Val Wilmer

Valerie Sybil Wilmer ( born December 7, 1941 in Harrogate ) is a British photographer, journalist and jazz writer.

Wilmer already with 18 years of published articles about jazz musicians ( about Jesse Fuller in "Jazz Journal" 1959). She wrote, among others, for " Melody Maker ", " The Wire", "Down Beat" ( as a British correspondent from 1966 to 1970 ), Jazz Journal, Swing Journal and "The Guardian". She is best known for her photos of jazz and blues musicians. In 1973 she had an exhibition of her photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum (jazz seen- The Face of Black Music ). She is also the author of several jazz books, including a highly acclaimed study of the jazz of the 1960s, "As Serious As Your Life" and the interview band "Jazz People" of 1970., She founded in 1983 with Maggie Murray own, all-female Photo agency ( format).

She is the sister of the poet Clive Wilmer.

Writings

• Jazz People, Allison and Busby, 1970, da Capo 1991 ( interviews with 14 jazz musicians, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Thelonious Monk, Clark Terry, Buck Clayton, Babs Gonzales, Big Joe Turner, Art Farmer, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Jackie McLean, Randy Weston, Howard McGhee, Jimmy Heath, Billy Higgins)
• The Face of Black Music, Da Capo, 1976.
• As Serious as Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz - John Coltrane and beyond, Allison and Busby, 1977 ( developments of the 1960s )
• Mama Said there'd Be Days Like This: My Life in the Jazz World, Women's Press, 1989 ( autobiography)