LIFE photographer Gjon Mili hosted jam sessions in his studio in the 1940s that attracted legendary talents such as Billie Holiday, Pearl Primus, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. For more photos from these magical nights, check out:
Pearl Primus performed to “Honeysuckle Rose” as played by an all-star group consisting of Teddy Wilson , Lou McGarity , Sidney Catlett , Bobby Hackett and John Simons .Billie Holiday sang her standard, “Fine and Mellow,” accompanied by James P. Johnson on piano and others, New York, 1943.Duke Ellington was at the piano as Dizzy Gillespie and others accompanied, 1943.
Duke Ellington played ‘Don’t Get Around Much Any More,’ which was his best-selling composition of the moment.Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Vocalist Lee Wiley sang, accompanied by her husband, pianist Jess Stacy, with Eddie Condon on guitar, Sid Weiss on bass and Cozy Cole on drums, 1943.Vocalist Lee Wiley sang, accompanied by her husband, pianist Jess Stacy, with Eddie Condon on guitar, Sid Weiss on bass and Cozy Cole on drums, 1943.Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Conde Nast president Iva Patcevitch , Vogue editor-in-chief Edna Woolman Chase and other media types hung out at Gjon Mili’s studio during a jam session, 1943.Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesGjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images “Milfred ‘Miff” Mole took a chorus on ‘Royal Garden Blues,’ a jam session perennial. Mole, at 45, was the acknowledged father of a hot trombone style that was widely copied.Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesThe legendary Billie Holiday sung ‘Fine and Mellow,’ a blues recorded for the Commodore Label.Franz Jackson played saxophone, accompanied by James P. Johnson at piano, Wilbur De Paris on trombone, Irving Fazola on clarinet, Al Mott on bass and Cozy Cole on drums.
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