Harlem

Before Madonna vogued, before RuPaul was a household name, before Beyoncé built a Renaissance, there were queens carving out space in a city that had none for them. Ballroom culture was alive and pulsing through New York's underground…

Harlem’s Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Plaza is hosting live music this summer as part of New York State’s Summer Stage in Harlem series. Presented by the Office of General Services and the Harlem Community Development Corporation, the free…

In continuation of NYS Music’s series celebrating the Harlem Renaissance in its centennial years, it is important to highlight the Cotton Club which was instrumental in displaying Black talent. Before it was the Cotton Club, the…

The Garden of Dreams Foundation announced the “Dream Studio,” a music studio and music composition and recording program in collaboration with rock band O.A.R.’s Marc Roberge and Jon Lampley. With a $750,000 grant from the Foundation’s…

Harlem’s Sugarhill Ddot and Chicago’s STAR BANDZ come together for their “Energy” music video, from Sugarhill Ddot’s 2 Sides of the Story Deluxe album.  Sugarhill Ddot and STAR BANDZ for "Energy" After the duo’s widely popular hit,…

Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia. As a child, she started going by Billie Holiday, Billie from Billie Dove and Holiday from her dad. She began listening to records by Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. Her mother…

For a brief few decades in the 1900s, the Savoy provided a vibrant home for the budding genre of swing, and saw rise to popular dances like the Lindy Hop.

On May 21, 1904, Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was born to Adeline Locket Waller, a musician and Rev. Edward Martin Waller, a trucker and pastor in New York City. He began playing piano at the age of six and began playing organ at his…

On April 29, 1899, Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in Washington D.C.. Both of his parents were musicians, and so Ellington began his piano studies at the age of seven. Due to his easygoing nature, his friends began calling him "Duke." …

Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was born on Christmas Day, 1907 in Rochester, living on Sycamore Street. His mother was a teacher and church organist and his father was a lawyer. When Calloway was 11, they moved to Baltimore. After he was caught…