According to Sandy

by Sandy | Nov 3, 2019 | Art, Arts, Entertainment and Music, music, Photograhy

I always loved that famous 1958 black and white photo of 57 Jazz musicians, arranged on the steps of an apartment building in New York City (17 East 126th Street between Fifth and Madison). It was expanded into a documentary in 1995 and can be found on DVD.

Director Jean Bach assembled pictures and stories about how it all came together – photographer Art Kane’s assignment for Esquire Magazine, artists such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Marian McPartland, Thelonius Monk, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, May Lou Williams, the neighborhood kids that wanted to be in the picture too.

~ * ~ A Great Day In Harlem ~ * ~

See below for a list of all the musicians in the photo:

Watching the “In Memoriam” segment of the Grammy Awards, I was shocked to see the name of singer/guitarist “Kenny Rankin” roll by. He passed away in June 2009.

Listening to NYC rock station WPLJ in the 70’s, Kenny Rankin was a staple on their play list. He sang mostly Jazz, but the DJ’S had eclectic tastes and would play the Beatles, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, etc. regardless of their music category.

Smooth and laid back, Kenny had a very distinctive sound and sang beautifully. He had, what I guess today would be called a “cult” following and would appear frequently on the Tonight Show (Johnny Carson).  I lost track of him over the years, but I still have the memory of feeling so cool because I enjoyed his music – I loved “When Sunny Gets Blue”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrt8Y-F3U14

Kenny Rankin– thank you for your music and for nice memories.