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"A Great Day in Harlem" - 57 jazz icons in one snapshot

People immediately fell in love with this picture, and its influence grew over the years..... As Kane himself said in one of his interviews, "It really does have a life of its own!"

How the photograph "A Great Day in Harlem" was created - history and little known facts

"A Great Day in Harlem."or "Harlem 1958." - that's the name given to black-and-white photography 57 jazz musiciansmade by in Harlem, New York, photographer. Art Kane. in August 1958 of the year! Great jazz maestros including. Lester Young and Charles Minguswere captured between Fifth and Madison Avenues... As a result, this shot made it into the January issue. Esquire (1959). As for Kane, the idea of capturing as many luminaries of the New York jazz scene as possible together launched his successful career as a photographer! So, 58 jazzmen duly gathered in Harlem, and their shots became part of musical history... We'll talk about how many musicians actually gathered that day, as well as the impact of the photo below....

Background

"A Great Day in Harlem," or "Harlem 1958."
"A Great Day in Harlem," or "Harlem 1958."

Right, 12 August 1958 in Harlem a remarkable photograph was taken... The black-and-white photograph now known as "A Great Day in Harlem." photographer Art Kaneand became an iconic imprint of this moment in time that has survived to this day! The musicians gathered in front of the house number 17 on 126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues.. In the image we can see Lester Young, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Roy Eldridge.and charming. Maxine Sullivan And others...

Art Kane
Art Kane

In the second half 1950s New York was famous for a huge number of nightclubs, in the walls of which the best jazz icons played... Today, decades later, their music continues to live and inspire both listeners and fans, as well as generations of young musicians... And, fortunately, we now have photos that capture a historic moment of that era, a moment when dozens of jazz giants gathered in one frame!

Ambience during filming

From left to right: Joe Jones, Eddie Lock and Jimmy Rushing
From left to right: Joe Jones, Eddie Lock and Jimmy Rushing

The iconic photo shoot took place on a hot summer day in New York City... Just a budding photographer at the time Art Kane was quite concerned: he was nervously walking around the neighbourhood of Harlem, looking for the most suitable location for the photograph... Kane was full of hope to take a first-class picture for Esquire! And, in fact, he did... Art Kane was a young art director at the 1958 the year he presented the idea to a magazine Esquire Magazine for its release "The Golden Age of Jazz.".

"The idea was to get as many great people in one shot as possible," Kane said.

"A Great Day in Harlem," one of the shots from that day.
"A Great Day in Harlem," one of the shots from that day.

In fact, that's the day my career began Art Kane As a photographer... Starting at ten o'clock in the morning, jazz musicians slowly pulled up to their destination. Kane was very afraid that the turnout would be low... But contrary to his fears - almost 60 jazz giants of that era gathered at the venue! That was already half a success! However - the young photographer also had to deal with some distractions that day.....

"A Great Day in Harlem," from the Art Kane archive.
"A Great Day in Harlem," from the Art Kane archive.

At some point. Count Basie got tired of standing, and sat down on the pavement. Instantly he was followed by a dozen children! Many of them lived in Harlemexcept for Taft Jordan Jr.who accompanied his father to the photo shoot. Anyway, the presence of the children added to the chaos: they were shouting, making noise, pestering the idols and just couldn't sit in one place! In the end. Art Kane realised that in order to take a quality picture, you'd have to take into account the actions of more than just the musicians....

"There was no money here, no stylists, no effects or anything else... In fact, we had almost 60 brilliant artists who came here out of love for what they were doing!" - Kane recalled.

From left to right: Roy Eldridge, Gene Krupa and Rex Stewart. Art Kane Archive
From left to right: Roy Eldridge, Gene Krupa and Rex Stewart. Art Kane Archive

Some shots show how Art Kane - trying to capture the big picture that day - was distracted, for example, by passing horses and carts, street vendors, children on the roadside and the musicians themselves, who were happy to see each other!

Lucky Roberts (left) and Willie Smith, who didn't make it into the final photo
Lucky Roberts (left) and Willie Smith, who didn't make it into the final photo

So, the pianist Willie Smith was out of the frame when the principal photograph was taken for Esquire; and Ronnie Free, Mose Allison and Charlie Rose. arrived too late...

"A Great Day in Harlem," photo by Art Kane
"A Great Day in Harlem," photo by Art Kane

The image was published in the January issue of the Esquire 1959 of the year. It was a truly magnificent shot, which, later, would come to symbolise the heyday of jazz ...

The impact of the shot

People immediately fell in love with the shot, and its influence grew over the years... As Kane himself said in one of his interviews, "It really does have a life of its own!" So, in 1994 a documentary film was released in the year Gina Bajatelling the story of this amazing photo and the photo shoot in general....

From the memoirs of Benny Golson

Benny Golson
Benny Golson

There was a photo shoot that day. Benny Golson - one of the greatest tenor saxophonists, composer and arranger!

"I remember it like it was just yesterday..." - Golson recalled of that day. "I remember everything about it..."

Golson had just moved to New York to join the group Dizzy Gillespiewhen he was invited to a photo shoot at the 17 East 126th Street. He didn't know what awaited him. He was stunned ...

"All my idols... And me. I say to myself, "What am I doing here?" Nobody knew who the hell Benny Golson was..."

"A great day in Harlem," one beautiful shot.....
"A great day in Harlem," one beautiful shot.....

Golson described the shot as "the best of the best in jazz history!" But he had no idea that day how big and significant this photo shoot would become....

"When the magazine came out, of course I bought it," Golson said. "I looked at the picture, and I said: "Boy, that's a great picture!" And like all magazines, I kept it for a while, after which I finally threw it in the bin..."

"A Great Day in Harlem," or "Harlem 1958."
"A Great Day in Harlem," or "Harlem 1958."

subsequently Golson became a successful composer and arranger! His biography has seen many triumphs and downfalls, titles and awards, but... nothing like the morning he spent on Harlem's doorstep.

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