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.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk). If you like our posts, drop a dime here.
