HARLEM NOCTURNE
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A friend of mine was hired to sing at an "old folks" home, and she said, "I was shocked! Those old folks were the best audience I've ever had!" And I told her, of course they were. They know more about jazz than you do. To them, you were just a talented kid trying to imitate what they created. Those old folks were everything that we try to pretend, and hope, to be. They had more class, more talent, and much more style than any of us do today. The tunes that we call "standards," they (or their contemporaries) actually wrote, and what we call jazz, speaks to the lives that they actually led.
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John Coltrane would be 90 years old today, Dexter Gordon 94, Bird 96, and Thelonious Monk would be 100 years old this year. So those "old folks" could do everything we do today, and much better. Just being asked to perform for this great generation of people should be considered the highest compliment that you could be given, because your host obviously felt that you brought the kind of feeling, talent, and excellence to the table that these old-school steppers could appreciate - you're just lucky one of them didn't decide to limp up on stage to show you how it was really done, because I'm sure that many of 'em still got the chops to do it.
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Most of the people who Slow Dragged to the piece below are dead today, but they lived their lives to the fullest.
The piece below shows how they rolled during the Great Depression and the Harlem Renaissance. Many of them were thriving. While most of America was starving to death, in bread lines, and some jumping out of windows in desperation, it was business as usual for these steppers, because they knew how to deal with adversity.
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John Coltrane would be 90 years old today, Dexter Gordon 94, Bird 96, and Thelonious Monk would be 100 years old this year. So those "old folks" could do everything we do today, and much better. Just being asked to perform for this great generation of people should be considered the highest compliment that you could be given, because your host obviously felt that you brought the kind of feeling, talent, and excellence to the table that these old-school steppers could appreciate - you're just lucky one of them didn't decide to limp up on stage to show you how it was really done, because I'm sure that many of 'em still got the chops to do it.
.
Most of the people who Slow Dragged to the piece below are dead today, but they lived their lives to the fullest.
The piece below shows how they rolled during the Great Depression and the Harlem Renaissance. Many of them were thriving. While most of America was starving to death, in bread lines, and some jumping out of windows in desperation, it was business as usual for these steppers, because they knew how to deal with adversity.
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THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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We’re children of ____the night______
Our souls___ come alive___ at Sunset_____
We sing of jazz___ beneath the moonlight____
to a song___ that’s often mis-understood____
.
We sing of pain____ and bitter sorrow_____
And known_____ to cry out_____ into the night______
We sing our song _____ a Harlem Noctune______
A song that soothes____
the Harlem Moon____ tonight________
.
But we
swing and we sway___
And sleep through the day___
and live a life
that the squares don’t understand____
.
Though misunderstood___
we always look good___
and
forget about
our sorrows
when the horns
start to play___
.
We’re children of ___the night_____
Our souls___ come alive___ at Sunset_____
We sing of jazz___ beneath the moonlight____
to a song___ that’s often mis-understood____
.
We sing of pain____ and bitter sorrow_____
And known_____ to cry out_____ into the night______
We sing our song _____ a Harlem Noctune______
A song that soothes___
my Harlem Moon___ tonight________
Our souls___ come alive___ at Sunset_____
We sing of jazz___ beneath the moonlight____
to a song___ that’s often mis-understood____
.
We sing of pain____ and bitter sorrow_____
And known_____ to cry out_____ into the night______
We sing our song _____ a Harlem Noctune______
A song that soothes____
the Harlem Moon____ tonight________
.
But we
swing and we sway___
And sleep through the day___
and live a life
that the squares don’t understand____
.
Though misunderstood___
we always look good___
and
forget about
our sorrows
when the horns
start to play___
.
We’re children of ___the night_____
Our souls___ come alive___ at Sunset_____
We sing of jazz___ beneath the moonlight____
to a song___ that’s often mis-understood____
.
We sing of pain____ and bitter sorrow_____
And known_____ to cry out_____ into the night______
We sing our song _____ a Harlem Noctune______
A song that soothes___
my Harlem Moon___ tonight________
©2017 Eric L. Wattree
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Claude McMay, a Harlem Renaissance writer that was senior to Langston Hughes, would have been 129 years old now, but his words have the kind of sentiment and insight that would allow him to speak for many of us today.
So whenever I see an "old person" passing by, I always wonder what they were like in their youth, because they could show us a thing or two about what it really means to be a stepper.
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Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.