The Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame will explore the founding of America’s most influential Jazz label with “The All Seeing Eye: Blue Note Records Through the Lens of Francis Wolff.” Curated by the Museum Collective with Blue Note Records, the exhibit will feature some of the 20,000 photographs from Blue Note co-founder Francis Wolff. It will open to the public on May 1, 2024, inside the Boch Center Wang Theatre. 

Berlin-born photographer Francis Wolff fled Nazi Germany in 1939 bound for New York City where he reunited with his childhood friend and fellow jazz enthusiast Alfred Lion, joining him in running his newly founded label Blue Note Records. Soon, Wolff was bringing his Rolleiflex camera to recording sessions and jazz clubs where he captured intimate, relaxed portraits of musicians at work, and over the next three decades he documented jazz history as it happened. While these candid photographs gave the Blue Note brand a distinctive look, Wolff’s images are now recognized as true works of art.