From Powells.com
Our favorite books of the year.
Staff Pick
In 1958 an amazing assemblage of jazz icons were captured in a single photograph. This book celebrates those musicians through original artwork and poems inspired by that classic image. Whether you are familiar with the photo Harlem 1958 or this is your first viewing, Jazz Day provides a beautiful look behind the scenes of this famous picture. Recommended By Elizabeth H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
What happens when you invite as many jazz musicians as you can to pose for a photo in 1950s Harlem? Playful verse and glorious artwork capture an iconic moment for American jazz.
When Esquire magazine planned an issue to salute the American jazz scene in 1958, graphic designer Art Kane pitched a crazy idea: how about gathering a group of beloved jazz musicians and photographing them? He didn’t own a good camera, didn’t know if any musicians would show up, and insisted on setting up the shoot in front of a Harlem brownstone. Could he pull it off? In a captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into the frame of Harlem 1958, bringing to life the musicians’ mischief and quirks, their memorable style, and the vivacious atmosphere of a Harlem block full of kids on a hot summer’s day. Francis Vallejo’s vibrant, detailed, and wonderfully expressive paintings do loving justice to the larger-than-life quality of jazz musicians of the era. Includes bios of several of the fifty-seven musicians, an author’s note, sources, a bibliography, and a foldout of Art Kane’s famous photograph.
Review
"Little did they know that the photograph — featuring 57 musicians and a group of neighborhood kids — would become legendary. Roxane Orgill’s dazzling Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph (Candlewick, Ages 7 – 11) tells how this celebrated image came to be…Francis Vallejo’s striking acrylic-and-pastel illustrations offer similarly unexpected perspectives on streetscapes, nattily dressed musicians and interested onlookers." The Washington Post
Review
"A rich, unique, playful, and masterfully orchestrated work; Kane himself would undoubtedly be proud." School Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review
"Vallejo’s acrylic-and-pastel paintings vividly capture the shoot’s vignettes and the skittish excitement of neighborhood kids. Pulling details from a 1995 documentary film and other resources, Orgill and Vallejo offer a dynamic, multifaceted work that deftly juxtaposes biography with praise poem, information with imagination. Teachers, librarians, jazz-loving families: take note." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"When readers eventually open a foldout page to see the photograph, the moment is magic — alive with the presence and skill of the musicians, as well as the promise and potential of the children around them. Beyond being a glorious tribute to these jazz greats, the book is also a phenomenal debut for Vallejo, whose dynamic acrylic and pastel images bring readers into the heart of the action of a day like no other." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
About the Author
Roxane Orgill is an award-winning writer on music and the author of Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald and Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire. She lives in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Francis Vallejo is an assistant professor of illustration at the College for Creative Studies. This is his first book. He lives in Detroit.