Chick Webb

As noted yesterday, Van Alexander, 97, arranged Ella Fitzgerald's A-Tisket A-Tasket, recorded by Fitzgerald with Chick Webb's orchestra on May 2, 1938. Read More

Today is Van Alexander's birthday (Happy Birthday Van!). Read More

NEW YORK, NY: The historic Lenox Lounge, a fixture in Harlem since 1939, located on Lenox Avenue between 124th and 125th streets, has been home to some of the hottest jazz in the city from Billie Holiday and Miles Davis to Frank Sinatra and John Coltrane, and it's also been a favorite hang for many African-American writers, including James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, to name a select few. Read More

HARLEM, USA, April 24, 2012 - For eight decades, the world-famous Apollo Theater has been the premiere showcase for African-American music: from vaudeville, blues, jazz, R&B, soul, mambo and hip-hop. Read More

David Baker on the cello, which became his second instrument after an accident ended his trombone days. Read More

HARLEM, USA, April 19, 2012 – The inaugural Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival debuted in 2011, and paid tribute to the legendary clubs and venues of the Harlem Renaissance. Read More

As one of the last living participants in Hartford's exuberant Golden Age of Jazz after World War II — an era when future giants Horace Silver and Gigi Gryce graced the swinging club scene in the North End — pianist Emery Austin Smith is unquestionably one of the city's grand patriarchs of jazz. Read More

HARLEM, USA, April 19, 2012 - The inaugural Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival debuted in 2011, and paid tribute to the legendary clubs and venues of the Harlem Renaissance. Read More

When the Apollo Theatre opened the doors for its inaugural show on Friday, January 26, 1934, the trendsetting variety bill included the great jazzman Benny Carter and his orchestra. Read More

Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival Runs May 7 – 13, 2012 All Tickets Just $10 or Free! Read More