Tag Archives: Benny Goodman

HW Shop: Billy “Lady Day” Holiday Rare Autographs

billie holiday signed photo

Billy Holiday sepia publicity photograph of the singer, signed in purple ink photograph inscribed and signed: “For Manuel/Billy Holiday”. Continue reading

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The Douglas Theater in Harlem, 1920

On 143rd Street and Lenox Avenue sat the Douglas Theater, depending on which of my sources is correct, either 600 or 2200 seats (which in 1935 expanded to 2300, which could indicate that an orchestra pit was covered over to add more seating). Continue reading

Your perfect Block Party in Harlem

Dance/Music

The unrelenting heat leaves your perfect Saturday’s body crying out for just one thing: Harlem. Enter the desire to dance Your A__ Off—dive into the break-dancing competition at the El Museo del Barrio Block Party. Prove that you’re la puta madre on the dance floor and you’ll win the illustrious title of “El Barrio’s Freshest” (and $250). Cap things off with a swing session at Damrosch Park, where the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra with Frank Wess will light up the night with classics from Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Don’t forget to save a dance for your perfect Saturday. Continue reading

Books: Janee’s Canon

Music

Jazz has become a part of America like apple pie and baseball, but Court Carney’s Cuttin’ Up: How Jazz Got America’s Ear shows a period in time when Jazz wasn’t accepted. Carney describes how the original people who created Jazz had to be sucked out of the art form so that it could become popular. Jazz was a highly criticized music genre, due to its elements that combine other genres of music.  Carney performs CPR onto the art form by injecting the people and the history back into the shell of what popular Jazz became. Continue reading