ID 1029116
Lot 465 | Photographs signed
Valeur estimée
£ 1 500 – 2 500
Collection of nine black and white publicity portraits, including six signed and inscribed to saxophonist, arranger, and bandleader Bob Sylvester, 1925-1940s.
The elusive Bob Sylvester was clearly an admired arranger and respected musician who has been somewhat neglected by jazz historians. The 1944 Billboard Music Year Book noted that he ‘organised his small unit soon after his medical discharge and since that time has been enjoying many successful dates throughout the country… his saxophone artistry and sweet style of music gained him national fame’. Records show that he arranged versions of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for both Duke Ellington and Count Basie: ‘Bob Sylvester, a regular orchestrator for the white New York bandleader Hal Hemo, prepared the olded Rhapsody arrangement in the Ellington archives… it likely originated in late 1925… Count Basie recalled a series of performances in a theatre on the north side of Chicago in early 1941 where his band performed a special arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue by Bob Sylvester’. Banagle, 189.
The photographs comprising:
i. Bennie Moten, Kansas City, c.1930, inscribed in blue ink ‘Compliments of Bennie Moten to his Friend Bob Sylvester’, sepia-toned gelatin silver print, 252 x 202 mm. Band leader Bennie Moten, along with Walter Page, has been described by Stanley Crouch as one of ‘the two godfathers of the Kansas City jazz scene’. Moten’s stellar career was cut short when he died during a tonsillectomy aged 39 in 1935. Crouch, 138.
ii. Louis Armstrong, New York, c.1930, inscribed in blue ink ‘To My Pal Bob Sylvester, the Arranging Fool, from Louis Armstrong’, sepia-toned gelatin silver print, 256 x 201 mm.
iii. Walter Barnes, Chicago, c.1928, inscribed in white ink by Barnes above and below his printed signature ‘To Bob From… [pre-printed signature] Arcadia Ballroom, Chgo. Ill.’, sepia-toned gelatin silver print, with embossed stamp of the Theatrical Studio, Chicago, lower right recto, 253 x 203 mm. Known as the “Midget Maestro”, Barnes led a band known as the Royal Creolians and wrote for the Black Press’ most important paper, the Chicago Defender. He died tragically at age 35 in the Rhythm Club fire in Natchez, Mississippi, on 23 April 1940, along with 9 members of his band.
iv. Art Hickman and his 10-piece band, Los Angeles, 1925, signed and inscribed in black ink ‘To ‘Bobbie’ My first saxophone Virtioso [sic], best of luck always and more power to your million dollar tone. Art Hickman, season 1925 Biltmore Hotel – Los Angeles’, gelatin silver print, stamped credit of ‘Jernigan Photo Service, Fort Worth, Texas’ verso, 143 x 254 mm. Hickman stands behind his drum kit, while Sylvester is third from right holding his soprano sax.
v. Vaudeville Entertainer Jackie Heller, Chicago, c.1935, signed and inscribed in blue ink ‘To Bob Sylvester, my pal and a marvellous arrainger [sic], Your Pal, Jackie Heller’, sepia-toned gelatin silver print by Maurice Seymour, Chicago, 253 x 202 mm.
vi. Saxophonist Billy Johnson, Kansas City, 1920s, signed and inscribed in blue ink ‘My Best to a Real Pal – “Bob”, From Billy Johnson’, sepia-toned gelatin silver print, 254 x 204 mm.
vii. Bob Sylvester, two studio publicity portraits, the first with saxophone tucked under his arm, 1920s, signed and inscribed in black ink ‘Sincerely your future Brother-in-Law Bob Sylvester’, the second with wife and vocalist Eloise, 1940s, gelatin silver prints, each approx. 252 x 204 mm, together with a publicity portrait of an unidentified female double act, 1940s.
| Adresse de l'enchère |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London Royaume-Uni | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aperçu |
| ||||||||
| Téléphone | +44 (0)20 7839 9060 | ||||||||
| Commission | see on Website | ||||||||
| Conditions d'utilisation | Conditions d'utilisation |
Plus du Créateur
Déposer un ordre
Déposer un ordre par téléphone Ordre
| Numéro de lot | 465 |
|---|---|
| Maison de vente aux enchères | CHRISTIE'S |
| Date de l'enchère | 29.09.2023 |
Votre ordre: £ 1 200
Téléphones pour la communication:
+34827387, +232346832
C'est votre offre maximale qui est transmise à la maison des ventes aux enchères. Si l'offre maximale est plus en haut que le prix limite de l'article, le commissaire-priseur offrira pour vous jusqu'à la hauteur de l'offre maximale.
C'est votre enchère maximale, qui est transmise à la maison de vente aux enchères. Si l'enchère maximale est plus haut que le prix minimal de l'article, le commissaire-priseur offrira pour vous jusqu'à la hauteur de l'enchère maximale.
| Numéro de lot | 465 |
|---|---|
| Maison de vente aux enchères | CHRISTIE'S |
| Date de l'enchère | 29.09.2023 |
Erreur ordre
| Numéro de lot | 465 |
|---|---|
| Maison de vente aux enchères | CHRISTIE'S |
| Date de l'enchère | 29.09.2023 |
Вы уже сделали ставку в € 40 000 и ставка принята аукционным домом. Если вы хотите ее уменьшить, то обратитесь напрямую в администрацию аукционного дома.
Erreur ordre
| Numéro de lot | 465 |
|---|---|
| Maison de vente aux enchères | CHRISTIE'S |
| Date de l'enchère | 29.09.2023 |
Вы не можете делать ставки в данном АД, т.к. были внесены в черный список.
Déposer un ordre
| Numéro de lot | 465 |
|---|---|
| Maison de vente aux enchères | CHRISTIE'S |
| Date de l'enchère | 29.09.2023 |
Autobid est prêt
| Numéro de lot | 465 |
|---|---|
| Maison de vente aux enchères | CHRISTIE'S |
| Date de l'enchère | 29.09.2023 |
