The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Cities that hit the high notes
From the jazz clubs of New Orleans to the dance halls of Havana and the arias of Milan, music is the soundtrack to our travels. Chris Leadbeater suggests where to tune in
For all the perils of the past 10 months, music has been a great constant – the firm friend who has stayed with us, providing solace with inspiring songs and favourite tracks; a consolatory sound-track to tough times that is never inaudible, however hard the wind is howling outside the door.
It will be that way when normality returns, for it is almost impossible to travel and not encounter the sounds and rhythms that help define a destination. Indeed, the planet is dotted with cities that dance to, delight in and listen to their own particular musical style – whether in a beachfront bar, a gleaming club or a noble opera house.
Here, we take a look at 25 of them, both as a reminder of the fabulous artists and creative geniuses who have come before – and as an encouragement to take holidays and make journeys in future times. Because if troubled days need a soundtrack, a happier aftermath will certainly demand it.
NEW YORK
Where to start with the Big Apple’s contribution to music? The soul and gospel that has spilt from Harlem for over a century? The ghostly tones of Charlie Parker’s saxophone, which poured from the same district? The Greenwich Village folk scene into which Bob Dylan slipped in 1961? The punk scene that crystallised around CBGB in the East Village during the late 1970s, just as disco was glitter-balling at Studio 54? Any of it. All of it.
Key location: The Apollo Theater (apollotheater.org) in Harlem, where Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet has squealed and the voices of Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding have soared.
Essential track: Blondie: Heart of Glass (1979).
How to do it: A week’s break to the four-star James New York, flying from Heathrow on Aug 21, starts at £698 per person via British Airways Holidays (0344 493 0787; ba.com/holidays).
LOS ANGELES
Forget the broad smiles and easy harmonies served up by the Beach Boys. The music created in Los Angeles has long been soaked in attitude, from the hard hip-hop of NWA’s groundbreaking 1988 album Straight Outta Compton to the unabashed overtones of urban sleaze that shape plenty of the tracks by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns N’ Roses, and the later segments of The Doors’ catalogue. Think less Surf ’s Up, more Wild West (Coast).
Key location: The Rainbow Bar & Grill (rainbowbarandgrill.com), the Sunset Strip hotspot where most of the city’s significant bands have lived, loved, laughed and loitered.
Essential track: NWA: Express Yourself (1989).
How to do it: A seven-night dash to the four-star Grafton On Sunset, flying from Heathrow on July 3, starts at £1,048pp with Virgin Holidays (0344 472 9646; virginholidays.co.uk).
DETROIT
Michigan’s biggest city gave us Madonna, Iggy Pop, Jack White and Eminem. But for anyone with soul, Detroit will always be Motown. The record label that rose on West Grand Boulevard in 1959 was as potent a music factory as the planet has seen, making stars of Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and a vast constellation of talent.
Key location:
The original offices and recording facilities, including Studio A, where so much magic was committed to tape (motownmuseum.org). Essential track: Marvin Gaye: I Heard it Through the Grapevine (1968). How to do it: America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit. com) offers a 16-day Great Lakes Fly-Drive that visits Detroit. From £1,553 per person, including flights.
The Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle salutes the city’s stars
Miami, with its party ambience, embraces electronic dance music
MEMPHIS
Elvis Presley casts a long shadow over the Tennessee city where he had his mansion (graceland.com). But it is a world-wearier genre that has washed through its centre since the 1910s, when the Memphis blues were born. Beale Street may be a bright bar zone now, but in the likes of BB King’s Blues Club (bbkings.com) it retains its soul.
Key locations: Memphis Music Hall of Fame (memphismusichalloffame.com) covers the city’s story in detail; Sun Studio (sunstudio.com) has produced some of its finest records.
Essential track: BB King: Lucille (1968). How to do it: Trafalgar (0800 533
5619; trafalgar.com) offers a 10-day Tastes and Sounds of the South group tour, from £2,472pp; flights extra. This includes two nights in Memphis.
NASHVILLE
Tennessee’s capital is a musical cauldron that was due to add to its attractions this month with the National Museum of African-American Music (nmaam.org). But it remains the centrepoint of the cowboy-hatted genre – as its colossal Country Music Hall of Fame (countrymusichalloffame.org) shows.
Key location: The Grand Ole Opry (opry.com) has hosted the likes of Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks and Keith Urban.
Track: Dolly Parton: Jolene (1973).
How to do it: The 10-day Bluegrass and Bourbon Trail road trip offered by Hayes & Jarvis (020 8106 2403; hayesandjarvis.co.uk) ends in Nashville. From £1,999 per person, with flights.
NEW ORLEANS
For all the mayhem of Mardi Gras, the Big Easy’s greatest contribution to culture is the skittering beats and quirky time signatures that sprouted in its African-American community at the start of the 20th century. Jazz bloomed in the city to such an extent that its airport is now named after one of its foremost exponents – local boy Louis Armstrong.
Key location: Dating to 1961, Preservation Hall (preservationhall.com) is the flame keeper of French Quarter jazz. Essential track: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five: Heebie Jeebies (1926).
How to do it: The last three days of the eight-night Southern Gold group tour offered by Luxury Gold (0800 206 1468; luxurygold.com) are in New Orleans. From £3,680 per person, flights extra.
SEATTLE
Washington was never comfortable with the fame it achieved in 1991 as the epicentre of grunge, and has slipped back into its role as an arty outsider – all noisy bars, coffee shops, galleries, thrift stores – at the north-west corner of the US. Of course, it was this vibe that made it a proving ground for Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam in the first place.
Key location: The Museum of Pop Culture (mopop.org), which salutes the city’s 1990s stars and Jimi Hendrix, its original (and greatest) guitar-slinger. Essential track: Nirvana: Come as You Are (1992).
How to do it: The 12-night Great Pacific Northwest road trip offered by Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage.co. uk) spends two days in Seattle. From £2,125 per person, with flights.
The Florida city is not alone in embracing “EDM”. But in the party ambience of its beaches, and the clubs where visitors flock, it is a loyal ally of the flash “electronic dance music” that has become one of the most dominant genres of the 21st century. Its Ultra Music Festival – usually every March (ultramusicfestival.com) – pulls in 200,000 revellers.
Key location:
MIAMI
Liv, the nightclub (livnightclub.com) at the Fontainebleau. Essential track: David Guetta & Morten: Kill Me Slow (2020).
How to do it: A seven-night getaway to the five-star Fontainebleau, departing from Heathrow on Aug 7, costs from £1,535 per person through Tui (020 3451 2688; tui.co.uk).