Shot By: Matt Weber

Harlem, 1985. Photo: Matt Weber.

Movie of the Week: The Cool World (1964)

Shirley Clarke must have been one hip chick. Between this film, The Connection, and Portrait of Jason, its obvious she ran in some very interesting circles. Read what the New York Times thought of The Cool World at the time here.

The book that inspired the film.

The soundtrack album by Dizzy Gillespie.

Black & white version of the poster.

Movie of the Week: Beat This! A Hip Hop History (1984)

 Here's an amazing doc from 1984 from the BBC on the still nascent (at the time) hip hop scene. Astounding & beautiful...

Appearances include Easy A.D., Almighty K.G., Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Drew Bundini, H. Rap Brown, Grandmaster Caz, Charlie Chase, Brim Fuentes, G.L.O.B.E., Kool Herc, Lisa Lee, Malcolm McLaren, Pow Wow, Sha Rock, and Tony Tone.

Hat tip to Dangerous Minds

Harlem Cultural Festival (1969)

Source

Before & After: A Great Day In Harlem

Before - A Great Day in Harlem (Art Kane, 1958)

After - A Great Day in Harlem Survivors (Gordon Parks, 1996)

(Source)

East 125th Street

Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time: The Delfonics, Harlem NYC, 1972

The Delfonics in front of the Apollo Theater, 125th Street, NYC, May 1972. Read the story behind this stunning photograph over at The Loose Book. Its available in the book, Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing: The Apollo Theater and American Entertainment.

NYNS - Christmas Night In Harlem

Mr. Louis Armstrong most definitely recorded some of the more enjoyable and timeless Christmas music over many years. Here he takes us up to Harlem on Christmas night...

NYNS - Harlem

Originally published at the New York Nobody Sings: "Summer night in Harlem. Man, it's really hot. Well it's too hot to sleep, and too hot to eat. I don't care if I die or not." There are countless songs set in & about Harlem, and I'm sure we'll get to quite a few of them here. This one happens to be a favorite, and it pretty much sums up what it can be like here in the summer - especially in August, and ESPECIALLY if you don't have an air conditioner. It just goes to show you...you don't have to be from New York to capture it. West Virginian Bill Withers tells it like it is.

Harlem, studio:


Harlem, live:

Bobby Robinson memorial service tomorrow

With the recent passing of Harlem's Bobby Robinson, New York lost probably one of the few remaining true entrepreneurial mavericks of the dawning of the music business as we came to know it. For those interested in music history, I suggest reading Jeremiah's post today which focuses on Bobby's Harlem-based shop, Bobby's Happy House, which he also wrote about back in 2007. I also suggest reading the NY Times obit about the man: "Bobby Robinson liked to recall how it all began: with him, a World War II veteran, sitting on a fire hydrant in front of a hat shop in Harlem in 1946. Hundreds of people (potential customers?) walked by." Continued here.

For those who are interested, a memorial service for Bobby Robinson will take place tomorrow, Thursday, January 13, at the United House of Prayer for All People, 2320 Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) @ 125th Street.

The viewing is from 3:00 - 6:00 pm, with the service to follow.

Bobby Robinson RIP

Bobby Robinson - RIP

NYNS - Up to Lenox, 1-2-5

In 1970, Gil Scott-Heron made his debut on the Flying Dutchman label with Small Talk At 125th and Lenox. Very much in the vein of contemporaries like the Last Poets or the Watts Prophets, his early (mostly) spoken word songs were incendiary reports on racism, injustice, and what it can be like looking up from the bottom. The best known track from this album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, was just one of several amazing songs on an impressive debut.

Although he spent the first 12 or 13 years of his life in Chicago and Tennessee, he had the voice of a true New Yorker. In the title cut, Small Talk At 125th and Lenox, Scott-Heron shows he was also capable of painting a vivid picture of everyday life in the ghetto. He'll tell you himself...