[Jazz at the Philharmonic] [Fitzgerald, Ella. (1917–1996)] [Krupa, Gene. (1909–1973)] [Peterson, Oscar. (1925–2007)] [Gillespie, Dizzy. (1917–1993)]

17th National Tour - Souvenir Program

Original souvenir program from the 17th annual "Jazz at the Philharmonic" national tour of 1956. The oversized program features full-page photographs of the tour's stars, including Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Krupa, Oscar Peterson, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Jo Jones, Illinois Jaquet, Flip Phillips, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Eddie Shu. The graphically striking yellow and black cover bears a drawing by David Stone Martin. An original advertising insert from Emerson Electric is included. Wear and toning to the covers, with a loss to the lower left of the front cover; overall in very good condition. 11 x 14 inches (28 x 35.5 cm).

Organized by impresario Norman Granz, the series "Jazz at the Philharmonic" began with a concert at Los Angeles' Philharmonic Auditorium on July 2, 1944. Later known as JATP, the ever-changing group recorded and toured extensively, with Granz producing some of the first live jam session recordings to be distributed to a wide market. After several JATP concerts in Los Angeles in 1944 and 1945, Granz began producing JATP concert tours, from late fall of 1945 to 1957 in USA and Canada, and from 1952 in Europe. They featured swing and bop musicians and were among the first high-profile performances to feature racially integrated bands. In a time in which segregation still reigned, Granz was unusual in insisting on integrated audiences and equal treatment for his black and white performers. Oscar Peterson recounted how Granz once insisted that white cabdrivers take his black artists as customers while a policeman pointed a loaded pistol at his stomach. Granz also was among the first to pay white and black artists the same salary and to give them equal treatment even in minor details, such dressing rooms. (15467)


Program, unsigned
Jazz