The importance of this photograph transcends time and place, becoming not just a symbolic work of art, but a piece of history.
In an era when racial segregation was still a major component of our daily lives, and in a world that often emphasized our differences rather than celebrating our similarities, there was something special and pure about 57 people gathering in the name of jazz.
These musicians didn’t gather early in the morning because they thought they’d get paid or become instant international stars. Rather, they did it to celebrate the Golden Age of Jazz and what it represented.
Jazz has never been a musical genre, but rather a way of life, and it still is.
These are the words of Quincy Jones, introducing Art Kane’s famous photograph “Harlem 1958,” on display until February 15th as part of the exhibition “Art Kane. Visionary” at the Palazzo della Meridiana in Genoa.
The exhibition, curated by Guido Harari and Jonathan Kane, reconstructs, through numerous thematic sections, the artistic universe of the famous American photographer, who passed away in 1995: from fashion magazine shoots to images dedicated to the protagonists of the rock and jazz music scene of the 1960s and 1970s (with the famous photo of the Who wrapped in the Union Jack that appears on the cover of “The Kids Are Alright” and that of Bob Dylan curled up in a corner, as well as images dedicated to Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Lester Young, and Moondog that dominates the posters), from shots that testify to a civil commitment to various situations on the international scene, to mash-up experiments or experiments that anticipated by decades the current perspectives on image processing (and here three photos of Venice in the midst of a tsunami are worth mentioning).
Naturally, the exhibition gives considerable space to the photograph taken at 10:00 a.m. on an August morning in 1958 for “Esquire” magazine, which portrayed 57 jazz musicians on a sidewalk on 126th Street in Harlem.
An image familiar to every jazz fan, it has acquired such importance and significance over time that it has inspired books and films such as Steven Spielberg’s 2004 film “The Terminal,” starring Tom Hanks, an Oscar-nominated 1994 documentary (Jean Bach’s “A Great Day in Harlem”), and has become a universally recognized symbol of a magical period in jazz history: the late 1950s.
The exhibition also features a short documentary dedicated to the genesis of the famous photo, attributed to an idea by Robert Benton, then art director of Esquire magazine and later an acclaimed director with Oscar-winning films such as “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “The Heart.”
Benton wanted to dedicate the shoot to his director, Harlod Hayes,’s passion for jazz, but in the end the opportunity was given to his young colleague Kane, his first major commission. This presented considerable challenges, especially in managing a crowd of musicians gathered at unusual times (Bud Freeman explains that it was common for musicians to go to bed around 4 a.m. and wake up at 12 or 1 p.m., starving), eager to exchange opinions and jokes rather than pose.
Many musicians recall the kind young man from across the street trying to keep the group together, a feat he ultimately achieved, with the help of assistant Steve Frankfurter and a copy of the New York Times used as a megaphone to attract attention for the shot.
On display, in addition to the official photo (the one with Gillespie sticking his tongue out at Roy Eldridge), are five other alternative poses and around a hundred preparatory photos that capture the lively atmosphere that enveloped the group of 57 musicians, and the unmanageable nature of the group on that stretch of road closed to traffic.
Today, that area of Harlem, between Fifth and Madison Avenue, has been officially renamed “Art Kane Harlem 1958 Place.”
Art Kane, Dizzy Gillespie, Esquire, Photography, Harlem 1958, Robert Benton, Roy Eldridge
