'Jazz Messengers' signed photo sells for $20,000

BOSTON, MASS.- A vintage photograph of ‘The Jazz Messengers’ signed by members of the band sold for $20,016 according to Boston-based RR Auction. 

The glossy photo of the band taken during a performance is signed by Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Walter Davis Jr, Jymie Merritt. 

The influential jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when longtime leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. 

The image was among a collection of photographs originating from the jazz fan club, 'The Hot Club of Belgium.’ The club was founded in 1939 by Willy De Cort, Albert Bettonville, Carlos de Radzitzky, and others, which operated until the mid-1960s. 

The “Willy” and “Johnny” that many of these photos are inscribed to may very well be the founder, Willy De Cort, and Johnny Dover, a Belgian clarinetist and saxophonist who once won the club’s award for best clarinet player. 

The fantastic lineup featured some of the greatest names of the jazz age—from Louis Armstrong to Lester Young, and many icons in between. 

Highlights from the sale include, but are not limited by: 

• Johnny Hodges vintage glossy publicity photo of Hodges displaying his stunning Buescher Aristocrat saxophone sold for $7,083. 

• Sonny Stitt vintage glossy publicity photo of Stitt posing with his saxophone sold for $6,373. 

• Big Bill Broonzy rare vintage glossy of the American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist sold for $4,963. 

• Roy Eldridge signed vintage glossy of Eldridge coolly playing his trumpet sold for $4,788. 

• Coleman Hawkins vintage signed glossy publicity photo of Hawkins sold for $4,788. 

• Sarah Vaughan vintage signed glossy of the ‘Sassy' American jazz singer sold for $3,956. 

The Fine Autographs and Artifacts from RR Auction began on December 15 and concluded on January 10.