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Music > Art Ford
May 8, 1958 - Art Ford's Jazz Party premiered on WNTA-TV (Channel 13) in a broadcast that originated in Newark's Mosque Theater, since renamed Symphony Hall. Appearing on the program, from left, Willie "The Lion" Smith on piano, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Coleman Hawkins on tenor sax, Tyree Glenn on trombone and Sonny Greer on drums.
Photo: Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies Archives
Beneath the crystal chandelier of WNEW's "Make Believe Ballroom." Art Ford, in a 1957 publicity shot, took over the "Ballroom" in 1957 when Jerry Marshall, who had succeeded the show's originator, Martin Block,(1935-1954) departed WNEW for WMGM. Before the "Ballroom," Ford hosted "Ford at Four," (1954-1957) and "The Milkman's Matinee." (1942-1954) Fired in 1958 in a dispute centered around Ford's preference for jazz and European recordings, Ford said: "I am happiest when the garde is avant, and the garde is no longer avant at WNEW." Ford joined WNTA, Newark, where he hosted popular jazz programs on both radio and TV.
June,1957 TIME magazine photo by Peter Stackpole
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