We didn’t arrive in New York City Until 1983, giving rise to the saying “I’m not from here, but I got here as quick as I could.”
In 1983 New York was still grimy and worn down. Years of mismanagement and underfunding had left whole neighborhoods in a state of decay. For a short period, we had a company rented loft apartment in an old 8-story brick building near 3rd and Bowery in Greenwich Village. If you squinted, you could see the World Trade Center through one of the loading bay doors.
The “Village” still hadn’t started to gentrify. It was close enough to the financial district, and far enough away from Times Square to present a form of normality. It was though, too close what by then had become skid row for a newly married couple from the ‘burbs with a new born baby.
We moved east to Forest Hills, Queens; then east again to Huntingdon; then I took a basement apartment in Fort Salonga, and finally the only option to keep moving east, was to move back to the UK. I arrived back in London, age 29, in the fall of 1986.
Fast forward 40-years, and the last trip we were scheduled to make before Covid-19 would strike, was back to New York City for spring break 2020. It never happened. Out of an abundance of caution we cancelled a month before. As well as some of the usual sightseeing destinations, I had a list of addresses that were associated with Creed Taylor Inc. and some of the lesser known, but great jazz clubs. I had planned to visit and take pictures. Maybe next year, or maybe I’ll turn it into a google maps tour.
In the meantime, enjoy this CTI mix of less well known tracks recorded on the CTI label, with city sounds to segue between the tracks! Instead of getting hung up on definitions, let’s just call this “night pop”. Feel good music for anytime, that you can also dance to.
Track list
| Fuse One | Grand Prix |
| Patti Austin | Body Language |
| Fuse One | Silk |
| Seawind | Wings Of Love |
| Hubert Laws | Midnight At The Oasis |
| Seawind | He Loves You |
| Antonio Carlos Jobim | Tereza My Love |
| Freddie Hubbard | Red Clay |
| Nina Simone | That’s All I Want From You |
This is great – thanks! I think we have a similar relationship to NYC
I’ve lived there twice since then. In the early 2000’s on east yqnd street between Lexington and Madison Ave. And then between 2004 and 2006 up in White Plains in the One City Center tower… I’m much more Prepared for it now.