Kris Needs’ watches the closing doors

Journalist and author Kris Needs is about to release the first in a series of compilations documenting New York’s underground music history from 1945 right up to the present day – Watch The Closing Doors.

New York’s pervasive influence on modern music – both underground and overground should not need explaining – hip-hop, house and disco are all indelibly linked to America biggest melting pot, but Needs’ in-depth assessment differs in that it begins much further back, starting with the music of Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington – names your grandparents will be familiar with, but in their day were just as cutting edge as Larry Levan or The Wu Tang Clan.

Volume One – 1945-59 will be the first of six collections in the series – all coming on double CDs with an extensive set of sleeve notes that could almost be a mini-book.

Watch the Closing Doors – A History of New York’s Musical Melting Pot Vol.1 1945-59 will be released via Year Zero on May 10th