A Great Day in Harlem | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jean Bach |
Written by | Jean Bach Susan Peehl Matthew Seig |
Produced by | Stuart Samuels Terrell Braly Matthew Seig |
Starring |
Quincy Jones Dizzy Gillespie Sonny Rollins Buck Clayton |
Narrated by | Quincy Jones |
Cinematography | Steve Petropoulos |
Edited by | Susan Peehl |
Distributed by | Castle Hill Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 60 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
A Great Day in Harlem is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Jean Bach about the photograph of the same name. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. [1]
Director Jean Bach acquired an original home movie showing the 1958 photo shoot from musician Milt Hinton. [2] She used Hinton's home video as the basis for her hour-long documentary. [2] In a piece published in The New Yorker, jazz critic Whitney Balliett praised Bach's film as "a brilliant, funny, moving, altogether miraculous documentary." [2]
Jean Bach described how, upon the film's release, a number of similar photographs employed the "A Great Day in..." theme. [3] Hugh Hefner assembled Hollywood-area musicians for "A Great Day in Hollywood" in conjunction with a sneak preview of A Great Day in Harlem. [3] Soon after, "A Great Day in Philadelphia" included musicians such as Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson and Ray Bryant. [3] During the filming of Kansas City, musicians including Jay McShann posed for "A Great Day in Kansas City." [3] A multi-page supplement in The Star-Ledger featured "A Great Day in Jersey," while a Dutch photograph was titled "A Great Day in Haarlem." [3]
The trend spread to other styles of music, with Houston blues musicians posing for "A Great Day in Houston." [3] " A Great Day in Hip Hop" was followed by XXL's "The Greatest Day in Hip Hop." [3] An Atlanta radio station gathered musicians for "A Great Day in Doo-Wop." [3] A New York cellist, inspired by both the original photograph and the film, assembled chamber musicians for "A Great Day in New York." [3] The New York Post ran "A Great Day in Spanish Harlem." [3]
By 2004, The New York Times was referring to the original photograph as A Great Day in Harlem. [3]