17th Letter - Independent creativity since 2002 - showcasing music, design & lifestyle every Quarter
+ Rasteri Ordinary Allstars Audio Boutique
Dooinit France
“Music & Drinks in Prohibition Harlem”
akua naru Inside View
Rob Luis
Golden Era Taco & The Sharpies DAIM Seb Lester Soweto Kinch Jill Scott Issue I
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Studio & Equipment Bags designed by DJs and Musicians www.nambagear.com
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Issue I
CONTENTS XVII - The interactive eMag for Independent Creativity, Music, Culture, Art and Lifestyle around the world. Founded in Scotland 2012
Founded by 17thLetter Boutique Music Network info@17thletter.co.uk
Edited & CURATED by Matthew Quest, Hugo Abisset & Colin Austin
Contributors & Thanks Akua Naru, Rob Luis, Stevie Kearney, Rasteri, Hasta, Chris J. Collins, Adrian Gomes, Ruth Robinson, Dave Grinnell, Judith Zeegelaar, Daniel Johnson, Wayan Zoey, Shogun Agency, Furious Enterprise, Jake Messing, Daniel McAvoy, Charles Songue & Woody Moran.
Designed & Published by
17th Letter - www.17thletter.co.uk Maverick & Co. - www.maverickandco.com
Maverick & Co.
This issue was bought to you by the colour Cyan joined by fonts - Trajan, Helvetica Neue, Blackout 2AM, Calluna, Code, Ostrich, Bebas, and of course, the number 17.
Tings!
6
Dooinit France
9
Golden-Era
10
Rob Luis
14
Akua Naru
16
Audio Boutique
20
Taco & The Sharpies
22
Ordinary Allstars
24
Reviews / Spotlight
26
DAIM
30
Harlem & Prohibition
32
Seb Lester
36
Cover Image Akua Naru
Disclaimer All works, trademarks, logos, photography, design and branding featured remains copyright original owner or creator where applicable. No aspect of this digital publication may reproduced, printed or copied without seeking prior permission. We endorse every word, every product and all opinions of guest journalists and featured content within. www.17thletter.co.uk / info@17thletter.co.uk
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Welcome to the inaugural issue of XVII. In the first of our quarterly publications we are honoured to be joined by a host friends and fine artists, industry luminaries and contributors who have helped to make this project possible.
From Germany - Akua Naru, Rob Luis from legendary Brighton label Tru-Thoughts, and from France Dooinit Music. We also visit Harlem, NY in the 1920s with drinksmith Adrian Gomes to look at the traditions linking music, venues and alcohol, whilst Dj Rasteri takes us on a history lesson with an in depth look at Golden Era. All this along with a whole host of other great features.
Environment can be a powerful comoditiy, as harnessed within the image above from Motown, in a priceless fly-on-the-wall moment with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
and emotive truths will always be a constant in quality music the environments today are very different from these rare and fascinating glimpses into the past. The digital environment is fast altering the whole music business landscape, over the last two decades every rule set down in the proceeding century has been broken in a fraction. Many of the big names are no longer with us, and more and more independents collobarate and self-publish their own music and creativity in all corners of the world, further negating the requirement for firms so large - they loose sight of any feeling. We proudly present our quarterly alternative antidote, a platform for international, independent music, creative community, culture and lifestyle. Get in touch and let us know what you think. Peace
- MQ
And though a lot of spiritual, political
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Overleaf > Shogun Agency Amy Winehouse (Sept 1983 – Jul 2011)
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Eames Lounge Always wanted one of these. This chair and ottoman set is an undeniable classic. Designed over years and first released in 1956 by Charles and Ray Eames for the Herman Miller furniture company. Beware of fakes. www.eamesoffice.com
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Tagur - AKA Blank We have gone on about these for years. And, they are still one of the freshest sneakers around. With so many companies producing second-rate, generic designs, just grab a pair of these and get busy y'all. The company also crowd-source, actively inviting customers to design new ranges. www.tagur.com
Arturia - MiniBrute Recently announced at the January 2012 NAMM Show in Los Angeles, USA – MiniBrute is Arturia’s new analog synthesizer. With a pure analog signal path and several innovative features, it sets a new standard for what a hardware synthesizer should be. We are definatley adding one to the studio shopping list. www.arturia.com
more tings next issue... If you have a product you would like us to feature or review send links / press release to info@17thletter.co.uk
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great presentation, marketing and track record, this independent collective are surely bound to continue onwards and upwards, exporting the kind of music and lifestyle we always like to see more of around the world.
Dooinit was established in
Rennes 2007. Created as a French based alternative to the “sad-image” of commercial Hip Hop today. As they say themselves...“the label is the fruits of a long reflection” - Dooinit opted for the “homemade” approach, and with acheivements to date, their three person team has racked up a healthy CV.
-MQ dooinitmusic.com vimeo.com/dooinitmusic twitter.com/dooinitmusic twitter.com/dooinitfestival
Whilst the label itself is still growing with one principle artist on the roster, J-Zen, the booking and events aspect is clearly flourishing. Having established the Dooinit Festival this trio have already booked the likes of Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ali Shaheed from Tribe Called Quest, Oddisee, Lords of the Underground, Eric Lau and many others. With an ethic that resonates very well here at 17th Letter HQ, with XVII - Q1 / Feb 2012 - 9
With a new release on the way harkng back to the true-skool days, Turntablist and Beatmaker, DJ Rasteri takes us through his thoughts and a little history on the age of Golden Era...
It is often said that golden era of Hip Hop began with the 1986 release of Run-D.M.C’s Raising Hell, largely because of its huge commercial success. While the album was undoubtedly influential in introducing Hip Hop to a mainstream audience, to define an entire stylistic movement on record sales is to miss the point entirely. Raising Hell wasn’t particuarly different from Run-D.M.C’s earlier work - and LL Cool J had pushed the same sound further six months before that with his debut album Radio. The stylistic shift that most people associate with golden era Hip Hop can be defined by two things. Firstly, lyrics with more rhythmic and philosophical complexity became the norm, as the civil rights movements of the 60s and 70s stalled and the growing social and economic disenfranchisement of african-american people became increasingly apparent.
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Secondly, the production style of Hip Hop beats moved away from drum machines and towards sampling breaks from old funk records. Marley Marl may have been the first to realise the full potential of this approach in 1985 with his production on MC Shan’s “The Bridge”, using a cut up version of the break from The Honeydrippers’ Impeach the President. Marl initially hacked together his own sampler/sequencer using three Korg SDD-2000 digital delay units and a Roland TR-808, but the technology to slice and rearrange breaks only really became accessible after E-mu Systems released the iconic SP-12 sampler in 1985. The machine was quickly adopted by virtually every producer in New York and began to give Hip Hop a more natural, dynamic flavour. Other than Raising Hell, several key records were released in 1986 such as Boogie Down Productions’ “South Bronx” and Eric B & Rakim’s “Eric B is President”. Breakbeat Lou’s first “Ultimate Breaks and Beats” compilation also appeared in this year, which would become directly responsible for establishing many of Hip Hop’s canonical breaks. 1987 saw groundbreaking albums by Public Enemy and the aforementioned BDP and Eric B & Rakim, but it wasn’t until 1988 that the movement kicked off proper and record companies began to accept that Hip Hop was going through a renaissance. Two 1988 albums that deserve special mention, and not just because of their similar titles, are The Jungle Brothers’ “Straight out the jungle”, and NWA’s “Straight outta Compton”. The differences between these two albums symbolise the split that was about to define Hip Hop for over a decade - on one hand, we have a loose jazzy record with uplifting positive lyrics, and on the other we have the impeccably produced and relentlessly articulated Compton. It also rather undermines the argument that Gangsta rap killed the golden age, since one of the most influential albums of the time was in this very style. Continued on page 13...
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SCOTLAND, UK WWW.THEJAZZBAR.CO.UK
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Next, 1989 and 1990 saw the continuation of the Jungle Brothers’ style with debut releases by De la Soul, Gang Starr, and A Tribe Called Quest. Using samples from Jazz and Soul records instead of Funk and Rock, this so called “alternative Hip Hop” - while initially commercially successful - was quickly displaced in record sales in favour of the growing Gangsta Rap genre. Releases by several west-coast artists, many of them former NWA members, began to define Hip Hop’s image on radio and TV. The artists at the forefront of this movement did not however change the production style significantly, with many west-coast artists such as Ice Cube choosing to work with classic east-coast producers such as the Bomb Squad. Dr. Dre had experimented with the style that was to become G-funk with NWA’s 1991 single Alwayz Into Somethin, which contains many of the G-funk archetypes - slower tempo, a funky bassline, and an ever-present high-pitched synthesizer whine. Dre later expanded these ideas when he released Deep Cover, his first solo single after NWA’s breakup in 1992. This new sound would come to define mainstream hiphop for a decade, and signalled the real beginning of the end for the golden era. While alternative hiphop was evolving in leaps and bounds with follow-up albums by various Native Tongues members as well as similar acts like Pharcyde, the lack of commercial success compared to their west-coast counter-
parts hinted that something was about to change. The often-cited end of the golden era is the release of Dr. Dre's The Chronic later in 1992, but many golden era groups continued to release albums to much critical acclaim for much of the 90s. Newer artists such as Nas and Biggie began to work with long established beatmakers like DJ Premier, keeping many aspects of the golden era sound while updating the production values and rhyming style. [an ethic many artists still continue evolving today - Ed] -Rasteri
Rasteri is a producer and turntablist, blending classic Jazz-inspired beats with modern scratch techniques. Heavily influenced by golden era groups but with no unnecessary nostalgia to hold him back, he is sure to engage the discerning heads. His debut release ‘Soul before Style’ is due to drop in Summer soundcloud.com/rasteri
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Rob Luis After surpassing the milestone of a decade in the industry in 2009, Rob Luis has made an enviable list of contributions to the UK music scene and wider industry. The Tru-Thoughts moniker has bought countless future-classics to the masses and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. We chat shop and ask about the secrets that lie behind label success in our regular feature Inside View. www.tru-thoughts.com
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What is the greatest challenge you continue to face as a record label and how do you combat it? A culture of “free� music is still hard for us to deal with. The Quantic & Alice Russell album was not free to record. We paid for some great musicians to work on this album (real strings and string players do not come cheap). So educating people to understand that buying music (if you can afford to) really does
support the artists you like. I also find the BBC national radio stations frustrating that they tend to only support major labels on their daytime playlist. There is plenty of music out there that mainstream listeners would enjoy if they got to hear it 40 times a week on the radio. Overall though I think it is a good time for independent music. Creative artists are really seperating from the mainstream and music is much better for that. -RL
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“Its Hip Hop that pays respect to the great musical tradition that gave birth to Hip Hop.� Originaly from Philladelphia and now based in Germany, akua naru grants us an exclusive UK interview talking about music, inspirations, new projects and peppermint tea ........................................ 16 - Q1 / Feb 2012 - XVII
For those that haven’t yet heard your music, please briefly define your style..
How have your travels influenced you as an artist? Is Germany home for you now?
I would say that my style is definitely Hip Hop. Its Hip Hop that pays respect to the great musical tradition that gave birth to Hip Hop. Therefore, you might hear something soulful, something jazzy, spoken word...
Every experience touches me and changes me in some way. Having the opportunity to travel has definitely impacted and changed who I am in many ways and the music is always going to be a reflection of that.
An extensive lexicon dominates your style, do you feel yourself more as a poet or a lyricist?
Germany is where I live now, so it is home. I still have the feeling of going home when I go to visit my family, though. That will never change.
I see myself as a poet. Rap is a form of poetry for me. A Lyricist and Poet are one in the same. I think this translates into my music because I am a poet and so their is a lot of poetic devices being employed. Metaphors, Similes, I try to write a lot of layers into each song. I hope my listeners can feel that.
So, what initially inspired your career in music? Everything inspired me to make music. Every person I have ever come into contact with. Every song that I have ever heard... XVII - Q1 / Feb 2012 - 17
...every hour that I spent with another Hip Hop head debating albums and lyricism. Every place that I have been to. All of these things have propelled me forward as an artist, as writer, and emcee. Tell us then about your forthcoming studio and live projects... Well, I am working on the new studio album. I can't say too much about it, but its coming along rather nicely and I am very excited about it. Also, I am working on a live ep project with my band DIGFLO, which should be out soon. I'm looking forward to that as well.
So, when your in the studio is there anything that you cant live without? Well, I am a serious peppermint tea drinker and I need to have a lot of space to write and think along with a box of Nag Champa incense. :)
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What music are you listening to just now? Im still listening to Blitz The Ambassador’s Native Sun Album, The Roots & John Legend Wake Up, Stic. Man’s The Work Out, The Roots Undun. Shout outs... Watch out for the Akua Naru Live & Aflame EP. It will be dropping pretty soon and we appreciate the support. Shout out to Matt, 17th Letter, and my true hip hop and soulful heads in Scotland and the UK. Peace. -XVII Thanks to Akua Naru and Urban Era
akua
naru
Website: www.akuanaru.com Facebook: facebook.com/akuanaru Bandcamp: akuanaru.bandcamp.com
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Audio Charts We asked some of the guests in this issue for a Top 5 chart to feature in our Audio Boutique section. With a fantastc and varied collection we have everything from current to classic, singles to albums. Rob Luis from Tru Thoughts Records breaks down his selection whilst Akua Naru and Hasta from Ordinary Allstars share their current playlists and favourite tracks... In following issues we shall enhance this with web and store links for your interactive enjoyment...
Rob Luis Dub Phizix & Skeptical feat Strategy Marka (Exit) A unique record that crosses over to lots of scenes and more importantly rocks the dancefloor and has been greeted with cheers every time I have played it out. Manchester is looking strong for 2012 a lot of good music coming out of there at the moment. DJ Format feat Mr Lif – Terror (Project Blue Book) I love raw Hip Hop like this. It is very funky and the bassline is filthy. Making minimal music sound this exciting is very difficult. Mr Lif is a quality MC too. Portico Quartet – Portico Quartet (Real World) My favourite album at the moment. Jazz with an electronic flavour. A deep listen but very rewarding.
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Hint – Crash & Burn (Remixes) (Tru Thoughts) An exciting remix package with Grime producer Darq E Freaker adding a big dancefloor sound, The Bamboos going all Ska, DJ Modest from Belleruche going abstract and Hint giving the slowed done Jungle touch. All this with Jamiaca’s finest Natalie Storm rocking the mic. Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime (Nirobi Edit) (Promo) An edit I have done that has been getting support from Todd Terje, Mr Scruff, Skream, Don Letts, Rob Da Bank and many others too. Stripped down at points but it works well. -RL
Editors Choice Thundercat
Only the finest relaeses from around the world, tastes from trend-setters, artists and bands. Look out classics you may have missed and new sounds yet to discover....
The Golden Age of Apocalypse
The Roots Undun
Soweto Kinch The New Emancipation
Mark de Clive Lowe Renegades
Peder Daylight
Akua Naru Fela Kuti Black President
Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Roots Things Fall Apart & Undun
Ordinary Allstars Jehst High Plains Anthem
Gang Starr Full Clip
The Roots The Seed
Nas
Braintax
Illmatic
Escuchame
Wyclef Guantanamera
If you would like to submit a chart, get in touch now for Issue 2. audioboutique@17thletter.co.uk Anthony Hamilton Aint Nobody Worryin’
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Stevie Kearney is a music journalist who has spent the last 5 years scouring obscure music halls and dusty street corners for the most exciting new musical talent around. He is best known for his Scotsman.com articles and has previously been based in the UK’s musical hotspots of Manchester and Edinburgh. We sent him back to Scotland’s capital to drop in on a gig at the Electric Circus, where he caught up with two emerging bands with a lot in common - The Ordinary Allstars and Taco & The Sharpies.
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Taco & The Sharpies seems to have emerge nowhere as a fully formed band. However, obviously all been involved in music project did it all come together?
With so many musicians in the band going thr would take a while! Though its fair to say, The Sharpies is the “The Sh band that we have all dreamed of getting off the ground. we have
o
Having each come from a background of Jazz, Hip Hop, Funk and Soul it was natural to combine all of those and as many instruments as possible.
We began the process last year after we met t tracks together, purely as a recording project. as set of simple tracks quickly required sessio form of bass players, strings, backing vocalist our resident brass group the BrassCat Juniors
ed from you’ve ts before, so how
It was only natural to take the band live and continue to experiment and to evolve our desired sound. As we continue to do this year.
rough a full history
What do you have planned for the next six months - more live outings, more recording, or a combination of both?
harpies is the band that e all dreamed of getting off the ground.”
e musical loves
to write a couple of What started out on expertise in the ts and input from s.
We are planning on touring more of the UK before headlining our first festival in France at the end of June. Being a bi-lingual band, we are all looking forward to this! We’ll also be recording with the full collective and getting the new tracks we have been working on into the live show too. Keep up with our music & travels on Soundcloud, Facebook and of course at 17th Letter. -SK www.soundcloud.com/tacoandthesharpies www.soundcloud.com/17thletter Stevie's two part special continues overleaf with The Ordinary Allstars...
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Ordinary Allstars Showtime ...So it was June 2009 the first time I did an article on you guys, then almost exactly a year later when I did a follow up. What has been happening with the band since then? We’ve just been doing our thing really... Certainly the last year we’ve spent really trying to nail down the EP and get it recorded the way we wanted it, so it reflects what we do in the best possible way - and we feel that we’ve managed to do that now. That may seem like a long time to do it, but life can get in the way occassionally, there’s no doubt about that. Of course we’ve still been playing a bunch of live shows too, which, apart from being fun on its own, also helps refine the sound. How has the sound changed during this time, if at all? I think the overall feel is really the same, but maybe it’s a little clearer. We’ve also done a couple of tunes with Dan Gillan, the singer on No Diggity and No Good which might give us another dimension too... Back at the beginning we were talking to a guy that had pretty much done it all in the music industry and he said of our first demo ‘although you can hear everything you want to on the record, as the writer you can fill in some gaps which a new listener might not hear’ - that resonated with us, and we’ve worked hard to make it unambiguous, what we do.
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Why an EP at this stage? Did you consider putting out an album? Do you know what, I don’t think we did even consider it. I think it’s hard for a less well known band to put out an album as it’s easy for songs to get ‘lost’ in it. There’s of course the argument that the industry is making it harder for albums as well, as our attention spans get shorter, and people buy/listen to single songs - so there’s an element of that too I guess. The EP format makes it easier to get the message across. Have you album plans for this year? I think we’ll be putting out at least one more EP before we do a full album. That should give us the chance to show off some different stuff that’s not in this one, again without diluting that with too many tracks. It’s potentially easier to make noise about 2 EPs as well, it’s all about the news cycle (apparently)! Who thought the music industry was just about music?
What’s next for the band after the EP launch? First and foremost, I guess it’s really a question of trying to get everyone to listen to it! But we’ll be playing a bunch of shows, hopefully getting out and about more geographically apart from anything else. Then simultaneously we’ll be getting right back on it and putting the next one together - we like to take our time on these things so we get them right! (Of course I’ll need to persuade Dylan to do another cover for us too what he did on this one is spectacular!) -SK
theordinaryallstars.com soundcloud.com/theordinaryallstars
“Who thought the music industry was just about music?” XVII - Q1 / Feb 2012 - 25
Jill Scott (born April 4, 1972) is an American Soul
and R&B singer / songwriter, poet, and actress. As Jill recounts, performing live at VH1 Soul before her song ‘The Way’, her story begins at Jazzy Jeff’s studio - she got a foot in the door convincing him his studio walls were in need of decoration. She quickly grabbed the attention of musicians, not for her skills with a paintbrush, but for her colourful voice. Soon after her first album ‘Who is Jill Scott’ (2000) was released - a remarkable premier which introduced the world to Jill’s messages of love, hope, soulful beats and her distinctive voice. The integrity of this album was confirmed by her numerous Grammy nominations, including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for ‘A Long Walk’ in 2002. A personal favorite of mine, this jazz inspired track transports the listener on a poetic journey of love and is especially powerful when played live. Indeed it is on the stage that Jill Scott’s talent becomes undeniable - delivering faultless and passionate vocals, often supported by the best Hip Hop and Jazz musicians around, like The Roots. Her latest offering ‘The Light of The Sun’ (2011) highlights Jill’s ability to produce hard hitting and powerful songs yet with undertones to the darker side of life and relationships. It is this personal insight into the reality of life, transcribed in tracks such as ‘Quick’, that draw the audience in and allows for a personalised appreciation. Overall, it is Jill’s soulful lyrics, proven vocal ability, paired with her distinctive Neo-Soul style that always ensure her tracks make it on to XVII’s sunday afternoon playlist. missjillscott.com -RR
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Jill Scott
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Soweto Kinch
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Reviews / Music Focus Soweto Kinch is a UK based Jazz
Alto-Saxophonist and Rapper - homegrown, original, fresh, humorous, stylish and best of all self-schooled. I first discovered Kinch’s music through a recommendation from Trombonist Dennis Rollins after a performance together. Going on a Soweto youtube journey, I came across “Good Nyooz“ from his debut album “Conversations with the Unseen“ (2003). I loved the sound, bought the album and delved further into his hybrid style of Jazz and UK Rap/Hip Hop. During his time with Dune Records and after much touring, Kinch collaborated with a host of his Jazz and Hip-Hop contemporaries to create the excellent “A Life In The Day of...”. The follow up album “B19Tales of The Tower Block‘‘ (2006), with it’s strong narrative, courtesy of Moira Stewart, and personal lyrical content, is an album that will, in my mind, stay fresh for years to come. Stylistically nothing quite comes close to challenging the niche that he continues to carve and export around the world. Although Kinch may be the driving force behind this fresh Jazz / Hip Hop style,
it is well worth checking out many of his musical colleagues, Trumpeter and vocalist Abram Wilson and the extremely talented guitarist, Femi Temowo are just two of the many. Now working under his own record label, Soweto Kinch Recordings, his
release “The New Emancipation” (2010) has continued the trend of high quality, imaginative music, pushing the boundaries of both Jazz and Hip Hop. To sum up, we at XVII love his revolutionary style, it impresses at every turn. We will leave you with an old press quote which says it nicely “It’s a clever and entertaining juxtapostion of idioms that kicks pure Jazz and authentic Rap into a brave new world.” (The Guardian) -MQ soweto-kinch.com
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Art Feature -
Daim
Mirko Reisser AKA Daim was born in
Luneburg, Germany in 1971 and began working with the spray can in 1989. When it comes to the context of clean, 3D, architectural graffiti since his alias change in 1992, Daim has been the master. As long as I have been following and interacting with this worldwide culture, around a decade, I have witnessed many who have tried to emulate, copy and straight bite his styles, none have really succeded. There are of course a few 3D artists worthy of note who have retained their originality and self style. Totem (USA) comes to mind immediately plus the likes of Insa and Astek (UK) also delve into the world of three dimensions with much original success. However, with all due respect those I have mentioned, to me, Daim remains Godfather of this domain. As the independent business and corporate possibilities continue to grow in this sector, many artists combat the need for original works by constantly changing and diversifying - a system that has clearly worked for many. Though, all that time Daim
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has focused, refined and I would go as far to say perfected the ultimate letter based spraycan graffiti art in three dimensions. He has pushed his form beyond the concrete with incredible results in various mediums, venturing into graphic / 3D design and even sculpture to make his unique brand truly tangible. We could easily spend a whole issue discussing and showing off his art but as we haven’t the space, it is fortunate then that Daim has written a few books and has lots of media and threads out now for your aesthetic enjoyment! -MQ daim.org daim-shop.com
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Recent research has suggested the level of background noise affects the intensity of flavour in foods (and drinks) with loud noises reducing the perceived sweetness or saltiness in a particular item. Drinking and music have been synonymous with one another since the invention of both. Over the next four issues of XVII we will take a look at some of the colourful periods in history that pull together two of the worlds favourite pass times. 32 - Q1 / Feb 2012 - XVII
Part 1
Harlem: A New York Odyssey Harlem is New York’s unofficial sixth borough; far removed from the pin striped bespoke shirts on Wall Street, the penthouses on 5th Avenue and the neon advertisements in Times Square. Harlem is most definitely not Manhattan; it is however New York through and through.
If I lived in New York, I’d like to say I’d live in Harlem. Realistically, I’d probably end up a Brooklynite (Williamsburg, if we were to get into specifics). Adrian Gomes from bar consultancy 10 Dollar Shake takes us on a voyage of music and drinks throughout the ages in the start of a new 4 part series...
It was music, art, literature and intellectualism that culturally defined Harlem in the 1920s and early 1930s, a period referred to as the ‘Harlem Renaissance’ and the ‘Jazz Age’. The musical enlightenment of this vibrant era can still be felt today with artists like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith and Ethyl Waters having paved the way for eight decades worth of successors. Built by African-American entrepreneurs, the Renaissance Ballroom was plugged as the first non-segregated institution of its kind and along with the Savoy Ballroom, thousands would pack into these block long dance halls to get down with the latest dance craze, Lindy Hopping and doing the Charleston to the big bands of Chick Webb, Benny Goodman and Count Bassie. Harlem was a whirlpool of hedonistic partying and vitality in the drabness that engulfed much of post World War One prohibition New York. Late night revellers, many of whom were white, were attracted by the night clubs, dance halls, speakeasies and rent parties that rolled on into the early hours. Gangsters and white socialites frequented the famous Cotton Club, Connie’s Inn and Barron’s Cabaret to experience musical luminaries like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ethel Waters and Fats Waller. While the black community was attempting to shrug off the racial stigmas built on years of persecution and repression by developing a unique artistic culture, white bootleggers and mobsters retained a degree of racial prejudice and perceived control through their unofficial white’s only policies, black entertainment and enforced colour line. XVII - Q1 / Feb 2012 - 33
Small’s Paradise had a more relaxed policy but was still marketed for white visitors. The Black performers of the Cotton Club did not mix with the white trade club clientele - instead they would hit the basement of 646 Lenox to drink corn whiskey, peach brandy, and smoke marijuana together. As stockpiled Scotch, Irish whiskey and Champagne dried up, poorer quality and often toxic bathtub gins, home brews and moonshine kept the people drinking in the Speakeasies and Rent parties. Speakeasies like Sugar Cane would supply low quality bootlegged liquor to customers doing the ‘bump and messaround’ to a three-piece Jazz band. The ‘Harlem Cocktail’ - an average blend of gin, maraschino liqueur and fruit juice - was the fuel and lust of the new Jazz Age.
Rent was expensive in Harlem, so walking through the residential areas, those in the know would be heading for one of the many Rent Parties. With an entry fee of a dime and cheap bathtub gin, rye and corn “shorties” available in makeshift bars, this was an enterprising way to cover the rent. People would dance to a pianist playing stride, stamping his feet
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and enc cocktail the flavo from the one of t Speake was a m grapefru a Bees voured juice wh Scotch, only ima that spa actually good ei
It should that ma bar-kee ending joints in Paris an ers. In t sequen revolutio pean Go ingredie local ba laying th cocktail drink is classic York Ba around
Hope yo -AG
couraging shouts. New ls were created to mask ours of the illicit liquor e imbiber. Named after the more sophisticated easies, the Colony Cocktail mix of gin, maraschino and uit juice. If you ordered Knees the Gin was flawith Honey and Lemon hile a Barbary Coast mixed , Gin and cream. You can agine the desperate time awned the last drink, it is y not too bad but not that ither!
Harlem Cocktail #2 1.5oz Martell VSOP 0.5oz Cointreau 1oz freshly-squeezed lemon juice 0.5oz Port Dash Bitter Truth - Chocolate Bitters Dash egg white Measures are in US Imperial.
Method: Dry shake to emulsify the egg, before shaking with ice and fine-straining into a chilled glass, serve.
d be duly noted, however, any of America’s finest eps in fact fled prohibition, up at hotel bars and other n cities such as Havana, nd London amongst oththese cities, they subntly starred in their own on, essentially the Euroolden Era, sharing recipes, ents and knowledge with artenders and, ultimately, he foundations for the ls of today. The following my twist on an all-time created at Harry’s New ar in Paris, first published 1922 – the Sidecar.
ou enjoyed Part 1...
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VISUAL showcase
SEB LESTER Seb Lester is a graphic designer that I have been a fan for some time now. He is known as a master of typefaces and type illustrations and with a client list that includes everyone from Apple to The New York Times, it is easy to appreciate the regard with which his skills are held. What I admire about Seb Lester is the elegance of his font design; everything from the stark to the ornate is satisfying to the eye. He obviously has diverse taste; this is evident from the contrasting calligraphic swirls of his piece “Mightier” and the bold industrial style of “Street Knowledge”. Turning words into art is no mean feat but Lester’s poetic choice of phrase combined with the beauty or brutality of his type face work so well together. From the news update on his website Seb talks frankly about the tough times he and his partner Pamela have had over 2011 with her illness and about taking time away from work to concentrate on caring. Thankfully Pamela’s condition has stabilised enough for him to spend more time with the pen in the coming year. We wish them both all of our best wishes for the future. -CA www.seblester.co.uk
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XVII is out every quarter. Issue 2 will be out in May 2012 and we hope to bring to you more of the same, whilst constantly evolving and developing our distrubution, advertising and further interactive features. We are currently on the look out for contributors with articles, interviews, designs, products or even just audio and video links we should be checking out. Wherever your based in the world, get in touch, let us know what you think, what you would like to see and what you enjoyed about this debut edition. - XVII facebook.com/17thlettermusic twitter.com/xviiletter soundcloud.com/17thletter info@17thletter.co.uk / demo@17thletter.co.uk XVII - Q1 / Feb 2012 - 39
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