WTCD1-01

This news isn’t specif­i­cally schlock mate­r­ial but it does touch on the broad spec­trum of musi­cal cul­ture, high to low, so it mer­its men­tion here.  Watch The Closing Doors, Vol. 1 is the first install­ment of new CD com­pi­la­tion series curated by jour­nal­ist Kris Needs.  This new series is designed to chron­i­cle the his­tory of New York’s var­ied musi­cal cul­ture between the years of 1940 and 2000.  As you’ll see from the track list­ing, it’s an ambi­tious under­tak­ing that cov­ers every­thing from jazz to doo-wop to early elec­tronic exper­i­men­ta­tion.  It will be released on May 10th by Year Zero Records. Read on for all muso-minded details…

Watch the Closing Doors – A History of New York’s Musical Melting Pot

Renowned jour­nal­ist Kris Needs embarks on mam­moth project doc­u­ment­ing the his­tory of New York’s Musical History from 1945 through to 2000s…Watch the Closing Doors!

Watch The Closing Doors: A History of New York’s Musical Melting Pot is a six vol­ume, dou­ble CD series, by renowned jour­nal­ist and author Kris Needs. This ambi­tious project is released through­out 2011 via Year Zero (www.watchtheclosingdoors-ny.com) and it is aim­ing to cap­ture the fast-vanishing magic of New York City while doc­u­ment­ing major musi­cal land­marks and devel­op­ments, decade –by-decade from post-war New York of the mid 1940s through to 2000s.

The first vol­ume focuses on the 1940s and 50s in released on May 10th and it’s set­ting the scene for a fur­ther five sets, strad­dling the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s, each accom­pa­nied by a book con­tain­ing the rel­e­vant musi­cal and social his­tory, artist biogra­phies, illus­tra­tions and Needs’ own sto­ries and rec­ol­lec­tions of the city that once never slept. For some local per­spec­tive and occa­sional advice on inclu­sions, Needs is pes­ter­ing names he has encoun­tered dur­ing his 35 years as a writer, start­ing with Suicide’s Martin Rev.

Since time immemo­r­ial, those who visit New York for the first time have come back report­ing epipha­nies, whether that first senses-blasting glimpse of the sky­line from a yel­low cab, or the unique energy cours­ing through the team­ing streets and whichever gigs and clubs selected from the mul­ti­ple choices avail­able every night of the week. This cen­tury has seen those feel­ings increas­ingly tem­pered with a real­i­sa­tion that the funky New York of leg­end and infamy is van­ish­ing as Times Square turns into Disneyland and once no-go Lower East Side streets become safe to nav­i­gate through the next trendy bar or café. The Downtown spirit which fired up so much great music has been smoth­ered by sky-high rents, Mayor Giuliani’s ‘zero tol­er­ance’ crime blitz and clos­ing of long-running venues such as CBGBs. August Darnell, one of New York’s most cel­e­brated exports in his Kid Creole per­sona, says he cries when he goes back to the city where he grew up. “New York has changed so dras­ti­cally. The thing that both­ers me most is the melt­ing pot aspect is gone. Manhattan has become an island for the very wealthy.”

One of the aims of the series is to doc­u­ment and cel­e­brate this lost world before it totally dis­ap­pears, give it some unity and due respect, while striv­ing to explain why the New York of the last half of the 20th cen­tury was the most excit­ing place on Earth. The build­ings and indi­vid­u­als might be dis­ap­pear­ing, but that inde­fin­able spirit which affected so many has thank­fully been cap­tured for pos­ter­ity on count­less records, stand­ing like snap­shots of a bygone age, the tip of a mighty ice­berg which will be gath­ered on these albums like an old photo album.

Like the sub­way sys­tem is the lifeblood artery of the city, we will pin­ball through neigh­bour­hoods and bor­oughs, musi­cal trends and styles, accom­pa­nied by a bit of local back­ground to con­jure some­thing of a back­drop as, quite often, the music was born out of the envi­ron­ment, whether pos­i­tive or neg­a­tive. There will also be the odd inci­dent which may prompt the age-old sigh, ‘Only in New York’.

Tracklisting

CD 1

1. DUKE ELLINGTON — Take The ‘A’ Train **
2. COZY COLE – Bad **
3. FRANKIE LYMON & TEENAGERS — Why Do Fools Fall In Love **
4. MACHITO — Mucho Mambo
5. FAYE ADAMS — Shake A Hand **
6. LOUIS ARMSTRONG — Yellow Dog Blues **
7. ALMANAC SINGERS — Talking Union **
8. HARRY BELAFONTE – Matilda **
9. CAB CALLOWAY — Minnie The Moocher **
10. DANNY TAYLOR — Coffee Daddy Blues **
11. DIZZY GILLESPIE – Manteca **
12. NINA SIMONE — Little Girl Blue **
13. FIVE SATINS — In The Still Of The Nite **
14. BILLIE HOLIDAY — Autumn In New York **
15. MILES DAVIS – Summertime **
16. CHARLES MINGUS — Goodbye Pork Pie Hat **
17. JOHN CAGE — Indeterminacy Pt 2

CD 2

1. COZY COLE –Topsy Pt 2
2. HONEYCONES — Op
3. HORACE SILVER — Señor Blues [Newport Jazz fest]
4. JOSH WHITE — Southern Exposure **
5. NEW LOST CITY RAMBLERS — How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live ** 6. DAVE VAN RONK – Duncan & Brady **
7. SONNY TERRY — Custard Pie Blues **
8. DRIFTERS — Money Honey **
9. BIG JOE TURNER — Morning Noon And Night **
10. THE EMBERS — Paradise Hill **
11. PARAGONS – Twilight **
12. BIG MAYBELLE — One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show **
13. THELONIOUS MONK — Brilliant Corners
14. RAYMOND SCOTT – Ripples **
15. ALLEN GINSBERG — Howl

Tracks marked ** also appear on 2LP format