?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
(ENTERTAINMENT--MUSIC.) Archive of photographs, negatives, and slides taken or developed by Dizzy Gillespie. Approximately 3000 items in 30 boxes; condition generally strong. Various places, 1951-1985 and undated
This collection was purchased at auction from the estate of the great trumpet player John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917-1993). Most notable are his personal snapshot photographs circa 1966-1985, approximately 850 of them plus many of the accompanying negatives and original processing envelopes. These are not formal promotional photographs created for public use; we would be surprised if any substantial number were ever published. Gillespie was likely the photographer for many of the shots; some are taken of fans and paparazzi aiming their own cameras at him. He appears in many other shots, presumably taken by a manager or member of his entourage. A substantial number show him performing in concerts or rehearsals. Almost all of them were developed for him in his home town of Englewood, NJ. They include:
Approximately 400 photographs (mostly black and white) and accompanying negatives are in 19 identical packets with a continuous run of receipt numbers from the Englewood Camera Shop near his New Jersey home, each set aside for "Gillespie," most of them bearing a development date of 29 August 1980. They show Gillespie at the Kool Jazz Festival in New York (some with Mayor Ed Koch), in France(?) and Greece, in Spokane, WA for an 18 May 1980 gig, in Brookings, SD for a 1 November 1980 gig, and in various backstages, a golf course, and airport, and even a zoo--where he apparently took a "selfie" with a golden eagle. About 200 other photos and 8 contact sheets are from the same processor, and circa the same general time period.
A packet of about 75 3 x 4-inch black and white shots shows Gillespie on tour in Chicago in 1966, with shots of iconic Chicago scenes: drawbridges, Jay's Potato Chips signs, and even several shots of the Cubs playing the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field. The photos were developed in Englewood, NJ July 1966. Gillespie opened a stand at Chicago's Plugged Nickel jazz club on 15 June 1966, and the Giants visited Chicago from 21 to 23 June.
Another pair of packets with about 40 small black and whites was also developed for Gillespie in Englewood. One shows a Rikers Island parking pass; Gillespie played several shows at the New York prison between 1966 and 1972.
Approximately 125 color Polaroid instant photographs date from circa 1985. Gillespie captioned 15 of them, including 4 from a visit with Bill and Camille Cosby, one with fellow trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, one flanked by James Moody and Miles Davis, and one showing Gillespie at the head of the table at a grand banquet, captioned simply "Me eating Italy." One captures Gillespie holding his own Polaroid camera. One he has signed for some friends (but never sent) "To Jenny, love, Dizzy Gillespie '85."
Also included is a large collection of perhaps 2000 of Gillespie's color transparency slides, which have not been analyzed to the same degree. They have no unified filing scheme--perhaps 450 are loose, 75 are inserted into a projection carousel, and the remainder are stored in a variety of 78 small cases. Many of the small cases have labels, some tracing his travels as the "Ambassador of Jazz": Japan, Jamaica, Australia, Belgrade, Dakar, East Berlin, Warsaw, "Puerto Rican School." "A "Diz 4 Prez" box from 1975 shows him posing with a "Dizzy Gillespie for President" sign. One small group appears to show Thelonious Monk and his wife Nellie. Perhaps the earliest are a group of 22 stereo slides. Two are of Gillespie at the Sky Bar in Cleveland, OH in August 1951.
Finally, a smaller collection of film includes one reel of 8mm film developed for Gillespie--we don't know what's on it. Also included are 9 cartridges of Kodachrome Super 8 or Ektachrome 160 cartridges, apparently used but undeveloped. One is labeled "Samba School / Ipanema Beach." We cannot guess whether they could be developed. Also along for the ride are 24 boxes of apparently unopened, unused home movie film in various formats. Provenance: Dawson & Nye's Dizzy Gillespie estate sale, 14 September 2005 (copy of the catalog included with the lot).
