Regarding my post from May 4, and thanks to jazz critics (and faithful readers) Fernando Ortiz de Urbina and Michael Steinman, we now have a few more educated guesses for that 1943 picture taken at photographer Gjon Mili's studio in New York: George Wettling is on the right, behind the piano; Al Hall is most probably on bass, and drummer O'Neill Spencer is talking to the white woman on the second picture. On the other hand, jazz scholar C.J. Hazevoet confirms that it is Leo Parker on alto sax.
There are several more pictures from that jam session available at the LIFE magazine on-line archives. As an example, here's a couple, one of them showing Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet.
There are several more pictures from that jam session available at the LIFE magazine on-line archives. As an example, here's a couple, one of them showing Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet.
© Gjon Mili / LIFE 
© Gjon Mili / LIFE
Faithfully yours . . . what a rebuke to all the imaginary "wars" between jazzmen of different ideologies that first picture is: Pops Foster, Lester Young, Buster Bailey! And the second photograph will be famous to some record collectors because a cropped version, emphasizing Basie telling Lester something very important, graced the cover of an Epic 12" lp that collected Basie sides that Lester appeared on, as I recall. It must have been a good, although chaotic, evening and morning at Mili's!
ResponderEliminarHere's to readers with sharp eyes or with magnifying glasses!
Michael Steinman
I second Michael's rebuttal of jazz wars. In one of Bob Brookmeyer's interviews in the Artists House site he talks about a memorable session with this rhythm section: George Wallington, Pops Foster and Zutty Singleton.
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