In August 1958, a budding photographer by the name of Arthur Kanofsky (Art Kane) conceptualized the notion of assembling the musicians of New York’s jazz community for a photo in front of an East Harlem brownstone. He came up with the idea of getting as many musicians together in one place as he could. As a result of Kane’s efforts, 57 jazz musicians, including Mary Lou Williams, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie duly assembled at the unlikely hour of 10:00 am at 7 East 126th street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues. The photograph was published in Esquire Magazine in the January 1959 issue. 

In 2018, Wall of Sound published Art Kane: Harlem 1958 – a visual history of the iconic shoot, edited by Art’s son, Jonathan Kane, and Guido Harari. Jonathan Kane is our guest this week to tell us the backstory and share anecdotes of “Harlem 1958” more widely known today as “A Great Day In Harlem.”