TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
In 1994, director Jean Bach gave us "A Great Day in Harlem," a one-hour documentary that peels back the remarkable story behind Art Kane’s legendary 1958 photograph of jazz legends gathered on a Harlem stoop.
Bach weaves insightful interviews with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Marian McPartland, Hank Jones, Buck Clayton, and others, rare home-movie footage shot by bassist Milt Hinton on that very morning, and heartfelt reflections on what that extraordinary moment represented.
The film beautifully depicts the personalities, tensions, community, and luck that made the photograph a lasting cultural symbol of jazz.
The documentary received widespread acclaim and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 1995 Academy Awards.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.