A Great Day in Harlem

This fun, informative documentary covers the taking of a classic photo in 1958 for Esquire, that had almost every great Jazz star of the era, from Dizzy Gillespie, to Count Basie to Thelonius Monk, etc etc.

While the film is too short (just under and hour) to go into any great detail, and maybe a little too much time is spent on various greats 25 years later saying how great everyone else was, there's a sweetness and infectious enthusiasm that director Bach (no spring chicken herself) brings to this collection of memories of a time and place.

If you have any interest in photography or jazz this is a must.

BTW - the two disc DVD has literally hours of interesting extras that balance the feature's short running time.

The best documentary about jazz ever. If you want to know what jazz performers are like, you will learn more from this one hour film than all the hours of Ken Burns' documentary put together. It makes Burns' film insignificant by comparison. Jazz performers shine in this work because Jean Bach is such a skillful interviewer. You can tell the musicians all like her, and since they are always shown talking to the camera, not to her, it comes across as if they all like you, too, the viewer. The film makes you feel very privileged. I own this film and I watch it over and over and never get tired of it. Who could get tired of hanging out for an hour with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Bud Freeman, Art Farmer, etc. and listening to the excellent narration of Quicy Jones?

Jean Bach does the seemingly impossible with "A Great Day in Harlem. She makes a 40-year-old B&W photograph come alive.

Art Kane's first photo assignment for Esquire magazine in 1958 must have been his own personal Everest. Get 50+ jazz musicians in one place at one time, stand across the street, point and shoot. Sure, no problem. But the cats came in droves, some of them having not yet gone to bed after a gig the night before. Some were probably nursing hangovers. But Kane captured a photo that is a cult icon, a time capsule of the heyday of hard bop, with many seminal figures from an earlier day standing proudly beside them.

The late great bassist, Milt Hinton, who is one of the warmest and most charming people interviewed, was also a fine photographer. His wife captured much of the Great Day with a color 8mm movie camera, and it's a treat to see the ensemble milling about on the street and taking their places for the final picture.

Many of the people in this photo are not and never were household names. But the musicians Jean Bach tracked down to give their reminiscences are quick to give them their due. They recognize their skill and talent and recall the personalities of their lesser-known counterparts. Perhaps those just getting into jazz will be motivated to seek out CDs by Benny Golson, Roy Eldridge and others by virtue of the "props" given them by their old buddies and bandmates.

The Bonus Disc is worth watching, if only for the segment on "copycat" photos, and there have been many. A restaging of the original photo is quite poignant. But nothing on it is filler: the jazzmen really did warm up to Jean Bach if they didn't already know her, and they ended up talking about everything.

This documentary was as great an idea as the Art Kane photo that inspired it. Highly recommended.

Imagine gathering 57 of the greatest legends, the creme de la creme, the absolute je ne sais quoi elite of the American art form; the people who created, shaped, formed and reformed, coddled and nursed, and were themselves that art form. The men and women of Jazz, capital "jay", in 1958. Imagine gathering not a dozen or so, but 57 of the greatest, most influential musicians of the day. In one place. At the same time. To capture one photograph.

Now try to imagine not only how difficult that feat would be, but consider that the photo shoot was scheduled for daylight hours when jazz musicians are just getting home from their all-night gigs!!

And yet, without having a real sense at the significance of the gathering at the time, one man, Art Kane, was able to accomplish that feat. What remains is not only the still black and white image of that one moment, but the moving pictures recorded before, during and after the photo was taken.

This film is a labor of love. Of love for the craft of jazz. Of love for the craftspeople of jazz. Of love for the art of jazz.

On the ode scale, which rates movies based on the total cost of seeing it versus the quality of the film itself: Definitely worth the cost of a full-price admission, plus large popcorn and large drink. Worth seeing even if you have to pay a baby sitter and a cab fare. Seeing it on the big screen is the only way to get the full impact, the full resonance of what this day represented then and what it represents to jazz lovers today.

Plus, it is pure joy to watch the Giants at play!

A one hour documentary on how a famous picture of some 30 jazzmen in 1958 was prepared one morning in 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. Thirty-five years later, those that were still alive were interviewed reminiscing of how the event took place. Even the small kid sitting on the curb, now a grown adult, was interviewed. There is also footage of a small portable movie camera that one had at the time. Funny too listening on the stories of these jazz giants.