Weekend Portfolio: Scott Rossi
Jazz House
I arrived at the jazz house on a cold winter evening around midnight. As I walked towards the house, I could already hear the chorus to Pent Up House being played from outside. I entered through the basement kitchen, where Jimi was making dinner, a pasta dish consisting of Ragu sauce poured over ground beef and red peppers. He had a beer in one hand and a spatula in the other, he was shirtless and wearing purple bell bottom pants and mismatching socks. We hug and I entered the basement where a number of local jazz musicians sat surrounded by records, instruments and a random assortment of collectibles. Weed and cigarette smoke filled the air and the sound of a burning saxophone solo was blaring from the other room. I am passed a joint before I entered the jam room, squeezing between the lineup of musicians waiting their turn or simply admiring the solo. I took my usual seat, in between the piano and the drums, just in front of the bass, looking at Tobias on the Sax. I take a hit from the joint before passing it off to Andrea and grab my camera, joining the guys as the fifth member of the quintet.
The Jazz House began when a group of young musicians decided to move in together in order to be immersed in jazz music twenty-four hours a day. Located in South Vancouver, the house is known as a “Vancouver Special”: a large three-story box with a small backyard. Set for demolition to make way for condominiums, the outside of the house has no defining characteristics as dozens of identical houses line either side of the street. Walking past the house you would never imagine that over the past few years it has become a hub for jazz in Vancouver. It plays host to countless couch surfers and travelling musicians along with late night jam sessions that run into the early hours of the morning. I was fortunate enough to bear witness to many of the late mornings, documenting the culture, music and relationships that took place within the walls of the unsuspecting house.
About Scott Rossi
At five-years old, my father came home one evening with a go-kart. He handed me a helmet and tied a rope to the back of it. That evening I drove up and down my neighbourhood street with my father in tow. I spent the next thirteen years racing go-karts competitively around the world, chasing the dream of becoming a professional driver. Racing required me to be focused and in the moment. It was as much a mental sport as it was physical. When I left the sport, I was in limbo, unable to find something that could replace the intensity I experienced for so many years. When I was twenty-six-years-old, I found photography. Photography allowed me to connect with the world once again.
I am interested in meeting people who are in pursuit of something that has great meaning to them––people who I tend to see myself in. Since 2018, I have been photographing young jazz musicians because in them I see the same drive and mental focus that I had those years chasing my dream of becoming a professional driver.
In my work, I mostly use 35mm cameras in order to allow myself the mobility to photograph in the close-proximity situations I am often in. I do not intend for my work to speak on behalf of the people who I photograph. I hope to present it as a quotation of the real life.
Please find more works on Scott Rossi’s website
