Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph

by Roxane Orgill and Francis Vallejo

When Art Kane put out a call in 1958 for jazz musicians to gather in Harlem for a... read more

When Art Kane put out a call in 1958 for jazz musicians to gather in Harlem for a photograph, he had no idea what the response would be. Would anyone show up on the appointed day? One by one they did: singers and saxophone players, pianists and drummers, trumpet players and bassists. Dizzy and Duke, the Count and the Lion, Thelonious and Maxine and Mary Lou. Fifty-seven jazz musicians in all, from the well-known to newcomers to those known only on the local music scene. They came not to perform, but to laugh and talk and get in “Some Kind of Formation, Please!” Neighborhood children were there, too, sitting on the curb in front when Kane’s camera went “Click!” The famous black-and-white photograph he took is a magnificent fold-out feature of this work, which tells the story of that historic event through poems and paintings focusing on individuals, encounters, and the effervescent energy of it all. An introduction provides readers with a grounding, while an author’s note includes a numbered outline of the photo identifying the musicians. Brief biographies of each person, and ample resource material, round out this distinctive volume. (Age 10 and older)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2017

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