Photograph of Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five and two (2) women. The six (6) men and two (2) women are depicted in two rows. The women are seated in the front row, with all of the men standing in a line behind them. The women wear matching floral dresses with spaghetti straps and ruched bodices. The men wear matching medium toned suits, white dress shirts, and ties. The men, depicted from left to right are Johnny Kirkwood, Chester Lane, Bob Mitchell, Louis Jordan, Bert Payne, and Thurber Jay. At the center, Louis Jordan holds a saxophone between the seated women. The photographer's mark is printed in the negative in the bottom right corner, [James J / Kriegsmann / N.Y.]. There are no inscriptions on the front or back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1938-1961
• Photograph by: James J. Kriegsmann, 1909 - 1994
• Subject of: Louis Jordan, American, 1908 - 1975
• Subject of: Chester Lane, American, 1912 - 2004
• Subject of: John Kirkwood, American
• Subject of: Thurber Jay, American, born 1918
• Subject of: Bert Payne, American
• Subject of: Bob Mitchell, American
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 7 1/2 × 9 3/8 in. (19 × 23.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 8 3/16 × 10 1/16 in. (20.8 × 25.5 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.46.25.83
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.