You Can Listen To Poetry And Jazz At Langston Hughes' Old Harlem Home

HARLEM, NY — A night of poetry and jazz will take place Friday at the Langston Hughes House in Harlem, where the legendary poet lived out the final two decades of his life.

The Summer Jazz & Poetry Soiree will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the poet's old home at 20 E. 127th St.

The fiery vocalist Maya Cunningham and the All Africa Band featuring Yahaya Kabore will perform jazz, and Felicia Cade and Robert Gibbons will read poems.

"In the tradition of the culture salons of the Harlem Renaissance, Maya Cunningham will draw on the poetic themes of Langston Hughes and her namesake, Maya Angelou, as artistic father and mother to present a musical dialogue of Black liberation, love and narratives of nation," reads a description of the event.

Hughes, one of the foremost figures of the Harlem Renaissance, lived on the top floor of the brownstone on East 127th St.

The building was originally constructed in 1869.

A street sign on the corner of 127th Street reads Langston Hughes Place, and there is also a plaque on the front of the building commemorating the legendary poet.

"Had I been a rich young man," Hughes wrote in a 1963 essay about his instant love of Harlem. "I would have bought a house in Harlem and built musical steps up the front door, and installed chimes that at the press of a button played Ellington tunes."

Tickets to the Friday performance cost $34, and you can find out more — HERE.