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The most iconic group photograph in the history of jazz, entitled “A Great Day in Harlem" was taken on August 12, 1958 in front of a brownstone at 17 East 126th St. The photographer was Art Kane who was on assignment from Esquire Magazine. The image was to become the centerpiece of the January 1959 “Golden Age of Jazz " issue. The “cast” for the picture included 57 jazz musicians, 56 of whom were either legends, soon-to- be legends or men and women with at least rather thick jazz resumes. The 57th musician was one decidedly non-legendary mystery man, a talented, yet journeyman musician who, decades after the image was taken, was still unknown to most jazz experts viewing the photo... https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2020/07/bill-crump-great-day-in-harlems-mystery.html?m=1

The general public's modernist view of the Duke Ellington Orchestra was greatly formed at Newport in 1956 with Paul Gonsalves’ 27 choruses and Elaine Anderson's flying blonde hair and little black dress convincing many that if Ellington's music was cool enough for the “jet set" then it was cool enough for them. With Newport as the catalyst, a reexamination of Ellington’s work began in academia as well as within the world of jazz criticism. As Ellington’s musical stature increased, it opened new venues for his orchestra to appear—many where few Afro-American jazz contingents had ever had access to. In the coming years it meant appearing less at high school auditoriums, American Legion halls and county fairs and more often at jazz festivals, places of worship, concert halls and clubs... https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2024/07/dancing-with-duke-ellingtons-live-dance.html?m=1

There are many reasons why jazz artists who have left large footprints in the sands of artistic achievement have been forgotten as the winds of time fill in those footprints. One such artist is bassist Doug Watkins. During his relatively short career (1954-1962) it is indisputable that he was a great talent, recognized by both his peers as well as the informed jazz public. We cannot point to any singular career decision or unusual circumstance that might have led to Watkins' current relative anonymity but looking back over the 62 years since his passing, clues do exist... https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2024/03/doug-watkins-unfinished-journey-by.html

Burrell is on hundreds of records, many of which are among the more famous jazz sessions of the LP era, yet he has never secured the popularity which a guitarist might have expected in a period when its practitioners became as important as saxophonists and pianists. He grew up in Detroit and worked there until a tour with Oscar Peterson minded him to look further afield, and he moved to New York in 1956. His Christian-derived style helped get him a job with Benny Goodman, but thereafter he played in settings which were in the heartland of hard bop, for Prestige, Blue Note and New Jazz. Less a sideman and more a partner with several small-group leaders - especially Jimmy Smith, who was a favourite collaborator - Burrell's easy going manner fits so snugly and accommodatingly into any jazz groove that he can almost disappear in a band situation, but his solos and rhythm parts are bluesily effective whatever the prevailing conditions. Gil Evans arranged Guitar Forms for him at Verve, which is perhaps the closest Burrell has ever been to a big-time date. Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia Steve Siegel - on Jazz Profiles: https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2023/11/kenny-burrell-making-of-guitar-forms.html?m=1

HOW DOES AN ARTIST CREATE in such a way that his art is at once timeless, in that it is relevant to any generation, and individual, in that it evokes an era and helps to define a distinct personality? The music of Herbie Nichols is all of these things and the discovery of this fact has added greatly to our musical lives. Herbie Nichols was an extraordinary pianist/composer who was tragically under-recognized in his lifetime, He recorded only six sessions as a leader, all in the trio format, and all with the support of creative sidemen. These sessions resulted in four releases, three on the Blue Note label, and one for Bethlehem. Unfortunately, great recordings don't always sell well and Herbie remained an obscure figure on the fringes of the jazz scene until well after his untimely death of leukemia on April 12,1963 at the age of 44.” (booklet from The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Herbie Nichols) Link to article on Jazz Profiles: https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2023/02/herbie-nichols-it-never-happened-by.html?m=1

Jazz Profiles: Sonny Clark - The Blue Note Years by Steve Siegel https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2022/06/sonny-clark-blue-note-years-by-steve.html?m=0

Ed Reed: From San Quentin to Jazz at Lincoln Center By Steve Siegel “Ed Reed is the Phoenix of jazz. In his 92 years, he seems to have navigated as many rises and falls as the legendary mythological bird. He has, at various times in his life, due to almost 40 years of heroin addiction, endured as much grief and heartbreak (most of it self-directed) as any man should have to endure. He freely admits he has been the cause of a similar amount of the same within his family and the friends that have supported him through it all." https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2021/09/ed-reed-from-san-quentin-to-jazz-at.html?m=0

With previous features on pianist Wade Legge, the Great Day in Harlem Photograph “Mystery Man” - William J. Crump, drummer Frankie Dunlop, vocalist Jimmy Rushing, critic and author Nat Hentoff, and Jazz Party: A Great Night In Manhattan featuring the Miles Davis Sextet and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the September 9, 1958 fest that Columbia Records put on at the Plaza Hotel for its executives and guests, Steve Siegel has assumed the role of “unofficial” staff writer for JazzProfiles. His latest effort is about the obscure trumpet player Dupree Bolton [1929-1993], who appeared, seemingly from nowhere in California in 1959 and set the West Coast jazz world abuzz with his performance as a sideman. He then disappeared just as quickly and reappeared a few years later, again as a sideman, displaying mind-blowing chops. He was then gone again, never to officially record again for the remainder of his life. https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2021/07/dupree-bolton-uneven-life-by-steve.html?m=1