Duke Ellington in New York City
from Duke Ellington: Music is my Mistress, pages 111-112:
George James was known in Harlem as "Mexico." He was born in the South, but at one time he had fought in Mexico as a mercenary. He had a little after-hours spot on 133rd Street in the late '20s… Willie "The Lion" Smith played there, so it was a natural place for all piano players to hang out…
Mexico's was the scene of many battles of music. Every Wednesday night there would be an open blowing competition. A different instrument was featured each Wednesday. One week it would be cornets, another alto saxophones, a third clarinets, and so on, until it became the turn of the tuba players. … more >>
cite as
Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington: Music is my Mistress (New Jersey, 1973), p. 111-112. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1429300994495 accessed: 1 September, 2024
Listeners
Listening to
hide composershorn and piano music | performed by J.P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Willie "The Lion" Smith |
Experience Information
Medium | live |
Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |
Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Fri, 17 Apr 2015 21:03:14 +0100
Approved on Tue, 01 Sep 2015 10:24:24 +0100