For the 1994 documentary with the same name, see A Great Day in Harlem (film).
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.[1] The idea for the photo came from Esquire's art director, Robert Benton, rather than Kane.[2] However, after being given the commission, it seems the latter was responsible for choosing the location for the shoot.[3] The subjects are shown at 17 East 126th Street,[a] 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,[4] the image was captured with a Hasselblad camera, and earned Kane his first Art Directors Club of New York gold medal for photography.[3][5] It has been called "the most iconic photograph in jazz history".[6]
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.[7] Many musicians who were formerly resident in the area had already moved to middle-class parts of New York, or did so shortly thereafter.[8] 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.[9]
In 2018, a book was published to mark the 60th anniversary of the event, with forewords by Quincy Jones and Benny Golson,[b] and an introduction by Kane's son, Jonathan.[11]
^"Marian McPartland – A Great Day in Harlem". Clarehansson.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
^Levenson, Jeff (February 11, 1995). "Film Tells Story Behind Photo Of That 'Great Day In Harlem'" (PDF). Billboard. New York. p. 46. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
^ abcMyers, Marc (November 2, 2018). "A Great Day in Harlem, Revisited". Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
^Kane, Art (January 1, 1959). "A Great Day in Harlem". Esquire. New York City. pp. 98–99. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
^Poppy, John (1975). Art Kane, The Persuasive Image: How a Portraitist and Story Teller Illuminates Our Changing Culture. Masters of Contemporary Photography. Los Angeles: Alskog / Thomas Y. Crowell Company. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0690007841. OCLC 1150967383. Retrieved December 30, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
^Scott, Ron (August 19, 2021). "Donald Harrison, Banana Pudding, Art Kane Place". New York Amsterdam News. Vol. 122, no. 33. p. 21.
^Reich, Howard (May 7, 1995). "On the Count of Three, Say 'Jazz': One Day in Harlem in 1958, a Photographer and His Subjects Made Beautiful Music Together". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 283968809. Retrieved January 10, 2023 – via ProQuest.
^Gill, Jonathan (2011). Harlem: The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America. New York: Grove Press. p. 363. ISBN 9780802119100. OCLC 881685845. Retrieved December 30, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
^Orgill, Roxane (2016). Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763669546. OCLC 1302075202 – via Internet Archive.
^Art Kane. Harlem 1958: The 60th Anniversary Edition (Trade ed.). New York: Wall of Sound Editions. 2018. ISBN 9788894366624.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
and 26 Related for: A Great Day in Harlem information
AGreatDayin Hip Hop is a black-and-white photograph of over 200 hip hop artists and producers inHarlem, New York, taken by photographer Gordon Parks...
contains a copy of the "AGreatDayinHarlem" photograph. His late father was a jazz enthusiast who had discovered the picture ina Hungarian newspaper in 1958...
photographer, when 57 jazz musicians assembled inHarlem, New York for a group portrait. Later known as AGreatDayinHarlem, the resulting image has been described...
1991 A Rage inHarlem, 1991 New Jack City, 1991 Jungle Fever, 1991 Juice, 1992 Who's the Man?, 1993 Sugar Hill, 1994 Above the Rim, 1994 AGreatDayin Harlem...
AGreat Night inHarlem Benefit Concert is an annual series of concerts organized by the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization...
negatively by critics. In the same year, she was invited to be a part of a re-creation of the historic photograph "AGreatDayinHarlem" by Art Kane, organized...
Middle School Manhattan Harlem 1 Harlem 2 Harlem 3 Harlem 4 Harlem 5 Harlem 6 Harlem East Harlem North Central Harlem North West Harlem West Hell's Kitchen...
during the Great Migration in the 20th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, Central and West Harlem were the center of the Harlem Renaissance, a major African-American...
fashion photos". AGreatDayinHarlem Segal, David (November 21, 2023). "Is This the World's Highest-Grossing Photograph? - "Girls in the Windows" wasn't...
documentary, AGreatDayinHarlem, based on a 1958 photograph of the same name. Bach was born Jean Enzinger in Chicago on September 27, 1918, and raised in Milwaukee...
professionally as Big L, was an American rapper. Emerging from Harlemin New York City in 1992, Big L became known among underground hip-hop fans for his...
Gillespie's album Sonny Side Up. In 1958, he appeared in Art Kane's AGreatDayinHarlem photograph of jazz musicians in New York; he is one of only two...
the Jazztet. Golson played a cameo role in the 2004 movie The Terminal, related to his appearance in "AGreatDayinHarlem", a group photograph of prominent...
albums for Music Minus One. In 1958, Ware was one of 57 jazz musicians to appear in the photograph AGreatDayinHarlem. Ware was a member of the Thelonious...
co-starred in the 2018 web series Leimert Park, which premiered at Sundance. Featherson also appeared in the re-creation of the photograph "AGreatDayin Harlem"...
arrive en masse in 1905, with numbers fed by the Great Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, Central and West Harlem were the focus of the "Harlem Renaissance"...
appear in the 1958 photograph "AGreatDayinHarlem" and was later interviewed for the 1994 documentary of the same title. Farmer formed the Jazztet in 1959...
only three women who appear in the famous photograph of jazz greats, AGreatDayinHarlem. With Dizzy Gillespie Dizzy Gillespie at Newport (Verve, 1957)...
also played in Count Basie's band. He is known as an accompanist for Billie Holiday, was in the photograph known as AGreatDayinHarlem, and the special...
host the ceremony for a second consecutive year saying, "I've had agreat time, but I've done it." She added that her role in the upcoming movie Bogus...
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play...