A Great Day in Harlem

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:For Template:Use mdy dates

File:Great Day in Harlem.jpg
A Great Day in Harlem

A Great Day in Harlem or Harlem 1958 is a black-and-white photograph of 57 jazz musicians in Harlem, New York, taken by freelance photographer Art Kane for Esquire magazine on August 12, 1958.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The idea for the photo came from EsquireTemplate:'s art director, Robert Benton, rather than Kane.<ref name="Levenson">Template:Cite magazine</ref> However, after being given the commission, it seems that Kane was responsible for choosing the location for the shoot.<ref name="Myers">Template:Cite web</ref> The subjects are shown at 17 East 126th Street,Template:Efn between Fifth and Madison Avenue, where police had temporarily blocked off traffic. Published as the centerfold of the January 1959 ("Golden Age of Jazz") issue of Esquire,<ref name="esquire_article">Template:Cite magazine</ref> the image was captured with a Hasselblad camera, and earned Kane his first Art Directors Club of New York gold medal for photography.<ref name="Myers"/><ref name="Poppy">Template:Cite book</ref> It has been called "the most iconic photograph in jazz history,"<ref name="Scott">Template:Cite news</ref> and is a credited artistic inspiration that led to Gordon Parks' 1998 XXL-commissioned "A Great Day in Hip Hop" homage to Harlem, forty years later,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Patrick Nichols' subsequent 2024 AGO-commissioned Canadian spinoff, "A Great Day in Toronto Hip Hop."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The scene portrayed through Kane’s photograph is something of an anachronism, as by 1957 Harlem was no longer the "hotbed" of jazz it had been in the 1940s, and had "forfeited its place in sun" to 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan.<ref name="Reich">Template:Cite web</ref> Many musicians who were formerly resident in the area had already moved to middle-class parts of New York, or did so shortly thereafter.<ref name="Gill">Template:Cite book</ref> Kane himself was not that certain who would turn up on the day, as Esquire staff had merely issued a general invitation through the local musicians' union, recording studios, music writers, and nightclub owners.<ref name="Orgill">Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2018, a book was published to mark the 60th anniversary of the event, with forewords by Quincy Jones and Benny Golson,Template:Efn and an introduction by Kane's son, Jonathan.<ref name="Harlem58">Template:Cite book</ref>

Following the death of Benny Golson in September 2024, Sonny Rollins is the last living adult musician featured in the photograph.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Interviewed for a December 2024 article in The New York Times, Rollins gave his view of the photograph's significance at that time, when racism and segregation was pervasive: "It just seemed like we weren't appreciated ... mainly because jazz was a Black art. I think that picture humanized a lot of the myth of what people thought jazz was."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Musicians in the photograph

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Children in the picture

Count Basie, having grown tired of standing, sat down on the curb, and gradually a dozen children followed.<ref name="bach">Template:Cite AV media</ref> Most of the children were neighborhood residents, although the second child from the right, Taft Jordan Jr., had accompanied his father, Taft Jordan, to the photo session.<ref name="bach" /> The photography crew was already having trouble directing the adults, and the presence of the children added to the chaos: one of the children appearing in the window kept yelling at a sibling on the curb; another kept playing with Basie's hat; Taft Jordan Jr. had been scuffling with the older child seated to his left.<ref name="bach" /> Ultimately, Art Kane realized that any further attempt to organize the proceedings would be futile, and he decided to incorporate the subjects' actions.<ref name="bach" />

Musicians not in the main photograph

Notable absentees were Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis (all touring), Duke Ellington (in Milwaukee), Benny Goodman (in Los Angeles), and Ella Fitzgerald (recording in Chicago). George Barnes (musician), Jack Lesberg, Ernie Royal, Dick Hyman, Carl Kress, Hank D'Amico, George Duvivier, Ruby Braff, Billie Holiday, Budd Johnson, Jimmy Nottingham, "Philly" Joe Jones, Max Roach, and Ben Webster were also not present.<ref name="McDonough"/>

Willie "The Lion" Smith had sat down to rest on a nearby stoop when the photo chosen for publication was taken, but appears in unused frames.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref><ref name="WH">Template:Cite episode</ref>

Ronnie Free, Mose Allison and Charlie Rouse arrived too late to participate in the Esquire shoot, but they were photographed by Dizzy Gillespie alongside Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young and Oscar Pettiford.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref>

Film

Jean Bach, a radio producer of New York, recounted the story behind the photograph in her 1994 documentary film, A Great Day in Harlem. This incorporated 8 mm film footage taken by bassist Milt Hinton on the day of the shoot.<ref name="Levenson"/> The film was nominated in 1995 for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Bach described how, upon the film's release, a number of similar photographs employed the "A Great Day in..." theme.<ref name="copycat">Template:Cite AV media</ref> Hugh Hefner assembled Hollywood-area musicians for "A Great Day in Hollywood" in conjunction with a sneak preview of A Great Day in Harlem.<ref name="copycat" /> Soon afterwards, "A Great Day in Philadelphia" included musicians such as Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson and Ray Bryant.<ref name="copycat" /> During the filming of Kansas City (1996), musicians including Jay McShann posed for "A Great Day in Kansas City".<ref name="copycat" /> A multi-page supplement in The Star-Ledger featured "A Great Day in Jersey", while a Dutch photograph was titled "A Great Day in Ha(a)rlem".<ref name="copycat" /> In 1998, "Great Day in St Paul" was taken by Byron Nelson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The trend spread to other styles of music, with Houston blues musicians posing for "A Great Day in Houston".<ref name="copycat" /> "A Great Day in Hip Hop" was followed by XXL's "The Greatest Day in Hip Hop".<ref name="copycat" /> An Atlanta radio station gathered musicians for "A Great Day in Doo-Wop".<ref name="copycat" /> A New York cellist, inspired by both the original photograph and the film, assembled chamber musicians for "A Great Day in New York".<ref name="copycat" /> The New York Post ran "A Great Day in Spanish Harlem".<ref name="copycat" />

The photograph was a key plot point in Steven Spielberg's 2004 film The Terminal. The film starred Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski, a character who comes to the United States in search of Benny Golson's autograph, with which he can complete his deceased father's collection of autographs from the musicians pictured in the photo. Golson himself made a cameo appearance in the film.<ref name="Bream">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Graham, Lorne, "A Great Day in Harlem/The Terminal", NEMC article.</ref><ref>"The Terminal - Jazz Scenes - Benny Golson and A Great Day in Harlem", YouTube</ref>

Homages

See also

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Coord Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=A_Great_Day_in_Harlem&oldid=642434"