4. Music & Nightlife

What were the sounds of the Harlem Renaissance? Jazz and blues exploded onto the scene. People flocked to uptown venues like the Savoy Ballroom, where they could dance the Lindy Hop all night long. In this episode, we’ll learn how the music of the Renaissance was part of a larger boundary-breaking nightlife that involved gambling, speakeasies, and hole-in-the-wall clubs where people could express gender and sexuality in new ways. We’ll learn about the artists, musicians, and performers who embodied this spirit of creative experimentation and transgression—and whose work remains fresh decades later.

Learn more about the exhibition at metmuseum.org/HarlemRenaissance

Objects featured in this episode:

James Van Der Zee, [Person in a Fur-Trimmed Ensemble], 1926

Jacob Lawrence, Pool Parlor, 1942

Archibald Motley Jr. paintings: The Liar, 1936; and Picnic, 1934

Guests:

James Smalls, art historian and professor

Richard J. Powell, art historian and professor

Christian McBride, Grammy Award winning musician and composer

Original poem: Carl Phillips’s “At the Reception”

For a transcript of this episode and more information, visit metmuseum.org/HarlemIsEverywhere

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Harlem Is Everywhere is produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in collaboration with Audacy's Pineapple Street Studios.

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