David Redfern has died at the age of 78, the photographer having suffered from pancreatic cancer. The news of his passing was broken by Jazzwise yesterday. 

A true legend of jazz photography, both as a lensman and the owner of a leading music photo library that he would later sell to Getty, in the US his images were even used on postage stamps. One of only two fully accredited photographers at Ronnie Scott’s club in London the images of Redfern’s that spring to mind first and foremost are of Buddy Rich, Miles Davis, and Jimi Hendrix. His book The Unclosed Eye: The Music Photography of David Redfern is a must for anyone interested in the art of jazz music photography. As another tall man, Dexter Gordon, put it so succinctly and accurately: “You know Redfern. He’s the Cartier-Bresson of jazz.”