New York: Day Five - Hot Day In Harlem

For perhaps the first time ever outside of weddings, christenings, the occasional Christmas eve and funerals, I was planning to go to a church service this morning. I got dressed in my Sunday Best which I brought in my hand luggage especially for the occasion, and headed down to the Bethel Gospel Assembly in Harlem, to hear some of the best Gospel singing in the world, or so they say at least.

I hadn't really counted on the fact that so many others might have the same plan. There were literally coach loads of tourists with multiple queues up the street. From the sounds of it, the church was already full by the time I got there as well.  This wasn't quite the experience I'd had in mind so I bailed out and headed to meet my friend Rich whose Air BNB was nearby. Rich is a Hip hop head from back home in Wales, who was in town especially for Rock The Bells. We decided to go to Sylvia’s Soul Food restaurant for brunch but somehow ended up walking way too far. Then serendipity dealt us the perfect hand as I heard the sound of music and headed off down a side street towards it. 

Outside the Gospel Hall on West 115th Street, just off Malcolm X Boulevard the street was blocked off with a stage, where two preachers were singing their sermons, backed up by two New Orleans style brass bands, taking it in turns to blast out some seriously uplifting Gospel tunes. Everybody around us was dressed in all white, with not a tourist in sight save for the obvious two. It was the perfect start to a Sunday in Harlem. Even though I'm not religious, I could certainly appreciate a church service like that. 

We never made it to Sylvia’s but grabbed some waffles at the nearby Amy Ruth’s before Rich headed off to catch his flight home and I took a stroll all the way up through Harlem to Sugar Hill, weaving through the streets and sights between Malcolm X Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, admiring the beautiful iconic buildings dating back to the turn of the last century, or even the end of the 19th for some, where the clubs and speakeasies fuelled the spread of jazz from the very beginning.

I had my Harlem Renaissance playlist on, helping to transport me back through time to that early period of prohibition, pride and endless possibilities, whilst also trying to appreciate the modern scenes around me. It was a blazing hot day and Harlem was alive with church goers, basketball games, musicians jamming in the park, friends hanging out on the streets, with more than a fair share of heavy daytime drinkers, showing that it’s not all sunshine, music and laughter here. I saw the mural marking the corner where Big L was shot, opposite the sites of both The Savoy and the Cotton Club, those classic venues where Duke Ellington, Chick Webb, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and many more made their name. The buildings are no longer there, all I can see is giant tower blocks around where they used to be. I’m not done with my rose tinted jazz jaunt though so I continue on to Sugar Hill, past the gorgeous Jackie Robinson Park and up to 555 Edgecombe Avenue, an ornately decorated apartment block where Paul Robeson and several noted big band leaders including Count Basie, Andy Kirk, Don Redman, Erskine Hawkins, Benny Carter and Cootie Williams used to live. It’s also the spot where jazz pianist Marjorie Elliot opens up her home every Sunday to give a free jazz concert. 

I meet up with Frances Mary there, a great singer from Bristol who is in town to perform, and we queue outside Apartment 3F with a friend of hers from Manhattan and an ever growing assortment of music lovers and curious tourists. I’m surprised we all get in, it was definitely worth arriving at least half an hour early for a good spot, but I’m pretty sure everybody finds a space. 

Marjorie has been playing these free concerts since 1994, joined by friends and family, in this case a trumpet player and another pianist. Although free, donations are expected, and so I’d guess somewhere like America where tipping culture is standard anyway, it proves to be a relatively profitable model, probably more so than playing a jazz club these days. It kind of harks back to the rent parties of early Harlem, or the Loft Jazz scene of the 70s, although this is definitely more cool jazz than free jazz, and there proves to be nothing better for a hot day in Harlem. There’s something about being invited into someone’s home, and made to feel welcome with drinks and snacks that creates an experience which clubs would find hard to replicate also. Marjorie is a wonderfully elegant player also, her strong slim arms gliding across the keys. Her cohort is a little more intentional with his fingers, but playful, both certainly know their way around a piano. 

I’d be happy if the day ended there, but when there’s so much Hip-hop happening in the city it’s hard not to go and have another fix. I checked out a few of the competitors at the US DMC Championships. There was a good crowd turnout for the competition with legends such as DJ Cash Money and Grandmaster Caz out to watch. I managed to catch DJ Chris Kuts, DJ Essential, Nu Era and DJ Exist while I was there. All competent turntablists but nobody that particularly caught my ear this time, they were mostly playing for the judges rather than the crowd and I’m somewhat of a philistine when it comes to many of the techniques. It will be interesting to see how DMC get on at Boomtown this year, it might confuse a few ravers but it could also spark interest from a whole new generation. I’ll still be over here in New York next weekend, so it was nice to have a chance to catch some of the heats here at least. 

I would love to have stayed to watch it all, especially as the Invisibl Skratch Piklz were due to perform also, but I really wanted to catch some of the free Hip-hop gig down at Coney Island which was a good hour away on the train. Although I’d missed most of the show, it was totally worth the trip as I arrived just in time for Special Ed who brought out both Masta Ace and Buckshot to perform Crooklyn Dodgers. Then Nice & Smooth closed out the show with their classics. I’m not sure you’d even get Special Ed or Nice & Smooth performing in the UK, whereas here there’s a good thousand or more people who all know the words. Even though I know New York is the home of Hip-hop, you forget what that really means until you’re here. 

In fact Hip-hop was everywhere in Coney Island as dozens of dad’s dragged large speakers around the beach with their families in tow. This is definitely my kind of place. There were a lot of different Latin styles also, both from the modern day boomboxes and from bands playing on the promenade, in bars and in restaurants. I really need to dig into more Latin music while I'm here. If anyone has recommendations for places then hit me up on Social Media. I’ll be back tomorrow with my reports from the Lower East Side.