New York City jazz in the 1940s

The history of jazz has seen many cities and many eras influence this great art form. But few cities and eras have had an effect on the music like New York City had on jazz in the 1940s.  During this time, the music changed: the orchestral, big band sound was replaced by the smaller combo sound, which was symbolized by the rise of bebop.

Legendary jazz photographer William Gottlieb captured this period in a series of evocative photos that are now featured on the Library of Congress website. These images are both in black and white and color, but they are all a time capsule of jazz in a period when it was at its most influential and creative. Here are some of the great -- and some of the most obscure -- artists and images featured in Gottlieb's series:

1. Nat "King" Cole

Nat "King" Cole and (rear) guitarist Oscar Moore in New York City in 1947. (Photo by William Gottlieb)

Nat "King" Cole later became one of the more popular singers in the world. But in the 1940s, he was primarily seen as a pianist who sang with his popular jazz and rhythm and blues trio. He's seen in this photo recording one of his many hits for Capitol Records. He would maintain the trio until the early 1950s, when he became a singer only. Cole died of lung cancer in 1965.

2. 52nd Street

A rain-soaked, evocative 52nd Street in 1947. (Photo by William Gottlieb)

Artists like Nat "King" Cole performed on 52nd Street, a 1.9-mile throughfare traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s. Every major jazz artist peformed on this street -- and its where greats like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis got their starts. Most of the jazz clubs on this street were eliminated by urban renewal in the 1960s. The last remaining club, the 21 Club, was closed permanently after the rise of the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020.

3. Stan Kenton 

Stan Kenton (center in tan shirt) conducts his orchestra during rehearsals at Nico Studios in New York City in 1947. (Photo by William Gottlieb)

Stan Kenton was a pioneering modern big band leader, who  commissioned and promoted the works of many modern composer-arrangers. He started out as a conventional swing musician in the 1940s. But with the advance of bebop, Kenton also progressed in his style, hiring creative bebop musicians like Stan Getz and Conte Candoli. His efforts in encouraging moder composition set the stage for the concert band movement of the 1960s and '70s. Kenton would be a thriving, innovative leader until he passed away in Los Angeles in 1979.

4. Doris Day

Singer Doris Day performing at the Aquarium Nightclub in New York City in July 1947. (Photo by William P. Gottlieb)

Doris Day became known as one of Hollywood's most bankable superstars in the 1950s and 1960s. But she was only a singer and musician in the 1940s, when she was seen in the above photo, performing with the Les Brown band. Day was influenced by the style of Ella Fitzgerald, a performer Day worshipped. But by the late 1940s, she had moved to Hollywood, where she quickly embarked on a solo singing career and a movie career. Day died at the age of 97 in 2020.

5. Charlie Parker and Miles Davis

Charlie Parker (front) and Miles Davis (rear) performing at the Three Deuces Club in New York City in October 1947. (Photo by William Gottlieb)

Charlie Parker was perhaps the most innovative musician in jazz. Here he is seen with his protege, Miles Davis, performing on 52nd Street in New York, where he made his name as a brilliant improviser. Parker started in the big bands but was best known for his work as a small band artist. He would die in 1955, but Davis would become a major star in jazz for the next five decades, changing the music every decade.