Through a captivating keynote and a fascinating exhibition, the One LP project delves deep into the musical universes of blues, classical, country, folk, jazz, reggae, rock and soul. This highly acclaimed photo series impressively illuminates how music touches and shapes human life. Each picture presents a personality holding an album that is significant to them. These visual narratives are complemented by interviews that delve deep into the stories behind the music selections, highlighting the individual value and deeper meaning of each album.
Could you start by explaining the concept behind the One LP project? What inspired you to start the One LP project, and how did you conceptualize the idea of portraying artists with their favorite albums?
SISTER CAROL-WB© WILLIAM ELLIS
Outline
One LP is a unique and critically acclaimed portrait photography project that explores the inspirational qualities of recordings and the impact that they have on people’s lives. Each portrait features the subject holding a recording that is of fundamental importance to them. The photograph is accompanied by a short interview that explores the meaning and value of the selected album.
Concept and development
The project commenced in 2010 as a response to conversations with musicians about their relationship with the work of other artists encountered via recordings. In particular, conversations had focused on the albums that had profoundly moved the subjects. As a conversation is of course transient – usually committed only to memory – I was eager to find a format that would adequately document my interactions with the artists. The One LP series is the outcome – something that excavates layers of memory, influence, being and uniqueness. Perhaps more poetically, One LP has come to represent a journey into another’s soul: the album that each artist selects is a part of them: their past, present and future.
“The project, conceived in the jazz world has been extended and now includes around 200 people in a spectrum of occupations in the creative milieu – artists, academics, broadcasters, musicians, writers and photographers.”
William Ellis
Save the Date
March 21,15:00 – 15:50
on the Main Stage in Hall 11
How do you select the musicians and artists to feature in this project? Is there a specific criterion?
Many of the musicians are photographed whilst on tour. Frequently in London and other cities in the U.K.. I have also worked with many musicians in New York, Los Angeles and Kansas City MO.
In your experience, how do musicians generally decide on their most significant album, and what common themes have you noticed in their choices?
I couldn’t really determine how selections are made – we are all unique of course and how much significance we attach to particular records is an entirely personal matter. Though I have been struck occasionally by the way a recording can set the course of an artist’s life – Al Jareau comes to mind –
Al Jareau – One LP – Les Double Six: Les Double Six.
“Double Six – when I was in college in my first year I had formed a singing group patterned along the lines of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross – and Double Six.
Double Six changed my life – I listened to them instead of going to class – I think they almost sent me home!
Very important music to me, I became friends with Michel Legrand – his sister sang in the group then and Mimi Perrin – thank you Mimi! we’ll all see you soon.
So Double Six – very important, lots of people important – but a special place for them.”
Can you share a particularly memorable story or reaction from an artist when discussing their chosen album?
One of the most memorable session was with Jack Bruce. His selection was most unexpected and his words were poetry.
Jack Bruce: Musician Olivier Messiaen: L’ascension: (Thomas Trotter).
“It’s called L’ascension by Olivier Messiaen who was a French composer I have loved for most of my life. Why I love his composiitions is he shows that music has always existed. Humans only stole it. We borrowed it – but it’s in nature, It holds the universe together, ask any skylark or ask any blackbird they’ll tell you.”

RESHMAB gp© WILLIAM ELLIS
As a photographer, how do you capture the essence of the artist’s relationship with their chosen album in a single image?
The One LP portrait session begins with the subject talking about the album they have chosen and are somehow taken back to the time, the circumstance and often the place the recording came into their lives.
And how the recording has always been a part of their spiritual and artistic lives.
They share these insights with me and I am there to listen, I very rarely ‘interview’ as such. My role in those minutes is to enable the sitter to set the scene for their portrait whilst I listen and record their words.
Each sitter creates their own state of mind, demeanour and expression which I am able to reflect in my photograph.
‘British photographer William Ellis is perhaps best known for his impeccable photos of jazz musicians. Truly cool interactive exhibits like this that combine multiple art forms don’t come around often.’
Time Out New York
How has the One LP project evolved since its inception? Have there been any unexpected developments or directions?
Some years ago my co-presenter Tim Wall (Professor Radio and Popular Music Studies) andI I began to collaborate on various projects based on the One LP concept. We explored Reggae – in our One Love series which was exhibited at the the 6th Global Reggae Conference in Kingston Jamaica in association with The University of West Indies at Mona.
The sessions took place in London, Birmingham, Kingston, Orcho Rio, and I spent 5 days in New York working on the project with musicians, DJs, writers, sound engineers, record label owners. The New York image files were emailed to the lab in Birmingham England and the prints brought out to Kingston to be added to the ones I had with me for the pop-up exhibition at the conference.
To what extent do you see a connection between the OneLP project and the core themes of the Prolight + Sound trade fair?

Das One LP-Projekt von William Ellis
From my point of view the primary role of Prolight + Sound is to provide a platform for innovators. in technology to share music in the most exciting and inspirational way.
I hope that the people sharing their musical loves in the One LP exhibition inspires visitors to consider what will be their recording of great personal significance – their One LP.