Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

224-225

text excerpt

The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. [...] 

[... T]ake my "Harlem Air Shaft." So much goes on in a Harlem air shaft. You get the full essence of Harlem in an air shaft. You hear fights, you smell dinner, you hear people making love. You hear intimate gossip floating down. You hear the radio. The air shaft is one great big loudspeaker. You see your neighbour's laundry. You hear the janitor's dogs. The man upstairs' aerial falls down and breaks your window. You smell coffee. A wonderful thing, that smell. An air shaft has got every contrast. One guy is cooking dried fish and rice and another guy's got a great big turkey. […] You hear people praying, fighting, snoring. […] I tried to put all that in "Harlem Air Shaft."

excerpt from 'Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It' pp. 224-225 (135 words)

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1435232089610