A Great Day in Harlem

A Great Day in Harlem or Harlem 1958 is a black-and-white photograph of 57 jazz musicians in Harlem, New York, taken by freelance photographer Art Kane for Esquire magazine on August 12, 1958. The idea for the photo came from Esquire's art director, Robert Benton, rather than Kane. However, after being given the commission, it seems that Kane was responsible for choosing the location for the shoot. The subjects are shown at 17 East 126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenue, where police had temporarily blocked off traffic. Published as the centerfold of the January 1959 ("Golden Age of Jazz") issue of Esquire, the image was captured with a Hasselblad camera, and earned Kane his first Art Directors Club of New York gold medal for photography. It has been called "the most iconic photograph in jazz history," and is a credited artistic inspiration that led to Gordon Parks' 1998 XXL-commissioned "A Great Day in Hip Hop" homage to Harlem, forty years later, and Patrick Nichols' subsequent 2024 AGO-commissioned Canadian spinoff, "A Great Day in Toronto Hip Hop."
The scene portrayed through Kane’s photograph is something of an anachronism, as by 1957 Harlem was no longer the "hotbed" of jazz it had been in the 1940s, and had "forfeited its place in sun" to 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. Many musicians who were formerly resident in the area had already moved to middle-class parts of New York, or did so shortly thereafter. Kane himself was not that certain who would turn up on the day, as Esquire staff had merely issued a general invitation through the local musicians' union, recording studios, music writers, and nightclub owners.
In 2018, a book was published to mark the 60th anniversary of the event, with forewords by Quincy Jones and Benny Golson, and an introduction by Kane's son, Jonathan.
Following the death of Benny Golson in September 2024, Sonny Rollins is the last living adult musician featured in the photograph. Interviewed for a December 2024 article in The New York Times, Rollins gave his view of the photograph's significance at that time, when racism and segregation was pervasive: "It just seemed like we weren't appreciated ... mainly because jazz was a Black art. I think that picture humanized a lot of the myth of what people thought jazz was."
Count Basie, having grown tired of standing, sat down on the curb, and gradually a dozen children followed. Most of the children were neighborhood residents, although the second child from the right, Taft Jordan Jr., had accompanied his father, Taft Jordan, to the photo session. The photography crew was already having trouble directing the adults, and the presence of the children added to the chaos: one of the children appearing in the window kept yelling at a sibling on the curb; another kept playing with Basie's hat; Taft Jordan Jr. had been scuffling with the older child seated to his left. Ultimately, Art Kane realized that any further attempt to organize the proceedings would be futile, and he decided to incorporate the subjects' actions.
Notable absentees were Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis (all touring), Duke Ellington (in Milwaukee), Benny Goodman (in Los Angeles), and Ella Fitzgerald (recording in Chicago). George Barnes (musician), Jack Lesberg, Ernie Royal, Dick Hyman, Carl Kress, Hank D'Amico, George Duvivier, Ruby Braff, Billie Holiday, Budd Johnson, Jimmy Nottingham, "Philly" Joe Jones, Max Roach, and Ben Webster were also not present.
Willie "The Lion" Smith had sat down to rest on a nearby stoop when the photo chosen for publication was taken, but appears in unused frames.
Ronnie Free, Mose Allison and Charlie Rouse arrived too late to participate in the Esquire shoot, but they were photographed by Dizzy Gillespie alongside Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young and Oscar Pettiford.
Jean Bach, a radio producer of New York, recounted the story behind the photograph in her 1994 documentary film, A Great Day in Harlem. This incorporated 8 mm film footage taken by bassist Milt Hinton on the day of the shoot. The film was nominated in 1995 for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Bach described how, upon the film's release, a number of similar photographs employed the "A Great Day in..." theme. Hugh Hefner assembled Hollywood-area musicians for "A Great Day in Hollywood" in conjunction with a sneak preview of A Great Day in Harlem. Soon afterwards, "A Great Day in Philadelphia" included musicians such as Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson and Ray Bryant. During the filming of Kansas City (1996), musicians including Jay McShann posed for "A Great Day in Kansas City". A multi-page supplement in The Star-Ledger featured "A Great Day in Jersey", while a Dutch photograph was titled "A Great Day in Ha(a)rlem". In 1998, "Great Day in St Paul" was taken by Byron Nelson.
The trend spread to other styles of music, with Houston blues musicians posing for "A Great Day in Houston". "A Great Day in Hip Hop" was followed by XXL's "The Greatest Day in Hip Hop". An Atlanta radio station gathered musicians for "A Great Day in Doo-Wop". A New York cellist, inspired by both the original photograph and the film, assembled chamber musicians for "A Great Day in New York". The New York Post ran "A Great Day in Spanish Harlem".
The photograph was a key plot point in Steven Spielberg's 2004 film The Terminal. The film starred Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski, a character who comes to the United States in search of Benny Golson's autograph, with which he can complete his deceased father's collection of autographs from the musicians pictured in the photo. Golson himself made a cameo appearance in the film.
40°48′25″N 73°56′27″W﻿ / ﻿40.80694°N 73.94083°W﻿ / 40.80694; -73.94083