29-05-2012, 11:25 PM
Speaking of JFK and jazz, I was told the following story by Billy Eckstine in the green room at a VERY long ago Songwriters' Hall of Fame dinner.
It seems that Eckstine, known in black communities during the '40s and '50s as "the sepia Sinatra," was helping to coordinate Chicago events for the 1960 Kennedy campaign. Just before a gala jazz benefit, he was introduced to the candidate. Upon taking Eckstine's hand, JFK asked, "How's Dexter Gordon? Dexter is my favorite tenor player."
The point?
Use of the term "tenor player" -- as opposed to "tenor saxophonist" or "tenor saxophone player" -- is to be expected from a true jazz fan -- as opposed to a rehearsed politician or other form of dilettante.
For you, Mr. President, from my heart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIiLJ0PEz...re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A5vDrEAqdk
It seems that Eckstine, known in black communities during the '40s and '50s as "the sepia Sinatra," was helping to coordinate Chicago events for the 1960 Kennedy campaign. Just before a gala jazz benefit, he was introduced to the candidate. Upon taking Eckstine's hand, JFK asked, "How's Dexter Gordon? Dexter is my favorite tenor player."
The point?
Use of the term "tenor player" -- as opposed to "tenor saxophonist" or "tenor saxophone player" -- is to be expected from a true jazz fan -- as opposed to a rehearsed politician or other form of dilettante.
For you, Mr. President, from my heart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIiLJ0PEz...re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A5vDrEAqdk
Charles Drago
Co-Founder, Deep Politics Forum
If an individual, through either his own volition or events over which he had no control, found himself taking up residence in a country undefined by flags or physical borders, he could be assured of one immediate and abiding consequence: He was on his own, and solitude and loneliness would probably be his companions unto the grave.
-- James Lee Burke, Rain Gods
You can't blame the innocent, they are always guiltless. All you can do is control them or eliminate them. Innocence is a kind of insanity.
-- Graham Greene
Co-Founder, Deep Politics Forum
If an individual, through either his own volition or events over which he had no control, found himself taking up residence in a country undefined by flags or physical borders, he could be assured of one immediate and abiding consequence: He was on his own, and solitude and loneliness would probably be his companions unto the grave.
-- James Lee Burke, Rain Gods
You can't blame the innocent, they are always guiltless. All you can do is control them or eliminate them. Innocence is a kind of insanity.
-- Graham Greene