In The Wall Street Journal this week, I wrote an essay for the Review section on jazz's greatest image: "Harlem 1958," also known as "A Great Day in Harlem," photographed by Art Kane and published in Esquire in January 1959 (go here). Fifty-seven jazz musicians were captured in a split second by Kane's camera on a brownstone stoop and sidewalk at 17 East 126th Street in Harlem. I spoke with Sonny Rollins and Benny Golson about that day. Sonny and Benny are the the last two surviving members of Kane's group portrait. [Photo above by Art Kane, courtesy of Jonathan Kane and the Kane Archive]
A new book coming out Nov. 12—Art Kane: Harlem 1958 (Wall of Sound Editions)—offers two big pieces of news. First, Kane's 70-plus outtakes from the photo shoot are included for the first time, offering much greater insight into the musicians who were present. Second, the outtakes include images of a second location for the shoot at 52 East 126th Street. Why this location was used and abandoned remains a mystery. Kane passed away in 1995. [Outtake above by Art Kane, courtesy of Jonathan Kane and the Kane Archive]
But the photo was more than a spectacular group of musicians splendidly posing for the camera. There was an elegance to how they arranged themselves and how they faced the camera with muted joy. As Sonny told me, "Suddenly, we were being seen the way we saw ourselves." After the photo appeared, jazz became more respected among general-interest magazine editors, arts critics and TV producers who viewed jazz on par with modern art, sculpture, architecture, dance and theater. [Photo above, from left, of Jo Jones, Eddie Locke and Jimmy Rushing by Art Kane, courtesy of Jonathan Kane and the Kane Archive]
Here's the final scene of The Terminal (2004), which always chokes me up...
Also in the WSJ, my "House Call" interview for the Mansion section with Picabo Street, a former Olympic alpine racer and gold and silver medalist. Picabo grew up in a small town in Idaho where she was the only girl among the 33 people who lived there. She said she was a tomboy by necessity. Wait until you read who anonymously paid for her to train on the racing team and what skier Jean-Claude Killy whispered to her when he placed the Olympic gold medal around her neck in 1998. [Photo above of Picabo Street in 1998 courtesy of NBC.com]
Here's Picabo in action in 1998...
SiriusXM. On Wednesday, I'll be on SiriusXM's Feedback (channel 106) with Nik Carter and Lori Majewski to talk about my recent WSJ essay on Barry White, who is often mocked but not fully understood for his skilled arranging, conducting, composing and singing. A much more exceptional artist than you probably realize. I'll be on with Nik and Lori from 9 to 10 a.m. (EDT).
Marnie. In 1964, to promote his new film, Marnie, director Alfred Hitchcock shot this trailer featuring scenes with lead actors Tippi Hedren and Sean Connery...
"Living Presence" recordings. If you're a classical music fan, you know all about Mercury's "Living Presence" albums of the 1950s and '60s, when engineer Robert (Bob) Fine and his producer wife, Wilma Cozart Fine, recorded artists with single-mic mono (1951-1955) and three-mic stereo (1955-1967) techniques, recording roughly 300 titles. While the mono records were exceptional, the stereo albums sounded as if the orchestra was in the room with you. [Photo above of Robert (Bob) Fine and Wilma Cozart Fine]
Since 2011, Tom Fine, their son, has been re-mastering his parents' classical catalog. Now he's also the ears behind the first of two soon-to-be released Analogue Productions Mercury "Living Presence" titles: the Bach Starker Suites for Unaccompanied Cello Complete and the Dvorak Violoncello Concerto/Bruch Kol Nidrei. For more information, go here.
Here's a taste of the music...
Brownie and Soupy. In 1955, Clifford Brown was on Soupy Sales's Detroit TV variety show, Soupy's On. Here's Brownie playing Lady Be Good and Memories of You...
Julie London. Long-time readers know that Julie London is my favorite female vocalist of the 1950s and '60s. During her career, London never rose to the level of Peggy Lee or Sarah Vaughan nor did she become a household name like Ella or Jo. But Julie was plenty hip, a pure jazz phraser and quite happy outside of the mainstream. I like her even more knowing she had a mouth like a truck driver. Here she is in the studio in 1968, I believe, for her Easy Does It session, with John Gray on guitar (make sure the kids are in bed before you play this one)...
Here's London on What's My Line? in 1959. Dig how turned off the square society judges are by London's hip lingo used to disguise her real voice (move the time bar up to 18:32). Turns out the judges were quite racist as well...
And here's London on TV in the 1960s singing Cry Me a River, her first hit from 1955. Her performance of this song from the start was so powerful and convincing, she owned it...
What the heck: Here's Bobby Troup—singer-songwriter, pianist and Julie London's husband—singing his song, It Happened Once Before. The song was a hit for The Four Freshmen. (Poor London had such a terrible nicotine addiction; it eventually claimed her life at 74 in 2000.)...
Oddball album cover of the week.
I thought That's Amore had to be on this 1967 album for the Jeno's Pizza chain. Turns out the playlist is much, much worse (go here and here).
