Jazz It! Or a Night on the Town with Sarah

Bill Saxton, King of Harlem

My love for the 1920s is very well documented on this blog, and those who know me in real life know it all too well. I wore my hair in a bob for years because of a life-long flapper fascination, and my outfits for both my High School Prom and my 10-year High School Reunion were 20s-inspired looks, both complete with strings of knotted pearls. I am constantly looking for ways to infuse my daily life with a bit of that irreverent 'Anything Goes!' 1920s flair.

Luckily for me, I live in New York City, where it's not as difficult as it would be if I lived in, say, Cleveland or something. (No offense to those of you in Cleveland; I have family there which is why I picked it.) Yes, I've been to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor's Island. Yes, I've been to a few speakeasy-style bars, and I even have a favourite. (The Red Room, if you're wondering. The Back Room also has a cool aesthetic - it was used in the episode of "Broad City" where Abbi's alter ego "Val" performs - but it tends to be too overcrowded, at least the times I've been.)

And a couple weeks ago, Sarah and I went to one of the most authentic jazz experiences in the whole city, up in Harlem. I have a couple other upcoming posts that touch on this a little more (one in my LGBT history series, one in more conventional listicle form) but in 20s New York City, Harlem was one of the places to be. (Greenwich Village was another place to be.) Clubs in this area from this time are iconic, legendary performers like Cab Calloway and Josephine Baker were entertaining the masses, and 133rd Street in particular had so many speakeasies that private homes on the street actually had to put signs on their doors stating that they weren't speakeasies.

Of course, it wasn't some perfect ideal. Even in Harlem, which had a primarily black population, society was deeply segregated. The Cotton Club was themed after a slave plantation (isn't that just awful) and while black people - who had invented jazz music and many of the popular 20s dances, mind you - could perform there, they could not go as club patrons. (Those of you who've seen "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" are inevitably gonna draw comparisons to the Ink and Paint Club where Jessica Rabbit performed - that allegory was intentional in that movie.) That's not an aspect of the 1920s I'm looking to bring back, I just like the fashion and the music and the overall irreverent attitude of the time.

So Sarah and I wanted to theme our night out as follows:

• Dress in jazz age inspired looks. (I would have loved to go out in full flapper dress but it was raining so I had to wear rain boots. Thus my look actually skewed more 1930s.)
• Eat at a black-owned establishment with retro inspired vibes
• Finish out our night at a real Harlem jazz establishment

The Looks

Usually when we go out together, Sarah dresses more feminine. And myself, not always comfortable with femininity, being nonbinary and all, I usually dress more butch. (Not just when we go places; in general I'm a bit of a tomboy, fashion-wise.)

We decided to switch it up, so Sarah was more tomboyish in a vest and a newsie cap. I actually wore make up for once in my god damned life (well, just lipstick to match my hat but still) as well as a retro-esque pencil skirt (with... very thick tights and rainboots, lmao).

The point was not to be fashion plates of the 1920s and 1930s. The point was just to put ourselves in the mood for reminiscing about an idealised version of the Jazz Age.

The Restaurant

We decided to go to the Harlem Shake, which is a modern black-owned diner-style restaurant with an adorable retro aesthetic. They serve damn good burgers, fries, and shakes; play hip hop and R&B music with some old motown mixed in, and make it a point to hire and support people who live in the local community.

A diner was a good choice for our Jazz Age inspired night because diners were actually pretty common in the 1920s and 1930s, especially in northeastern cities. They didn't really start spreading to the suburbs until the 1940s/50s, after WWII. According to wikipedia: 

"From the 1920s to the 1940s, diners, by then commonly known as "lunch cars", were usually prefabricated in factories like modern mobile homes and delivered on site with only the utilities needing to be connected. As a result, many early diners were typically small and narrow in order to fit onto a rail car or truck. This small footprint also allowed them to be fitted into tiny and relatively inexpensive lots that otherwise were unable to support a larger enterprise. Diners were historically small businesses operated by the owner, with some presence of restaurant chains evolving over time... Until the Great Depression, most diner manufacturers and their customers were located in the Northeast. Diner manufacturing suffered with other industries during the Depression, though not as much as many industries, and the diner offered a less expensive way of getting into the restaurant business as well as less expensive food than more formal establishments. After World War II, as the economy returned to civilian production and the suburbs boomed, diners were an attractive small business opportunity. During this period, diners spread beyond their original urban and small town market to highway strips in the suburbs, even reaching the Midwest."

I actually stayed up in Harlem for a month when I first moved here, with my cousin who lives just down the street from this place. I'd tried it once then - their veggie burgers had great reviews on yelp, but I remember being less than impressed with them. However, I'm so thrilled I gave this place a second chance! I got an eggnog milkshake, truffle fries, and a grilled cheese with mushrooms. Not the most historically accurate meal, but fucking delicious and tbh I've low-key been craving more ever since.

Overall, Harlem Shake is a love letter to Harlem culture and history, drawing from many eras of the region to create something thoroughly modern.

Also their bathroom has a retro hand dryer from who knows when, where you have to use a foot pump to get it to blow air. It's adorable and I got a kick out of it. (Don't worry they also have modern hand dryers and paper towels lmao.)

Retro hand dryer on the left. Also the bathroom's wallpaper is entirely old issues of Jet magazine

The Jazz

I have always loved good jazz music. There's something about it that makes you feel so alive. When I was a teenager, I actually played saxophone and clarinet in a jazz/swing band called The Swing Kids, as well as piano in my high school jazz band, and I've adored it ever since.

As I mentioned before, 133rd Street used to be just swimming with speakeasies - it was nicknamed "Swing Street" at one point. The building that now houses Bill's Place was once one of those speakeasies, one where, as a teenager, Billie Holiday began her singing career, and Fats Waller and Willie the Lion Smith were regulars on the piano.

It's still is an authentic experience that feels very old New York. You step down into an intimate little private parlour with other patrons, many of whom have brought their own hooch, and listen to some of the best damned jazz musicians you've ever heard in your whole life. No pretension, no snootery, just a very talented group of musicians and a very enthusiastic audience.

Bill himself is quite a character. A Harlem native with a smokey, raspy voice and a wry sense of humour, this man is a talented saxophonist. I played the sax for years, I know how much lung strength it takes to do the things he did, and he made it seem so effortless. Mad props to him. He's the type of New Yorker you read about in books.

The Coda

All in all, it was a fun night, and much-needed. I've been somewhat depressed since breaking up with my significant other, and so it was great to get out of the house and pretend to step back in time (if that 'back in time' was an amalgamation of different years and ideas) for a while.

Thanks for showing me a good time, Harlem. Til we meet again.

-Nym