Marjorie Eliot Hosts Jazz Concerts in Her Harlem Home. Here’s What You Need to Know Before You Go
Every Sunday since 1994, New Yorkers and people around the world have traveled to 555 Edgecombe Avenue Apartment #3F to enjoy two hours of live jazz music in Marjorie Eliot’s living room.
555 Edgecombe Avenue. Photographer unknown.
The 14-story building, in Harlem’s Sugar Hill neighborhood, is known as the Paul Robeson Residence, and was home to many famous black musicians and artists.
Count Basie, Bruce Langhorne, Andy Kirk, and Paul Robeson, who the building is named after, had all lived here. It was built in 1916 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1976. When it opened, the building was for whites only, but by the 1940s, the building became exclusively black.
Eliot, petite with big, wiry red hair, is a longtime Harlem resident, jazz musician, actress, playwright, and teacher. She established a children’s theater and worked with students at P.S. 128. She would make ends meet by playing piano at nursing homes, hospitals, and colleges.
In 1992, one of Eliot’s five sons, Philip, 32, died unexpectedly from kidney failure. It was a Sunday. To cope with her grief, she started playing on Sundays in his memory. She has not missed a Sunday performance since 1994—rain, snow, or shine. Over the years, she’s only received a handful of noise complaints from neighbors.
Marjorie and listeners. Photo by J. Wynona.
While jazz parlors were common in New York decades ago and usually served as a way to pay the rent, Eliot has never charged.
Eliot and a few friends set up roughly forty chairs for guests to sit in the living room, though it’s not uncommon for people to pack the hallways both inside and outside her apartment for a chance to listen to the music. Eliot handpicks musicians and readers she trusts, both old and new, and pays them out of pocket.
Halfway through the performance (there is no intermission), a donation bucket is passed around, as well as snacks and juice. Though cash donations are strongly encouraged, there is a sign on the piano with the parlor’s Venmo tag: @ParlorEntertainmentHarlem.
The living room is filled with instruments, namely a piano, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, and trumpet. The walls are adorned with newspaper clippings of writeups over the years, as well as past events, various pictures of people who‘ve attended shows, and portraits of jazz musicians. A typical Sunday performance starts with the piano played by Eliot or one of her friends. This is followed by other musicians performing, along with some poetry readings centered around black life.
Photo by J. Wynona.
Singing along, clapping, and snapping fingers is encouraged. Eliot closes out the session by giving a speech. She frequently talks about how “the people who come are the ones who really make the story. I’m just a small part of this.” She feels connected to all of her guests. Marjorie said, “They say ‘what church do you go to?’” Marjorie pointed around the room with laughter, suggesting this is her sacred place.
“This is it. I don’t ask for denominations, place of birth, none of that. We’re here in God’s space, our creator of us all. And I am so grateful to you for really blessing this and allowing us to grow and find our way to all that’s good and kind.” She then brings the rest of the musicians together and closes out with “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Eliot also has an annual two-day outdoor jazz concert in August at the Morris-Jumel Mansion - Jazz at The Mansion, which is the oldest building in Manhattan and across the street from her Edgecombe location. This year, they will take place on August 22 and 23.
