Portraits from the Golden Age of Jazz: A Preview
Ella Fitzgerald and John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie
circa 1947
Ella is the perennial Queen of Jazz. This picture was taken in 1947, between her teenage success with Chick Webb at the Savoy and her stardom with the Jazz at the Philharmonic. Here, Ella's vocalizing has entranced bandleader Dizzy Gillespie, to the obvious dismay of his bassist, Ray Brown, later to become Ella's husband.
Billie "Lady Day" Holiday
circa 1948
The haunting, anguished voice of Lady Day is one of the glories of music. I was fortunate to hear her at her peak, when Billie was making those wonderful small-band recordings with Teddy Wilson and under her own name, in the late 1930s and early 1940s .
Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
circa 1946
It's difficult to think jazz without thinking Armstrong. Satchmo's electrifying technique and emotional intensity overwhelmed the jazz world ever since 1922, when young Louis left New Orleans to join King Oliver in Chicago.
Frank Sinatra
circa 1947
Sinatra was a band singer who developed into the number one male vocalist in America, thanks to his unerring taste and immaculate phrasing. Sinatra has always been an excellent jazz singer, although it took many jazz fans years to recognize that fact.
Charlie "Bird" Parker and Miles Davis
circa 1947
When Charlie Parker, the trendsetter of the late 1940s, could no longer have Dizzy Gillespie as a partner, he got young Miles. Davis became the awesome trendsetter for the following decades.
Benny Goodman
circa 1947
The Swing Era was said to have begun with the Goodman orchestra's smash success at the Palladium Ballroom in Los Angles. Goodman made the clarinet a popular instrument, hired dozens of superb but unknown musicians, gaining them the public attention th ey deserved, popularized "chamber jazz" by featuring his trio, and used his prestige to break down racial taboos by employing a number of African-American musicians.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
circa 1946
I was awed by everything about Duke: his music, his energy, his hipness, his urbanity, even his physical appearance. When I interviewed him in his dressing room, I first became aware that, like Satchmo, Duke had acquired an over-ample waistline. Yet, on stage moments later, he again had taken on the dapper look that was an Ellington trademark.
The Shattering Music of Stan Kenton
with Buddy Childers on the left; circa 1948
Stan was the most controversial of the modern jazzmen. Although his orchestra was voted the best swing band in six Down Beat polls from 1947 to 1954, many thought it devoid of swing. Stan's screaming horns foretold of the high decibels of the rock ag e. I photographed Kenton and trumpeter Buddy Childers through a fractured mirror to suggest the band's shattering effect.
Coleman "Bean" Hawkins and Miles Davis
circa 1948
By the age of 21, Miles was already the most sought-after modern trumpet. When longtime great Coleman Hawkins wanted to explore the new sounds, he hired Miles Davis.
Charlie "Bird" Parker and Tommy Potter
circa 1947
Bird was wisely acknowledged as the supreme jazz genius of his time. He was also the most self-destructive. Returning to 52nd Street after a breakdown in California, he generally lead a quintet with Tommy Potter on bass, and a series of outstanding t rumpets. Parker would effortlessly blow chorus after chorus of wondrous improvisation, and turn familiar tunes into amazing new melodies.
Accompanying Gottlieb's portraits in the physical exhibition are original album covers from the era on loan from the University's radio station WTJU-FM 91.1, Donald Hansen Collection, and from Charles W. Taylor III.
All photographs © William P. Gottlieb