Artist: A Great Day in Harlem

A Great Day in Harlem 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 subjects are shown at 17 East 126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenue. Published as the centerfold of the January 1959 ("Golden Age of Jazz") issue of Esquire, it has been called "the most iconic photograph in jazz history".

The scene portrayed 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. 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.

The Jazz Culture documentary about the shoot was released in 1994. Further information about A Great Day in Harlem is found here.

This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Great_Day_in_Harlem, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).

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