‘A Great Day in Harlem’

In 1948, Esquire magazine’s young graphics editor, Robert Benton--long before he became the esteemed filmmaker--gathered all the jazz musicians he could for a group photograph. It was taken by the late Art Kane in front of a Harlem brownstone. Here, documentarian Jean Bach gets the surviving musicians in the photograph to speak of the others who have since died. The result is this wonderful 59-minute 1994 work. Legends come to life: Thelonius Monk, Lester Young, Charles Mingus and Pee Wee Russell. Bach has been able to bring that day alive in sound as well as image, deftly interweaving some 8mm footage from the event, photos of the gathering taken by others, footage of the departed greats in performance and the reminiscences of such musicians as Sonny Rollings, Art Blakey, Marian McPartland and Dizzy Gillespie (Cinemax Wednesday at 8 p.m.).