Drop me off in Harlem

When I was in New York a couple of months ago, I stayed out in Brooklyn at my friend Tomo's tiny apartment. I love Tomo, but I freakin' hated where she lived. Also, I spent a lot of my time downtown, which I always think is going to be great but seldom is. I have this love/hate thing for New York. I mostly hate it, but sometimes love it so intensely that it always makes me want to come back. I guess alot of people feel that way.

We ended up driving up again this past weekend for a good friend's birthday party and, this time, we stayed in Harlem on 148th St. What a difference. From the moment I got out of the car I knew that this was going to be one of those trips that was filled with intense love for the city. It was Friday at about 8:30pm and the street was absolutely jumping with activity. There must have been at least ten sidewalk bar-b-ques, four games of dominoes, kids on their bikes or just running around, folks drinking beer and stoop sitting, the sounds of several different languages all mixing together like a song. It took me right back to my childhood in East Oakland. I felt like I was home.

Our friend Keith bought a brown stone there several years ago and has been slowly bringing it back to life. Beautiful building. Located two blocks from the subway near the St. Nicholas Historic District or what used to be known as Strivers Row. Keith is an interesting cat. He's a computer programmer who fell in love with jazz, sold his house in Seattle and moved to New York to learn how to play the saxophone. He's one of those rare guys who had a dream and had the balls enough to chase it. You have to admire that. So many people just settle.

Keith was slow to make friends in the neighborhood, but now knows many people by name and is greeted in the street by his neighbors. There is alot of gentrification going on in Harlem right now and white faces are in the neighborhood are treated with suspicion by some until you prove that you are not there to ruin their home. I can understand that. So often, ruthless developers just come in and start buying up blocks and all of the sudden, the neighborhood has changed drastically. It would certainly piss me off.

I was really glad we got to see Harlem while it was still in a "pure" state. I did a lot of recording around the neighborhood this weekend and gathered some great audio of the streets. Soon, I fear, those sounds will be gone. Replaced by the sounds of young professionals with too much money and not enough sense. But for now, Harlem is still Harlem and it's a great place to be.