This is a great story about one of the most important and most historic pictures taken on the subject of Jazz. It was shot in Harlem, New York City on August 12th of the year 1958. It was the most unique picture to see for all Jazz fans living at the time it was taken. For the Jazz fans of today and ones who were born immediately afterwards, it is a treasure. Learn more about this picture, purchase the documentary and grab the poster while you have the chance.
Here’s a great introduction;
“When I found out there was going to be this big meeting for a picture in Esquire,” Dizzy Gillespie recalled, “I said to myself, ‘Here’s my chance to see all these musicians without going to a funeral.'” The mood was indeed far from funereal on that warm Tuesday morn of August 12, 1958, when nearly five dozen jazz artists overflowed the staircase of a Harlem brownstone for an unprecedented group portrait. The “big meeting” was the brainstorm of rookie photographer Art Kane (1925-1995), and proved surprisingly convivial for creatures of the night unused to a 10 a.m. gig. (“A musician at the shoot,” wrote The New Yorker‘s Whitney Balliett, “said he was astonished to discover that there were two 10 o’clocks in each day.”)
Naturally it took a while for the 55 cats and 3 chicks to arrive and exchange greetings, and it’s unclear when everyone was finally in place. For that matter, nobody has the vaguest idea how so many rugged individualists wound up exactly where they did, since no one was directed where to stand. Any groupings, such as drummers in proximity or vocalists next to each other, were entirely fortuitous…..Read More
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Part Two:
This is not how to watch the documentary, the best way is to go here and purchase it. Not only will you find out how it came to be but you will learn more about the history of Jazz and the great musicians who made it happen. It is a collectors item and you should wrap it up and save it in a safe place. Of course, after you view it and realize how outrages it is. To assemble all these LEGENDS in one place and at the same time is incredible. Just picture yourself in the shoes of Art Kane who took the picture, unbelievable!
Here in Art Kane’s website you can see his image and all the other great pictures he took throughout the years. The poster is located here.
