Good People, Good Times

Olu Dara is not only Nas' pop, but he is one of the most exciting, scintillating and passionate jazz musicians I’ve heard in a very long time. Last Thursday I randomly (thanks to K. Good), ended up at Marcus Garvey Park where Olu was serving up some hot jams for his starring role in the City Parks free concert series. His band was rocking Harlem with their crazy congas and a horn section that rivaled the JB’s. Folks were dancing in the park and in keeping in time with the music they were doing everything from quick stepping afrobeat to slow winding calypso. I was on such a high especially when he started playing the cornet and singing Harlem Country Girl. I’m embarrassed to say that this was my first time seeing the jazz great because he is so massively talent in the old school, traditional type of way. He knows his craft well and has the chops to make everyone else want to submerge deeper into it.

On Friday I met up with Dexter Wimberly and attended his cocktail party celebrating 10 years of August Bishop-- the marketing/pr firm he founded with Barney Bishop. It was held at POP in the east Village. They have the best cosmos, actually the Sex and The City girls filmed an episode there. The folks—mostly in beauty and fashion, were laid back and friendly. Folks munched on margherita pizza, calamari and shrimp rolls while talking about The Pharcyde, Hangtags for Humanity, imported beer (Chimay vs. Guinness), and vacationing in Bermuda.

Saturday was supposed to be a day in the Bronx for me, but due to some miscommunications I ended up staying in Harlem where I ran into muMs (our favorite Poet from Oz) and Michaela, at where else—Settepani. They were both supposed to host a spoken word jam at the 120th Street Block party but it never happened so instead they hosted an outdoor table for a good three hours at the Lenox Ave. hotspot. Michaela did share that Essence is preparing for a Grand Homecoming-Show House Opening celebration on that very block in October where they have teamed up with designer Courtney Sloane to renovate and redecorate an entire brownstone. After all of the festive events which by the way are to coincide with the mag's 35th Anniverary, the 3-units within the brownstone will be awarded to three lucky individuals. I plan to make a lot of noise about this celebration of style and community and hopefully karma will bless me with a place of my very own next year when I turn 30-something!

muMs has been busy on his book, In The Realm Of Paranoia where he breaks down his theories on a multitude of thangs like why Black men wear white t-shirts. It’s deep, yo! And funny. He’s on some DuBois meets Chappelle ish. Later that night muMs and I finagled our way into getting tours of two of Harlem’s most buzzed about real estate properties—The Carriage House on 124th Street and the, um... something Gardens on 116th Street. The Carriage House was extravagant: a duplex with marble bathrooms, sub-zero’s, fireplaces and the biggest deck I’ve seen in Harlem. The Gardens complex was not as fancy but the duplexes were even more spacious with a state of the art security system and yes, outdoor decks too! I must say it was an unexpectedly good end of the week!