Beuford Smith, Two Bass Hit, Lower East Side, 1972

Beuford Smith: I couldn’t have staged this any better than this, a profile of a Black musician.

Narrator: Beuford Smith.

Beuford Smith: Then there’s the white bass player there. So there’s the integration of the music and two bass players. So I call it Two Bass Hit, named after one of Dizzy Gillespie’s tunes, "Two Bass Hit." That’s one of my favorite photographs. I love that picture. And I can hear and feel the music.

Narrator: The photograph came together very spontaneously. Smith had gone into a club called The Cave, which had parachutes hanging from the ceiling. He bought a bottle of beer, and sat down to listen. 

Beuford Smith: No one was in the club. Maybe two or three people sitting in there. That was it. I’ve always been very fortunate, when I go to jazz clubs, I’ve always lucked out that I can always get a good shot that I consider a good shot. There might have been two or three people in that club. It’s one of those clubs that during that time they just had tea or something. And that was it. I don't think I had to pay to get in. No, it was that kind of place.