All That Jazz (at the Turkish Embassy) | Talking Points Memo

Unbelievable history. 

Two Turkish Muslims work for a Jewish man and bridge America's racial divide through music.

All That Jazz (at the Turkish Embassy) | Talking Points Memo.

"As teenagers, both Ertegun boys had a passion for jazz music and became friends with many of the city's musicians," Ambassador Tan said. "In fact, just around the corner [from the Howard Theatre], Ahmet and his brother worked at a store, 'Waxi Maxi' with Max Silverman, the owner. It was out of this store that Ahmet began selling albums from his collection of thousands of jazz and blues records. When they closed the shop for the night, Ahmet and Max would go around the corner to the Howard to take in the late show and listen to all of the great jazz, blues, and rock 'n' roll greats of their time, like Duke Ellington and Lena Horne. "At that time, in segregated Washington, African-American musicians were limited in where they could play their music," the Ambassador added. "So the Ertegun brothers would invite them to the Ambassador's Residence for jam sessions."

Comments

[Tony at WBKM.org]

I love Ahmet. What he did for American music, for world music, can never be overstated. A Muslim who worked with Jews to bring the gospel, soul blues and jazz music of the Blacks to White kids....is that just too cool or what...he really deserves being awarded a posthumous Nobel.