Tag Archives: Harlem Air Shaft

No luck finding a YouTube of Duke’s band charting HAS, but this cover outfit has the talent and spirit.

UPDATE:  Good quote here, which I will lift:

"And take my Harlem Air Shaft. So much goes on in a Harlem air shaft. You get the full essence of Harlem in an air shaft. You hear fights, you smell dinner, you hear the radio. An air shaft is one great big loudspeaker. You see your neighbor’s laundry. You hear the janitor’s dogs. The man upstairs’ aerial falls down and breaks your window. You smell coffee. A wonderful thing, that smell. An air shaft has got every contrast. One guy is cooking dried fish and rice, and another guy’s got a great big turkey. Guy-with-fish’s wife is a terrific cooker, but the guy’s wife with the turkey is doing a sad job. You hear people praying, fighting, snoring…I tried to put that in Air Shaft…." Duke Ellington, quoted by Dr. Ron Pen of the University of Kentucky.