Written By: Ben Cosgrove

LIFE photographer Gjon Mili (who also directed the classic 1944 short film, Jammin’ the Blues) often hosted jam sessions at his photography studio in New York during the 1940s. The pictures in this gallery testify to the talent on hand both musical and photographic at those all-night parties. Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole, Gene Krupa . . . like the jam sessions themselves, the names of the greats who played at Mili’s studio go on and on and on.

Born in Albania, raised in Romania, Mili emigrated to America to study electrical engineering at M.I.T. Inspired, in 1937, by M.I.T.’s Harold Edgerton’s development of the stroboscopic light, Mili went on to experiment with strobes, film speeds, unusual compositions and subjects in short, he applied his prodigious technical prowess and dedicated his artist’s eye to new ways of seeing.

Time, he realized, “could truly be made to stand still. Texture could be retained despite sudden violent movement.” These insights, combined with his love of jazz, helped him create some of the most intimate, unique portraits of jazz legends ever made by any photographer all in what LIFE magazine called his “smoky sweaty barn of a studio.”

As for the jam sessions themselves, LIFE (helpfully) wrote in its Oct. 11, 1943, issue in which some of these pictures first appeared:

A jam session is an informal gathering of temperamentally congenial jazz musicians who play unrehearsed and unscored music for their own enjoyment. It usually takes place in the early morning hours after the participants have finished their regular evening’s work with large bands. . . . It represents the discarding of the shackles imposed by working with a band that plays You’ll Never Know and All or Nothing at All in the same unimaginative arrangements night after night. It represents the final freedom of musical expression.

Recently such a session took place in the New York studio of LIFE photographer Gjon Mili. From shortly before 9 p.m. until after 4 a.m. some of the most distinguished talents in jazz performed for an audience which, in the smoky sweaty barn of a studio, derived an alert, fascinated, almost frenzied enjoyment from what it heard.

 

Gjon Mili Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Gjon Mili Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

 

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

Duke Ellington, New York, 1943.

Duke Ellington

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Pearl Primus performs to "Honeysuckle Rose" as played by an all-star group consisting of Teddy Wilson (piano), Lou McGarity (trombone), Sidney Catlett (drums), Bobby Hackett (trumpet) and John Simons (bass).

Pearl Primus

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Billie Holiday sings her standard, "Fine and Mellow," accompanied by James P. Johnson on piano and others, New York, 1943.

Billie Holiday 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Duke Ellington at the piano as Dizzy Gillespie (seated behind Ellington) and others swing, 1943.

Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, 1943.

Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Edward Kennedy ('Duke') Ellington, who leads what is unquestionably the world's most exciting dance band, plays 'Don't Get Around Much Any More,' his own current best-selling composition.

Duke Ellington

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Duke Ellington, 1943.

Duke Ellington, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Vocalist Lee Wiley sings, accompanied by her husband, pianist Jess Stacy, with Eddie Condon on guitar, Sid Weiss on bass and the great Cozy Cole on drums, 1943.

Lee Wiley and Friends

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Vocalist Lee Wiley sings, accompanied by her husband, pianist Jess Stacy, with Eddie Condon on guitar, Sid Weiss on bass and the great Cozy Cole on drums, 1943.

Lee Wiley and Friends

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Lee Wiley, 1943.

Lee Wiley, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Conde Nast president Iva Patcevitch (in striped suit), Vogue editor-in-chief Edna Woolman Chase (far right, in hat) and other media types hang out at Gjon Mili's studio during a jam session, 1943.

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Unidentified jazz musicians, New York, 1943.

Unidentified jazz musicians, New York, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Josh White sings and plays on guitar his 'Hard Time Blues.'

Josh White, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

J.C. Heard Orchestra, 1943.

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Duke Ellington and friends, 1943.

Duke Ellington and friends, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Franz Jackson on saxophone, accompanied by James P. Johnson at piano, Wilbur De Paris on trombone, Irving Fazola (fifth from left) on clarinet, Al Mott on bass and Cozy Cole on drums.

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gene Krupa.

Gene Krupa.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Eddie Heywood's hands, 1943.

Eddie Heywood’s hands, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

An unidentified bass player's fingers, 1943.

An unidentified bass player’s fingers, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Count Basie, Lester Young, and other jazz greats at Gjon Mili's Studio in New York, 1943.

Count Basie, Lester Young, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

James P. Johnson (piano) and friends, 1943.

James P. Johnson (piano) and friends, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Jazz jam session, including Lester Young (standing, in hat) on saxophone and Count Basie at the piano, 1943.

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

James P. Johnson, 1943.

James P. Johnson, 1943.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Cozy Cole on drums, Al Mott on bass and Irving Fazola, taking a break from his clarinet, 1943.

Irving Fazola, Cozy Cole, Al Mott

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

The one and only Roy Eldridge plays trumpet during drummer Gene Krupa's jam session at Gjon Mili's studio, 1940s.

Roy Eldridge

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Mary Lou Williams (who arranged for Ellington's band) jams in Gjon Mili's studio, New York, 1943.

Mary Lou Williams, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Gjon Mili's cat Blackie steps gingerly among empty glasses left on top of the piano after an all-night jam session at his (Mili's, not the cat's) studio, 1942.

One More Cool Cat in Gjon Mili’s Studio

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

The next morning, Gjon Mili's studio was littered with cigaret stubs, broken glasses, spilled liquor. Many jazz musicians eat scrambled eggs and benzedrine for breakfast.

Jazz Jam Sessions, 1943

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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