In 2026, we mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of two immense musicians: Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926, and today we celebrate him: one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century music.
Trumpeter, composer, and tireless innovator, Miles Davis did not simply move through jazz: he transformed it several times, helping to redefine its language, aesthetics, and direction.
Among his most legendary works, Kind of Blue remains an absolute landmark, not only for jazz but for contemporary musical culture as a whole. Producer Quincy Jones, one of Davis’s longtime friends, wrote: “Kind of Blue will always be my music. I listen to Kind of Blue every day; it’s my orange juice. It still sounds as though it were composed yesterday.” Pianist Chick Corea, one of Miles’s disciples, was also struck by its majesty, later stating: “It’s one thing to play a tune, or a program of music, but it’s another to virtually create a new language of music, which is what Kind of Blue did.”
To celebrate this anniversary, Wall Of Sound Gallery presents a selection of photographs dedicated to Miles Davis, created by three great photographers who approached his image, his stage presence, and his mystery with different sensibilities: Jim Marshall, Joe Alper, and Luciano Viti.
Jim Marshall was one of the most celebrated and prolific photographers of the twentieth century, universally recognized for his iconic images of the great figures of music. During the 1960s, at the height of the rise of popular culture, Marshall seemed to be wherever it truly mattered to be. His strength came from a rare, almost unrepeatable access: he lived the same life as his subjects, sharing their environments, rhythms, and codes, and above all, he never betrayed their trust.
Over the course of his career, he shot more than 500 album covers, and his photographs are now held in museums and private collections around the world. After his passing in 2010, Marshall remains the first and only photographer to have received the Recording Academy’s Trustee Award, an honorary Grammy given for fundamental contributions to the music industry.
His relationship with Miles Davis was particularly intense and complex. Miles was one of Marshall’s musical heroes, but also a notoriously difficult figure, less accessible than John Coltrane, whom the photographer had already portrayed. The first images reflect precisely this distance: live shots, stolen backstage moments, photographs in which Miles seems almost unaware of the camera’s presence. Over time, however, Marshall managed to earn Davis’s trust through what he did best: his work. The result is a powerful photographic testimony, capable of conveying the tension, charisma, and silent authority of Miles Davis. In Marshall’s images, Miles appears as an absolute presence: elusive, magnetic, almost unapproachable, and for that very reason unforgettable.
Joe Alper photographed some of the greatest folk, jazz, and blues artists of his time. His images appeared on album covers, in magazines, and in books, becoming an integral part of the musical imagery of the 1960s. If you own folk, jazz, or blues records from that period, it is very likely that you have already encountered one of his photographs, perhaps without even realizing it.
Alper’s visual language is distinguished by black and white, the exclusive use of available light, and a deep emotional intimacy. His photographs stem from a profound reverence for the artists and their art: they do not seek a constructed effect, but rather the authentic moment, often made of concentration, sweat, intensity, and physical presence. Added to this are his refined darkroom technique and his use of unconventional print formats.
In just ten years, between 1958 and 1968, Alper created approximately 80,000 images, around 30,000 of which were dedicated to the leading folk and jazz artists of his time. He worked for prestigious labels and his photographs were published in magazines and newspapers. In 1962, he also won the International Jazz Photo Competition in Poland. Alongside music, Alper also documented the Civil Rights Movement, collaborating with the SNCC Freedom Singers and producing images that later appeared in the book and film Eyes on the Prize. The photograph of Miles Davis taken by Joe Alper at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966 belongs to this visual universe: a direct image, immersed in the truth of the moment.
Luciano Viti is one of Italy’s great music photographers. Since the 1970s, he has collaborated with some of the most important Italian and international magazines.
From 1981 to 1988, he was the official photographer for Il Mucchio Selvaggio, creating 40 covers. Between 1982 and 1995, he produced 250 features and 60 covers for TV Radiocorriere. He was also the official photographer of the Pistoia Blues Fe
stival and Casa del Jazz in Rome, collaborating with numerous leading figures in Italian and international music.His work has been presented in numerous solo exhibitions and collected in books.
Luciano Viti’s photographs of Miles Davis tell the story of a close and precious encounter. The portraits were taken in Miles’s room at the Sheraton Hotel in Rome Eur, at two in the morning: an intimate setting, far from the stage. The concert images, on the other hand, were taken at the Umbria Jazz Festival in 1985 and at the Pescara Jazz Festival in 1986.
Through Viti’s eye, Miles Davis emerges in a more mature phase, revealing both the private dimension of the portrait and the electric energy of the performance.
Alongside Luciano Viti’s Fine Art photographs, Wall Of Sound Gallery also presents a very special object: the Miles Davis Limited Edition One Box, a unique piece from the photographer’s private collection.
The box was exhibited during his show at Leica Gallery in 2018 and brings together materials directly connected to his photographic experience with Miles Davis.
The box contains the biographical volume Miles Davis, written by Ian Carr in its Italian edition, personally signed by Mile
s Davis and enriched with a small drawing he made after the photo session with Viti. It also includes six 20×30 cm photographic prints: four portraits taken in 1987 and two concert images, one shot at the Pescara Jazz Festival in 1986 and one live in Perugia during Umbria Jazz in 1985.
The six photographs are signed and stamped on the back by Luciano Viti in 2018 and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
This is an unrepeatable object, bringing together Miles Davis’s original autograph, Luciano Viti’s photographic work, and direct provenance from the artist’s private collection. Interesting price! Email us for info.
