A Century of Lady Day

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Born Eleanora Fagen Gough or Elinore Harris either in Philidelphia or Baltimore depending on who you believe…Apparently she was born into poverty and dropped out of school in the 5th grade, possibly running errands in a brothel and her father may have been the jazz musician Clarence Holiday. It turns out we don’t really know with certainty a lot about Billie Holiday’s childhood…but there is no question about the impact she had on the musical world as an adult. People do agree that she was born on April 7th and that 2015 marks 100 years since her birth. In 1929 at the age of 14 she moved to Harlem to join her mother who had moved there the previous year.
She was ‘discovered’ at the age of 18 by the producer John Hammond (a member of the Vanderbilt family), he arranged for her first professional recording session with Benny Goodman in1933 which took place at 55 Fifth Avenue and 12th Street in Manhattan. She went on to work with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Artie Shaw and many others, famously performing in the jazz clubs along Swing Street (52nd). Her singing forever changed the universe of jazz sining and beyond.
She had an amazingly successful career, in spite of or perhaps partially facilitating her troubles with substance abuse, touring and appearing in films, eventually performing to a sold out crowd at Carnegie Hall in 1948 with a fantastic 6 encores. Among many other accolades she was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987 and in 1994 she was given her own US postage stamp. Among her many memorable recordings are: “I Love You Porgy”, “Willow Weep For Me”, Strange Fruit”, “God Bless the Child” and so many others. Happy Birthday Billie!!

#SaveNYC stand up for NYC Mom-and-Pops

Change is inevitable and can often be good as part of a natural evolution but not all change is good. There are some things that need to be preserved and protected by those who care. As Jerimiah Moss of Vanishing New York calls it “Hyper-gentrification” — raising rents from $10,000 to $60,000!!…rents that can only be afforded by national chains — is draining NYC’s cultural life blood and identity. #SaveNYC is a campaign to pass the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, which you can read more about here, and you can sign a petition for the cause here. Anyone who has lived in New York long enough knows there’s a certain amount of churn that is inevitable but there’s a point when the greed of the market is just not good for the city or its residents.

In the video below, Bruce, really sums up what we all have seen happening to NYC over the past many years. His story is also an example of why the #SaveNYC campaign makes a lot of sense. Of course, the devil is in the details but with enough support maybe us real New Yorkers can stop NYC from turning into a giant mall. Maybe are children can still have some small locally owned book stores, music stores and small places with live music…imagine that!!!

Check out this post to hear some free jazz from Bruce’s record store Downtown Music Gallery one of the few music stores left. It specializes in Jazz and rare recordings. Not only is the music free jazz but you can actually go there and hear jazz for free!

A Latino History of Hip-Hop in NYC pt1

Here’s a great podcast from Latino USA and NPR. Part 1 about the, mostly forgotten, history of Latino contributions to the birth of Hip Hop in New York City.

Pyramid Club’s Eternal Afterlife

IMG_8996Is it possible that Pyramid Club is the last of the downtown punk club still in existence? As I walked past it the other day I started trying to think of all the great small original punk venues that have disappeared through the years…Max’s, CBs, Botany, Studio 10, A7, Downtown Beruit…okay I can’t actually remember the names of most of them. But I remember playing Pyramid with The Gamma Rays and Nastyfacts, and maybe even The Stimulators and seeing MC5 and Bad Brains there. Mojo working the door. Pyramid was always cool but I never imagined it would outlast all the others….the ancient Egyptian pharaohs would be proud. I’ll have to do a little more research to be sure but if anybody knows of any other old original punk clubs still open in NYC please comment. I spoke to an old friend who just happened to have been there recently. Apparently it’s still a good place to dance your butt off in that “who cares” kind of way that’s so hard to find these days.

Legendary Disco DJ Nicky Siano Birthday Bash in Coney Island

Nicky Siano ushered in the early soulful disco days along with his close kindred spirits Frankie Knuckles, David Mancuso and Larry Levan at The Gallery, Studio 54, The Loft and Paradise Garage changing music and clubs forever. Nicky is said by some to have opened the first real disco club and was one of the first resident DJ’s at Studio 54. He was a pioneer of so much of what happened in those days and a true New York legend. Nicky is throwing a special party for his 60th birthday billed as “The Last Party”. It will take place at Eldorado Auto Scooter, Coney Island, New York Saturday March 21st, chosen for it’s sound system. You can get tickets here for this reservation only event. And here’s a link to a great interview with Nicky where he talks about the party and his past. He will also celebrate his birthday at The Loft in London with Danny Krivit on Sunday April 5th. Happy Birthday Nicky!!!

 

Free Jazz Still Alive and Young in Downtown NYC!!

These days we have to import some of it from Sweden, probably one of the few places you can afford to play free jazz, but it does feel like home to hear this, if a little unexpectedly from young blonde women!

This video is from Downtown Music Gallery a jazz record store that’s worth checking out check out this post to learn a bit about it’s history.

“One of the few music stores left , with a great selection of jazz , rare recordings and free live music every sunday at 6 pm . Bruce has had 3 locations since the 80’s , 5th street near Lafayette st , Bowery , and now 13 Monroe st. May he stay open forever in Nyc . This record store is a treasure.” – Cheryl Pyle