[Dixielandjazz] "A Great Day in Harlem" photo - DVD of the 1994 documentary

[Steve barbone]

If you missed the 1994 Documentary about this famous photo, fear not, a 2
disc DVD set is coming soon. Note the last five paragraphs of this article.

Cheers,
Steve


A 'Great Day' from Bach

Filmmaker to preview DVD about famed Harlem photo

by Al Hunter Jr.
Philadelphia Daily News, December 30, 2005

"A Great Day in Harlem," the iconic photograph of jazz greats gathered in
front of a brownstone nearly half a century ago, has a dedicated advocate in
Jean Bach.

Bach, 87, a former radio and television producer who rubbed elbows with many
jazz luminaries, produced an hour-long television documentary about the
photo in 1994.

It featured interviews with surviving musicians from the 1958 photo,
photographer Art Kane and others who helped set up the shot for Esquire
magazine. The resulting film received positive reviews and was nominated for
an Oscar in 1995 for best documentary feature.

In January, the documentary will be released on a two-disc DVD. Tonight,
Bach is scheduled to be at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where "A Great
Day in Harlem" will be screened. She will discuss the photo and film and
answer questions from the audience.

"A Great Day in Harlem" is a who's-who of jazz in New York City, circa the
late 1950s: Count Basie, Lawrence Brown, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy
Gillespie, Benny Golson, Gene Krupa, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Gerry
Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Stuff Smith, Lester Young, Horace Silver and
others.

Bach is a jazz enthusiast who used to write a music column for the '40s- era
Chicago Times. "A Great Day in Harlem" was her first attempt at producing a
documentary and she conducted most of the interviews at her home in New
York.

The photo was the brainchild of Kane, then a young art director who became
interested in photography. "A Great Day in Harlem" was his first published
photograph, but it endured. Kane, who went on to become a distinguished
fashion photographer, committed suicide in 1999.

"It has all the great jazz artists in a clean, crisp shot," said Bill
Foster, a Philadelphia photographer who shoots a lot of musicians. "Everyone
is positioned just right. No on had ever done anything like that, bringing
all those jazz artists together at one time."

No egos leap from the photo -- no one appears to be jockeying for a
favorable position. "They weren't trying to make history," Foster said. But
they did.

Patrick Simione, a Manayunk photographer who in 2003 shot a gathering of 200
Philly jazz musicians and associates outside the Municipal Services
Building, said there's a natural feel to Kane's photo.

"The thing I love about it is that it's almost like a big family portrait,"
Simione said.

The photo was widely imitated.

"My theory is [Kane] had something in his brain and he made it work. You
can't copy something like that," Simione said. "Every situation has its own
kind of energy to it. That's something you can't discount. You put all those
great [jazz] minds together, you can feel that."

Part of the DVD's bonus material includes a "Copycat Photos" featurette,
which highlights photos inspired by "A Great Day," including a 1995 version
done locally for Philadelphia Weekly.

Of the 57 musicians in Kane's photo -- there would've been 58, but Willie
"The Lion" Smith got tired and sat on some steps outside of camera range --
only a handful are alive today, including Silver, Hank Jones, Eddie Locke,
Marian McPartland, Rollins, Golson, and Johnny Griffin.

And if a contemporary version of the photo were taken, who would be
included?

Bach admitted having trouble coming up with current musicians who compare to
those '50s greats.

"I can't think of whose playing is so original, that has had an effect on
other people. Maybe Ahmad Jamal, Clark Terry?" Bach considered. "The
conditions were different. People who were evolving and developing ideas
were playing in big bands."

There are few of them around these days.

In one of the DVD's featurettes, Kane says in an interview: "I'll never
forget the experience. And I hope the world never forgets the image."