Word: fatha
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They were all there-Cab Calloway, Earl ("Fatha") Hines, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, J. J. Johnson, Gerry Mulligan and scores of others. It was not a Bourbon Street reunion of the jazz giants, nor were they stompin' at the Savoy. The man tinkling out Happy Birthday on the piano-with authority-was none other than a fellow named Dick Nixon, President of the U.S. "I've never seen the place like this," exclaimed a venerable White House butler as he distributed glasses of champagne from a silver tray. "It sure has lots of soul tonight...
They could, however, carry a tune, and rarely has so much talent worked for free and for fun. Mary Mayo and Joe Williams sang, and when Nixon and Agnew were not using it, the piano was rotated among Hank Jones, Dave Brubeck and Fatha Hines, who nearly sent its legs flying with a ripping rendition of Perdido. Best of all, perhaps, was the Duke's own improvisation of "something soft and gentle" on the name of Pat. Mrs. Nixon was enchanted...
...result, a discussion of how to save Venice from the sea might run next to a "Fatha" Hines jazz recital, which, in turn, might yield to a summary of domestic opposition to the war in Viet Nam. The propaganda "commercial" may be nothing more than a familiar American melody or a discussion between a Democrat and a Republican, to show without sermonizing that the U.S. does indeed have a two-party system. News, in accordance with listeners' habits, is still presented every 30 minutes, but a sprightly rendering of Yankee Doodle has replaced a pompous version of Columbia...
...fine, festive survey of their art. The course starts with Contrary Motion, played by Willie "The Lion" Smith, professor emeritus of the bouncing left-hand "stride" piano, which Duke Ellington gracefully imitates in his impressionistic Second Portrait of the Lion. Starting out ever so simply in Somehow, Earl "Fatha" Hines soon fills all the spaces with increasingly intricate trills and runs. Most emotionally eloquent of the lot, Mary Lou Williams plays 45° Angle and Joycie with declarative force and powerful swing...
...When we started playing, man, they forgot all about Viet Nam." It was Jazz Pianist Earl ("Fatha") Mines crooning as he and his cool, cool sextet finished up a six-week gig around Russia. After inviting them, the Soviet government did everything it could think of to mash the smash-even going so far as to cancel scheduled performances in Moscow and Leningrad. Hines and his boys found plenty of cats in the boondocks, playing to S.R.O. crowds. "Jazz is happiness," grinned Fatha. "I know the Russians don't have much to smile about, but after they heard...