Billie Holiday

BillIe Holiday

Art Ford Jazz Party on October 7, 1957

Billie Holiday - Vocal

Buck Clayton - trumpet

Tyree Glenn - trombone

Hank D'Amico - clarinet

Georgie Auld - tenor sax

Mal Waldron - piano

Harry Sheppard - vibes

Mary Osborne - guitar

Vinnie Burke - bass

Osie Johnson -drums

‘The Jazz Party’ also known as Art Ford's Jazz Party, was a TV series featuring Jazz musicians on WNTA-TV in New York City, and which aired on Thursdays at 9pm ET from May 8, 1958 to December 25, 1958. It was a more music-focused continuation of Art Ford's Greenwich Village Party, arguably the last series to appear on the DuMont Television Network, which ceased operations on 6 August 1956, though only broadcast on WABD as that station was becoming WNEW-TV after the sale of the DuMont-owned stations to Metromedia.

The 90-minute shows, hosted by Art Ford (1921-2006), were distributed by the NTA Film Network. The shows were also aired on Armed Forces Television. All episodes were filmed in a New Jersey studio, except for the final episode, which was recorded August 11, 1958 in New Orleans, and aired on December 25.

Musicians who appeared on the series included Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Henry "Red" Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Marty Napoleon, Georgie Auld, Buster Bailey, Vinnie Burke, Roy Eldridge, J. C. Higginbotham, Les Paul, Dick Hyman, Anita O'Day, Connee Boswell, Mae Barnes, Chris Connor, Sylvia Sims, Mary Osborne, Teddy Charles, Harry Sheppard, Maxine Sullivan, Alec Templeton, Abbey Lincoln and many others.