JAZZ: Vintage Photographs from the 1950s

22 April – 31 May, 2003
Reception: Thursday, 1 May, 2003 5:30 – 7:30 pm

The American jazz scene reached its pinnacle in the 1950s with the triumphant successes of major jazz stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Miles Davis, and many more. During this era, many luminaries were captured on film by a small group of established photographers in and around New York City. “Jazz: Vintage Photographs of the 1950s” highlights a selection of vintage photos produced by Hugh Bell, Jerry Dantzic, Steve Schapiro, and others, and includes images of some of the most notable stars of the day, such as Ray Charles, Gene Krupa, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. These photographs depict New York jazz greats in their heyday of the 50s, in dark smoky clubs, on stage at night with searing spotlight illumination, or taking five in the recording studio. The spontaneous figurative style of these photographers parallels this slice of life during the mid-twentieth century.

The Metropolitan Museum and The Whitney Museum in New York have recently acquired Jerry Dantzic’s work, and Hugh Bell was featured last year at the Brooklyn Museum’s, “Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers.”