Harlem Musicians

The purpose of art in the 1930s, Elizabeth Olds said, was to record “the vital and significant” in life. She found this brass band in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, which she described as “a bevy of activity in the afternoons and evenings.” Some musicians are packed close together and some more widely spaced, as if mirroring the flow of music. The players’ legs form rhythmic curves, suggesting another connection to the music.