A Taste Of Jazz
A BETTER LIFE
This country came about on the backs of its immigrants. From the English who arrived in search of riches and religious freedom, the Irish who came looking for a steady meal, then Scandinavians, Italians, Germans, Middle Europeans and boatloads more, all who heard the good news and came in search of a better life. What they brought with them to Ellis Island, besides a “carry all” and the clothes on their back, included their languages and their music.
A NOT SO BETTER LIFE
Another group of folks that arrived, a bit later than the Pilgrims and not in search of a better life, were the men, women and children who were brought to this country as slaves. They arrived not at Ellis Island or with the clothes on their back but with the one thing they could bring, the sound of their voices. African rhythmic rituals were the only thing allowed on their slave ships, and it became central to their identity as they toiled in the rice fields and the cotton fields, expressing themselves the only way they could, with the sound of their voice.
A MUSICAL MELTING POT
African rhythmic rituals mixed with Christian derived spirituals became a formative element in the creation of Jazz. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was explored and expanded in the African American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana. The “music” that rose from the slave-driven fields expanded into blues, hymns, ragtime along with an essential ingredient supplied by our European forfathers “harmony”. By the 1920’s, this musical melting pot, characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation, had fostered their Jazz Age.
But Jazz did not remain in New Orleans, nor rest on its improvisational laurels. It changed and evolved along with the country and the people, as demonstrated by the extraordinary singers and musicians presented here.
AN AMERICAN MASTERPIECE
COUNT BASIE (1942) Early Autographed Portrait
Np, 1942. Vintage original 10 x 8″ (25 x 20 cm.) black-and-white photo, archivally matted. Fine
MAX ROACH AT STORYVILLE (1977)
New York: Jody Caravaglia, 1977. Vintage original 10 x 8″ (25 x 20 cm.) black-and-white photos, \ shot on set at the Storyville jazz club in NYC on 5/30/77.
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 8/10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history.
BILLIE HOLIDAY (ca. 1947) Elegant Promotional Photo
[New York: Associated Booking Corp., ca. 1947]. Vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white glossy silver gelatin photo
This lovely full-length portrait of the unique singing diva, was presented by Billie’s management and used for bookings in the mid-1940s and into the early-1950s for such performances as those at New York’s famous Town Hall in 1946 and the Philadelphia Academy of Music jazz concerts.
JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY (1959)
New Yorker Films, [1959]. Vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white photos. Fine.
Images of the jazz greats from Bert Stern’s film about the artists who performed at the Rhode Island Newport Jazz Festival on July 3-6, 1958. Without much dialogue or narration, the film mixes images of water and the city with the performers and audience at the festival. Those featured include Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O’Day, Dinah Washington, Mahalia Jackson, audience members and others. A truly remarkable ensemble of images.
ORNETTE COLEMAN (ca. 1964-85)
Vintage original 10 x 8″ (25 x 20 cm.) black-and-white photos
Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He was best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. His pioneering works often abandoned the harmony-based composition, tonality, chord changes, and fixed rhythm found in earlier jazz idioms. Instead, Coleman emphasized an experimental approach to improvisation, rooted in ensemble playing and blues phrasing.
HAZEL SCOTT | I DOOD IT (1942)
Vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white glossy silver gelatin photo.
Lovely portrait of the talented pianist of New York’s Café Society nightclub. A child prodigy born in Trinidad and known for jazz and blues, she could perform all genres of music including classical.
GERRY MULLIGAN
Vintage original borderless photo: (8″ x 8″ (20 x 20 cm.) near fine
Gerry Mulligan was one of the great mid-century jazz musicians; he played saxophone and clarinet. This shows him in a recording session. Mulligan’s appearance at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival is documented in the 1959 film Jazz On a Summer Day.
FREDDIE HUBBARD (ca. 1970)
Johan Elbers, [ca. 1970]. Vintage original 10 x 8″ (25 x 20 cm.) black-and-white photo.
Freddie Hubbard was one of the great American jazz trumpet players. Early in his career he played with such masters as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Art Blakey. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he started to form his own small groups.