Harlem.org: Jazz History at the Click of a Mouse

Last week, my lady Lisa sent me a link to a very cool website called harlem.org, which invites viewers to “explore jazz history through one photograph.”

Now, the photo in question, taken by Esquire camera man Art Kane, is one I had seen before, and is in fact quite famous. Featuring a veritable who’s who of jazz history, all gathered together on the steps and sidewalk outside an apartment in Harlem, the picture is utterly remarkable. Count Basie, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzie Gillespie, Marian McPartland, Milt Hinton, Mary Lou Williams, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins, Maxine Sullivan, Stuff Smith, Oscar Pettiford…all there, along with many others, fifty-seven in all. The patriarchs and the young lions, side by side.

Still more amazing, however, is how harlem.org has utilized this photo to give you quick, biographical insights into everyone who appears in it. Just mouse over the photo to a general area of interest, click, and that section of the photo is enlarged. Now mouse one by one over the musicians in the enlargement and their names appear in a pop-up balloon. And here’s where it gets good: when you click on a particular musician, a larger window pops up containing a photo and information about him or her.

What I’ve described is just a thumbnail sketch of what the site has to offer. If you’re at all interested in the history of jazz, this website is a must. It’s worth visiting just to see the photo alone, but I promise you, you’ll find much more of value besides.

Lake Michigan Ice Formations

Ice Formations Along the Coastline

Ice Formations Along the Coastline

These past few days have been busy ones, but yesterday I took time to head out to Lake Michigan with my friend and fellow storm chaser Kurt Hulst to photograph the ice formations. They’re spectacular. If you’ve never heard of them, let alone seen them, I can assure you that you’re missing something. Ice forms all along the Great Lakes shores, but I have a hunch that the formations along the west coast of Lake Michigan are particularly scenic for the same reason that the sand dunes are: they’re a product of the prevailing winds that blow across the lake, whipping waves and spray across vast stretches to create, layer by layer, fantastic frozen sculptures of  ice, sand, and snow. A more austere landscape you can’t hope to find this side of the Arctic Circle–otherworldly, almost alien in its frigid beauty.

I’m not going to write much about the ice formations here because I want to save my creative juices for my next installment on the WaterlandLiving blog this Friday. But I am going to share a few images to give you a taste of one of the upsides of winter in Michigan. And be sure to check out Kurt’s site, too; he’s a great photographer, and I’m sure he’ll have some very cool (pun totally intended) shots of his own on display.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse

Lighthouse, Holland State Park

Lighthouse, Holland State Park

Kurt Out On the Ice

Kurt Out On the Ice

Crack in the Ice

Crack in the Ice

Lake Ice

Lake Ice