says of his relationship with Bradley. “Then when his Parkinson’s (disease) took over, I became his caregiver. He was quite a guy.”

Years ago, Bradley had a large collection of Armstrong memorabilia, including the musician’s trumpets, suits, big band arrangements, letters and more — much of which was given to him by Armstrong’s wife after the musician died, Persico says. The Louis Armstrong House Museum acquired Bradley’s collection in 2005, according to his obituary.

When Persico came on board in 2013, he took up the daunting task of organizing and archiving Bradley’s 30,000 Armstrong photographs, plus an additional 1,500 negatives he found that he says Bradley had forgotten about. Bradley had a hand in picking out some of the photos for a coffee-table book that he and Persico were working on, and many of those photos will be featured in the upcoming show.

A photographer friend of Bradley’s, Brian Smith, scanned 2,500 images that Bradley liked, and Persico whittled that group down to the 500 that will be presented in “Classic Jazz Visions.”

“Most of these pictures have never been seen,” he says. “This is the first time any of (Bradley’s) work has been presented in such a way.”

If the show is a success, one of Persico’s goals is to get the rest of the negatives scanned and available for researchers and scholars. He’d also like to bring the show to colleges to introduce Bradley’s work to a younger generation.

“We were trying to get this all together before he passed away,” says Persico. “I’m just hoping that he’s looking down from up above and enjoying it with his pal Louis Armstrong and all of his friends who are up there.”

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Louis Armstrong photos by Cotuit's Jack Bradley at center of new show