Harlem Nocturne

Part 1

If you were looking for Harlem Red, you'd best try the Tresspass. Granted, it was a bit of a seedy place, a small-time bootleg bar only, no big deal. Full of smells that aged badly and yet kept lingering. Of course, when she walked in, Harlem had been playing the bass. You'd be hard pressed to find him doing anything else, anywhere else. Not just because the Tresspass was only one of few places to allow him in. No, despite its rancid ambiance and all, Harlem felt right at home there. When the booze was banned, there were girls, when the girls were banned, there was booze and all along there was music, sweet music and Harlem had been a part of all that. In fact, there had been times when him and his Sing-Sing quartet had downright smoked the place.