The scene
portrayed 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. Many musicians who
were formerly resident in the area had already moved
to middle-class parts of New York, or did so shortly
thereafter. 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.
In 2018
Art Kane. Harlem 1958 was published to mark
the 60th anniversary of the event, with forewords by
Quincy Jones and Benny Golson, and an introduction by
Kane's son, Jonathan.
Following
the death of Benny Golson in September 2024, Sonny Rollins
is the last living adult musician featured in the photograph.
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."
Sonny
Rollins is now 94 and I have known him for most of his
life. He grew up in Manhattan and by the middle 50s
was at the fore of hard bop tenor saxophone. By that
time he had recorded with practically every bop star
including Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, John Coltrane,
J.J. Johnson. The Modern Jazz Quartet and many other
stars of the period.
I met him
one evening at the Cafe Bohemia in New York when I and
my band mates sat in with Max Roach and his new quartet
featuring trumpeter Clifford Brown. I also played tenor
sax and after listening to Sonny and that band I began
an association that has lasted to the present day. I
produced him in concerts, wrote about him in many jazz
publications, and became a friend when he helped me
a great deal as I wrote the Clifford Brown bio.
Sonny Rollins’
career reflects the vagaries of jazz publicity. Much
was written about his habit of going up to a local bridge
to practice his horn, about constant comparisons with
John Coltrane, and about his mystical explorations.
These stories illustrate how jazz writers have been
just as affected by media bosses to focus on celebrity
rather than talent.
However
a recent Rollins biographical tome, Saxophone Colossus:
The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, by Adam Levy
has clarified many issues of his life and career and
given serious jazz folk an opportunity to truly dig
into his remarkable life and contributions.
After spending
the late 40s recording with Navarro, and so many other
important boppers and going through a period of disillusionment
and drug use, Rollins came upon Max Roach and Clifford
Brown in Chicago in 1955 and performed so brilliantly
that he was asked to join the band. The short time he
spent there set a standard for jazz performances and
recordings that still resonate. He only recorded two
albums with Brown and Roach but the music therein is
still fresh and truly inspirational. From the opening
selection “Powell’s Prances” an improvisational excursion
ensues that is truly singular in the litany of hard
bop recordings.
In May of
1956, the group recorded an LP under Rollins’ name that
featured his composition “Pent Up House,” another hard
bop standard. Two weeks later Brown, age 25, and pianist
Richie Powell, age 24, were killed in an auto accident
and the miracle association of these pioneering musicians
ended.
Through
my many years of jazz writing I frequently called Sonny
who spent the majority of his adult life living in a
quite upstate New York town. Our conversations ranged
from music to mysticism and his life experiences which
provided insights into the life of a working jazz musician
that have finally come to life in Levy’s book.
The Harlem
photo reminds us that much of the astounding talent
of late 20th century bebop scene has now gone and the
heights that this jazz style attained have truly not
been surpassed. However, the recordings still remain
and sales still thrive in those corners of the world
where modern jazz is truly understood.
The performers
in the photo include the following:
• Red Allen
• Buster Bailey
• Count Basie
• Emmett Berry
• Art Blakey
• Lawrence Brown
• Scoville Browne
• Buck Clayton
• Bill Crump[14]
• Vic Dickenson
• Roy Eldridge
• Art Farmer
• Bud Freeman
• Dizzy Gillespie
• Tyree Glenn
• Benny Golson
• Sonny Greer
• Johnny Griffin
• Gigi Gryce
• Coleman Hawkins
• J. C. Heard
• Jay C. Higginbotham
• Milt Hinton
• Chubby Jackson
• Hilton Jefferson
• Osie Johnson
• Hank Jones
• Jo Jones
• Jimmy Jones
• Taft Jordan
• Max Kaminsky
• Gene Krupa
• Eddie Locke
• Marian McPartland
• Charles Mingus
• Miff Mole
• Thelonious Monk
• Gerry Mulligan
• Oscar Pettiford
• Rudy Powell
• Luckey Roberts
• Sonny Rollins
• Jimmy Rushing
• Pee Wee Russell
• Sahib Shihab
• Horace Silver
• Zutty Singleton
• Stuff Smith
• Rex Stewart
• Maxine Sullivan
• Joe Thomas
• Wilbur Ware
• Dicky Wells
• George Wettling
• Ernie Wilkins
• Mary Lou Williams
• Lester Young
