Getting the news and "Take the A-train"

We remember Duke Ellington who was born in 1899 in Washington, D.C.  He became one of the legendary jazz figures of music history.  Ellington died in 1974.

In the early 1960s, my family was in Cuba and struggling to get honest information about everything.  We would often hear the news from the Spanish and English editions of The Voice of America.  

For example, my parents listened to President Kennedy’s Missile Crisis speech and later his funeral over the shortwave radio in our living room.

My father loved a VOA special jazz show hosted by Willis Conover.   The show’s theme music was Duke Ellington’s  “Take the A-train” and it quickly became a hymn of freedom for millions around the world.

Every night, the opening notes of that wonderful song went over the short wave signals heard in Moscow, Prague, and down in Cuba.  

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How Duke Ellington crashed the Iron Curtain

In the early 1960s, my family was in Cuba.  We would often hear the news from the Spanish and English editions of The Voice of America.  

I don’t think most Americans ever understood just how significant the VOA was.  It was the only source of clean news in Spanish or English.  For example, my parents listened to President Kennedy’s Missile Crisis speech and later his funeral over the radio.

Duke Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington, D.C.  He became one of the legendary jazz figures of music history.

In the communist world, his version of “Take the A-train” was the closest to a hymn of freedom.

Every night, the opening notes of that wonderful song went over the short wave signals heard in Moscow, in Prague, and down in Cuba.  It was Willis Conover and his jazz show:

For more than 40 years, Willis Conover’s long-running “Jazz Hour” introduced millions of people in Europe and the former Soviet Union to American jazz. 

He produced jazz concerts at the White House, the Newport Jazz Festival, and for movies and television.  He was the voice of jazz around the world. 

Back here, few people knew Conover.  Over the Berlin Wall, beyond the Iron Curtain, and elsewhere, his voice and those jazz tunes brought U.S. music to people hungry for a little freedom.

So we remember Duke Ellington one more time.  He was one of the best.  I cannot help but remember listening to “Take the A-train” and all that jazz in Cuba.  

As my father said many years later, Conover brought down communism all by himself.  Probably not, but he did bring a lot of happiness and Duke Ellington to a lot of people.

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Everything about President Lincoln reminds me of my great uncle in Cuba

We grew up listening to stories about President Lincoln. My father’s uncle, or Tio Joaquin, loved to talk about the 16th president. He’d impress my brother and I by reciting The Gettysburg Address in English.

Tio Joaquin never left Cuba and died in the 1980’s. I will always remember him for all of those Lincoln stories that he used to tell us.

One of those stories was the assasination of President Lincoln on this day in 1865.

On Friday, April 14, 1865, President and Mrs. Lincoln, accompanied by Clara Harris and Major Henry R. Rathbone, entered Ford’s Theatre for the performance of “Our American Cousin” featuring Laura Keene.   It was a popular comedy of its time.   By all accounts, the President was in good spirits and ready for a night of relaxation.

Otto Eisenschiml wrote that the shots were fired at around 10:15 pm.  (In the Shadow of Lincoln’s Death (New York: Funk, 1940),

Shortly after, the wounded President was moved across the street to the house of William Petersen at 453 10th St. NW.    He was placed in a small room at the rear of hall on the first floor.

Mrs. Lincoln and the surgeons stayed with the President all night.    VP  Johnson dropped in for a visit around 2 am.

Dr. Charles S. Taft observed that the President stopped breathing “at 7:21 and 55 seconds in the morning of April 15th, and 7:22 and 10 seconds his pulse ceased to beat.”  (Eisenschiml)

After some silence, Secretary .Stanton said:   “Now he belongs to the ages“.

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We remember Bobby Doerr (1918-2017)

We remember Bobby Doerr, who was born in Los Angeles on this day in 1918.    He died in 2017.

Bobby broke with Boston in 1937 and became their second baseman for the next 15 years.   He did miss one year for military service in World War II.

Overall, he hit .288 with 223 HR & 1,247 RBI plus 2.042 hits in 1,867 games.   

Ted Williams called him "the silent captain of the Red Sox".    In other words, he let his bat and play on the field do the talking.   

In 1986, Bobby Doerr and Ernie Lombardi were named to the Hall of Fame by the special veterans committee.   Two years later, the Red Sox retired Bobby's uniform number, #1.

You can read about Bobby and his teammates in "Summer of '49" by David Halberstam.

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