19 Original JAZZ Photographs 1954 JATP Unpublished- Ella, Dizzy, Buddy, Louie For Sale

19 vintage 5" x 3.5" photographs. Intensely rare, possibly only known photographs from the 1954 JATP tour with the hardest hitting lineup of jazz greats. 

Norman Grantz had Bellson and Rich on stage together long before their reknowned playoffs on television in 1969 or their interview in 1979.

The 1954 Jazz at the Philharmonic tour was arguably the best lineup for a Jazz superset.  It was the same as the 1955 US All Stars in Berlin, but had Buddy Rich on the same stage as Louie Bellson- an occurrence that would be the focus of talk showed ad decade later-anytime two of the best on the drums were on stage together.

This collection can't be overstated.  Records of the 1954 shows event listings are difficult enough to find. The 1955 tour has some great write ups of tensions in the crowds as the racial mix across the country varied- find an article or two about the San Antonio show.

I've only seen one or two other photographs from this lineup, but no other time was such an all-star setup in place, especially with the dawn of Newport Jazz Festival on the horizon at the time.

Photos include:

Ella Fitzgerald

Louie Bellson

Dizzy Gillespie

Buddy Rich

Flip Phillips

Buddy DeFranco

Herb Ellis

Ray Brown

Ben Webster

Roy Eldridge

maybe:

Don Abney

The Oscar Peterson Trio

Photos are in good vintage condition as shown in images. if looking for a better image of a certain photograph please feel free to ask, but we're not looking to post high resolution images since this is an important photographic record, a true grail for a Jazz photography collector.  Original unpublished images from some of these shows can often command a few thousand dollars each, so the hope is that these are appreciated fully for their rarity. 

Feel free to ask any questions you may have. An image of the flyer for the LA show is in the listing just as illustration... we still have not identified an exact location where these were taken.