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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 multifaceted Jimmy Rushing (1899-1972) was perhaps one of the more underrated singers of the 20th century. He performed equally well with blues, jazz or popular material. Whitney Balliett, the then jazz critic for The New Yorker, wrote of Rushing that "His supple, rich voice and his elegant accent have the curious effect of making the typical roughhouse blues lyric seem like a song by Noël Coward."... At Jazz Profiles, Steve Siegel explores Rushing's recording career after he left Count Basie. https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2023/08/jimmy-rushing-his-recording-career.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