The Jazz Museum in Harlem is gradually taking shape. Nat Hentoff has a piece about it in this morning’s Wall Street Journal:
When Charlie Parker died in 1955, drummer and leader Art Blakey–a persistent proselytizer for jazz–said forlornly, “I doubt if many black kids knew who Charlie Parker was.” Soon, there will be a vivid source of immersion in jazz past and future. And since the music has long been an international language, tourists from around the world will be coming to Harlem in ever greater numbers. They won’t see a statue of Charlie Parker, but they’ll be in his presence, along with that of his progenitors….
Take a look.