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: 29 March, 2024

location of experience: New York City

Listeners

Duke Ellington
lyricist, performer, piantist, Composer […]
1899-1974

Listening to

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horn 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