Day in Harlem

In Harlem I found my way to no. 17, East 126th Street which has survived relatively unchanged since being the location for the classic 1958 photo "Great Day in Harlem" featuring 57 jazz greats. 

A later re-enactment in 2008, for the documentary film "The Girls in the Band"  aimed to restore the gender balance by featuring mainly women jazz artists. Pianist Marian McPartland was in both pictures.

NYC jazz

While passing through New York for the first time during visits to some US engineering schools, I was able to visit some iconic jazz locations. Apart from catching some memorable gigs at Smalls (whose live video feeds had delighted me online for years) and Smoke (familiar to me from a Peter Bernstein DVD), I also got to see the Williamsburg Bridge of Sonny Rollins fame.

A highlight of my visit to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem was the historic telegram from a young Count Basie in 1936 which effectively announced that he had taken over leadership of the Buster Moten Band which was to evolve into the Count Basie Band.