Apropos of nothing political…
…I see this picture every now again in articles about jazz and Harlem (yes, the two are deeply interrelated). This time I thought I’d put it up on the blog.
The picture was taken by freelance photographer Art Kane on this date (August 12) in 1958, at the stoop of 17 East 126th Street in the heart of Harlem.
Here is the picture…
…and here are the people in it: Hilton Jefferson, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Wilbur Ware, Art Blakey, Chubby Jackson, Johnny Griffin, Dickie Wells, Buck Clayton, Taft Jordan, Zutty Singleton, Red Allen, Tyree Glenn, Miff Molo, Sonny Greer, Jay C. Higginbotham, Jimmy Jones, Charles Mingus, Jo Jones, Gene Krupa, Max Kaminsky, George Wettling, Bud Freeman, Pee Wee Russell, Ernie Wilkins, Buster Bailey, Osie Johnson, Gigi Gryce, Hank Jones, Eddie Locke, Horace Silver, Luckey Roberts, Maxine Sullivan, Jimmy Rushing, Joe Thomas, Scoville Browne, Stuff Smith, Bill Crump, Coleman Hawkins, Rudy Powell, Oscar Pettiford, Sahib Shihab , Marian McPartland, Sonny Rollins, Lawrence Brown, Mary Lou Williams, Emmett Berry, Thelonious Monk, Vic Dickenson, Milt Hinton, Lester Young, Rex Stewart, J.C. Heard, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie.
In other words, a who’s-who of jazz.
Amazing picture. And here is Art Kane’s explanation of how it came to be, complete with a larger, easier-to-look-at version and a bunch of additional ones.
If you don’t care about jazz? This probably means nothing to you.
If you do? You’re welcome.
