Sixty years ago today, 57 jazz musicians were photographed in front of a brownstone at 17 E. 126th Street in Harlem for what would become the most famous photo in jazz history. ‘A Great Day in Harlem’ was shot at around 10 a.m. by freelance photographer Art Kane... 
The photo was published in the Jan 1959 issue of @esquire, roughly seven months before Sonny Rollins went to The Bridge. It brought together different generations of jazz musicians, e.g. pianist Luckey Roberts was 43 years older than Sonny Rollins at the time of the photo...
Rollins also stood near Rudy Powell (b. 1907), whose son he’d gone to school with. A number of Rollins’ heroes took part in the photo shoot including Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, & Count Basie...
Rollins had (or would) perform with at least a dozen of the musicians there, including Hawkins, Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Ernie Wilkins, & Wilbur Ware...
Up-and-coming (at the time) musicians such as Benny Golson, Marion MacPartland, & Mary Lou Williams were also in the photo...
A 58th musician not in the final photo, Willie “The Lion” Smith (b. 1897), got tired of standing and left the group to sit on the stoop next door...
Three more musicians - Ronny Free, Mose Allison, and Charlie Rouse - arrived too late to get in the photo; Dizzy Gillespie later took a photo of the latecomers with Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, and Oscar Pettiford...
Only two living legends from this photo are still with us: Benny Golson (b. 1929) and Sonny Rollins (b. 1930)...
There have been numerous homages to this photo, including A Great Day in Hip Hop (1998), A Great Day in London (2004), & A Great Day in Hollywood (2018)...
A Great Day in Harlem outtakes...
A Great Day in Harlem outtakes...
The subjects of A Great Day in Harlem...
There’s a 1995 documentary about that day called ‘A Great Day in Harlem.’ See: a-great-day-in-harlem.com ...
In the film, Sonny Rollins, a son of Harlem, says:
"Jazz is in the genes and it's always there. It just needs the right soil to grow in, you know. It's there already, just needs to be nurtured, you know.”...
"Jazz is in the genes and it's always there. It just needs the right soil to grow in, you know. It's there already, just needs to be nurtured, you know.”...
Rollins also said in the film that NYC is home to "guys that live very hard....They surrender themselves to just the art. But what's the point of living to be 100 if you don't do anything in life?"
Seven months after the photo shoot, Lester Young, a key presence that day and one of Rollins’ heroes, dies from liver disease and malnutrition. He is 49 years old...
Billie Holiday, Lester Young’s greatest musical partner, died four months later on July 17, 1959 at age 44...
The same summer as Billie Holiday’s death, Sonny Rollins first goes to practice on the Williamsburg Bridge, where he would spend over 2 years honing his craft and avoiding the limelight. His sabbatical started appr. 12 months after the Great Day in Harlem photo shoot...
Rollins has said of the photo shoot, “I didn’t hesitate...Something like that had never been done, and the guys were just eager to do it. I certainly was eager to do it. They were all my compadres. It was great fun.” @NYDailyNews
Photo of Benny Golson pointing himself out:
Photo of Benny Golson pointing himself out:
Addendum: Pianist Luckey Roberts (b. 1887) with and without pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith (b. 1897), who got tired of standing and missed appearing in the final Great Day in Harlem photo. Both were masters of stride piano.
#SonnyRollinsBridge
#SonnyRollinsBridge
January 1959 issue of @esquire featuring Art Kane’s photo “A Great Day in Harlem.”
A few months later, Sonny Rollins began his musical sabbatical on the Williamsburg Bridge...
A few months later, Sonny Rollins began his musical sabbatical on the Williamsburg Bridge...
Marian McPartland, Mary Lou Williams, & Thelonious Monk
17 East 126th Street, NYC
August 12, 1958
17 East 126th Street, NYC
August 12, 1958
