Image and sound: Webster Hall, 1956

One satisfaction of researching jazz photography—for it is a lot of fun—is the rare occasion when the images can be married to sounds. The book The Sound I Saw (Phaidon Press, 2011) by Roy DeCarava (1919-2009) includes a beautiful collection of black and white images, many of jazz musicians, with no credit whatsoever. Checking faces, names and discographies like this one, there are two photographs which can be pinned down, taken at the magnificent Webster Hall, RCA's regular studio in NYC at the time. These:

Tony Scott and orchestra, Webster Hall, NYC,
Friday, December 14, 1956

Left to right: Frank Foster, Danny Bank (with back to the camera), Frank Wess, Sahib Shihab,
Gigi Gryce, Tony Scott; same date and location.

Which studio is this?

As part of some research I'm carrying out, I need to identify the studio where these pictures were taken. I'm certain it's in or around New York, and the date is circa 1960. The (jazz) musicians' identities are irrelevant and have been obscured to avoid any copyright problems. Our graphic team has also colored a bass drum blue: it appears on all three images and it can help giving an idea of the dimensions and disposition of the place.

For what it's worth, the recording was published by a small, independent label. 

Any help will be most welcome and duly acknowledged.

(Click on each image to enlarge)

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