From Duke Ellington's ivories to Satchmo's riffs: The black and white images captured by Charles 'Teenie' Harris that re-tell the musical history of black America in the 20th Century




He was known as 'One Shot Harris'. Charles 'Teenie' Harris earned the nickname because he often captured his most moving images in his first take.



The late photographer's archive of nearly 80,000 is said to be the most expansive record of African American urban culture known today.



Now, fourteen years after his death, Mr Harris' work is being lauded in a retrospective exhibit, featuring rarely-seen images of Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong and other enduring names.

Cutting up: Duke Ellington at the piano, with dancer Charles 'Honi' Coles and Billy Strayhorn looking on, in the Stanley Theatre, c 1942-1943

Side-by-side: An undated photo of Louis Armstrong and Ann Baker in a booth at Crawford Grill No 1 restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Behind the lens: Charles 'Teenie' Harris, holding his camera on the sidewalk at an unknown location, c 1938

Curators at the Carnegie Museum of Art narrowed his collection to 987 of the 'most beautiful, appealing, and historically significant images' taken at the height of Mr Harris' career.



After ten years of research into the archive, Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story, was put on display.

Photos of baseball star Jackie Robinson, and leaders such as John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr are featured among the most well-known names.

Duke Ellington, pictured signing autographs through a crowd, Lena Horne dancing with William 'Woogie' Harris, Josephine Baker accepting a Hill City membership card, big bands, dancing girls and carnivals feature in the expansive collection.

Icons: Eartha Kitt leaping though poster to launch a Citizens Committee on Hill District Renewal program, left, and Nina Simone holding cigarette and seated in chair c 1965, right

Star: Josephine Baker accepting a Hill City membership card from Leslie Powell, with George Fairley holding police badges honouring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Howard McKinney. Unknown man in background, c 1951

A meditation: Lena Horne reflected in mirror in dressing room at Stanley Charming: Lena Horne standing next to cake inscribed 'Greetings Lena Horne', with Bill Nunn Sr on right, in Loendi Club, October 1944

Cutting the cake: Billy Eckstine and Lena Horne, centre, with Miriam Sharpe Fountain in background on left, in Loendi Club, October 1944

Slow dance: Lena Horne dancing with William 'Woogie' Harris, with Julia Bumry Jones on left in background, in Loendi Club, February 1938

Jubilation: An undated photo of Frank Bolden, left, and Sarah Vaughan, right, with another woman and man at piano, in an unknown club with a portrait of Ann Baker Fanfare: Duke Ellington signing autographs in a crowd, including Isabella Marble, Marverine and Blanche Cathcart, c 1946-1947 Backstage: Singer and actor Ethel Waters in costume before she takes the stage, c 1940 All smiles: Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson seated with child on his knee, and surrounded by three other children, in Hill City, c 1940 Taking a bite: Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson pretending eat a large Eskimo Pie ice cream bar, with a WWSW radio station announcer behind the microphone, c 1941