CONGRESSIONAL RECORD— Extensions of Remarks E329 HON. JOHN CONYERS
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February 28, 2011 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E329 given proper burial at Arlington National Cem- Asked by the Slate magazine on his legacy, idence as a center for jazz and jazz fans,’’ etery. Cornelius H. Charlton was post- Ertegun responded, ‘‘I’d be happy if people Tan said. ‘‘People should be aware of the his- humously awarded our nation’s highest mili- said that I did a little bit to raise the dignity torical significance of this house and of Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun. They made a tary honor for bravery during the Korean War and recognition of the greatness of African- good place for Turkey in the hearts and He was killed in 1951 but his body was not American music.’’ minds of the black community here and in laid to rest at Arlington. In November 2008, On Friday, February 4th, in acknowledge- the music community around the United Arch, along with members of Sgt. Charlton’s ment of Black History Month, Namik Tan, the States and elsewhere.’’ family and several veterans from the Bronx Republic of Turkey’s current ambassador to The Ertegun boys were already hard-core VA, oversaw the reinterring of Sgt. Charlton’s the United States, announced a series of six swing buffs by the time their father was body into Arlington National Cemetery. As a concerts at the Turkish Ambassador’s resi- named Turkey’s ambassador to Washington result, Arch and the dedicated group who dence to highlight the unique role the Em- in 1934, when Nesuhi was 17 and Ahmet was championed this effort formed The Friends of bassy played in the promotion of jazz music 11. Charlton Garden, a Bronx-based 501(c)3 not- and racial integration and acceptance in our Upon landing in America, the young Turks for-profit organization that advocates for vet- Nation’s capitol. The first concert will be to- dived headlong into the heart of the Dis- erans affairs. Arch serves as Co-Chair of The morrow and it will feature the Orrin Evans trict’s hopping jazz scene, frequenting the Friends of Charlton Garden, and is a member Trio. Howard Theatre, a mecca of black entertain- of several other veterans groups, including ment, to hear Ellington and other favorites. As we conclude Black History month, I ‘‘I got my education in music at the How- The American Legion Mitchell-Royal Post would like to pay tribute to the contributions of ard,’’ Ahmet later declared. 1905, and the Bronx Chapter of the National the former Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Munir The Erteguns began promoting concerts, Association of Black Veterans. Ertegun and his sons Ahmet and Nesuhi too—at the Jewish Community Center, the Mr. Speaker, after so many years of helping Ertegun and to their contributions to bringing National Press Club and elsewhere—partly others, Leroy Archible has earned the grati- jazz to the world. because they so loved the music but also out tude of more people than he could possibly A STIRRING MOMENT IN JAZZ HISTORY TO of a sense of social responsibility. ‘‘You can’t know. If you were to ask him, however, Arch ECHO IN TURKISH EMBASSY imagine how segregated Washington was at that time,’’ Nesuhi told The Post in 1979, a would tell you that his proudest moments have (By J. Freedom du Lac) come as a husband to Ella, a father, and as decade before his death. ‘‘Blacks and whites The ghosts are jamming again. couldn’t sit together in most places. So we a grandfather. Arch has been the heartbeat of They’re playing that hot jazz in the Turk- so much good during his life; he is accom- put on concerts.... Jazz was our weapon ish Embassy’s old Sheridan Circle mansion, for social action.’’ plished in work; respected among peers; and just as they did in the 1930s and ’40s, when They regularly invited musicians back to brave in all things. Mr. Speaker, I ask that my the ambassador’s boys, Ahmet and Nesuhi the embassy. The typical gathering began Ertegun, were always inviting their favorite colleagues join me in paying tribute to Mr. with a meal served by servants in tuxedos. musicians over to hang and blow and thump. Leroy Richard Archible. Then came the sweetest dessert for hard-core The informal, integrated gatherings swing fans. f achieved near-mythic status—‘‘Washington’s HONORING THE EMBASSY OF TUR- most famous private jam sessions,’’ jazz ‘‘Nesuhi and I made the most out of the journalist Bill Gottlieb called them in The extra-territorial situation offered by the em- KEY AND THE ERTEGUN FAMILY bassy by inviting musicians who’d played in FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO Washington Post in 1943—and then they evaporated into history. town the night before over for Sunday JAZZ ‘‘So many people don’t know about it,’’ lunch,’’ Ahmet recalled in his 2001 book, said Namik Tan, Turkey’s current ambas- ‘‘What’d I Say: The Atlantic Story.’’ ‘‘They HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR. sador. He’s in the mansion’s second-floor all loved the idea of having lunch at an em- bassy, particularly one as well-appointed and OF MICHIGAN music parlor, envisioning Lester Young sit- ting in the wood-paneled room, coaxing in such grand surroundings as the Turkish IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES those light, airy notes out of his tenor saxo- embassy in Washington. After lunch, jam Monday, February 28, 2011 phone. Or maybe it’s Benny Carter, making sessions would inevitably develop.’’ his alto sax sing. And aren’t those the cats Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, a recent If there’s a record of the artists who vis- from Duke Ellington’s band—Johnny ited the Erteguns, the embassy hasn’t been Washington Post article examined the Em- Hodges, Harry Carney, Barney Bigard—on able to find it. Based on interviews with the bassy of Turkey’s role in promoting jazz in deck to play? brothers, Gottlieb’s columns in The Post and America. Former Turkish Ambassador Mehmet ‘‘Just try to scan back and imagine sitting photos at the Library of Congress, though, Munir Ertegun and his sons Ahmet and here and listening to those great jazz musi- the cumulative guest list probably included Nesuhi Ertegun were instrumental in raising cians play,’’ Tan said. Young, Carter, boogie-woogie pianist Meade the profile of jazz in the 1930s and 40s in the On Friday, in a nod to Black History Lux Lewis, blues giant Leadbelly, and mem- District of Columbia. Month, Tan will announce a series of six in- bers of the Count Basie and Ellington bands. While growing up in Washington, DC, vitation-only concerts at his palatial resi- You can feel it when you set foot in the dence just off Embassy Row. The first, place, said Washington jazzman and educator Ahmet Ertegun and his brother, Nesuhi, dis- March 1, will feature pianist Orrin Evans. regarded the racial barriers that divided the Davey Yarborough, who performed at the Jazz at Lincoln Center, on whose board residence in October in what Tan called ‘‘a city and the country and hosted jam sessions Ahmet Ertegun served, is curating the se- practice for the series.’’ at the Turkish Embassy. Many notable jazz ries, which Tan conceived to highlight the artists performed, including Lester Young, mansion’s past as one of Washington’s most ‘‘You feel the history coming up the exclusive—and unlikely—jazz venues. steps,’’ Yarborough said. ‘‘There’s a sense of Benny Carter, Meade Lux Lewis, Leadbelly, energy, a sense of ancestry that you get to These will be much more formal affairs and members of the Count Basie and Elling- absorb. If Lester Young played here, his spir- than the jam sessions hosted by the brothers: ton bands. On a recent visit to the Embassy, it is still here, and he might guide me Ahmet, who founded Atlantic Records and Ambassador Tan showed me a picture of Dr. through a breakthrough on my instrument— produced some of R&B’s greatest sides; and like, ‘Here, let me show you what it really Martin Luther King at the embassy with jazz Nesuhi, who ran the jazz department at At- felt like.’ ’’ musicians. lantic and produced classic records for John Later in his life, Ertegun went on to found Coltrane, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin and Ro- To Nesuhi Ertegun, watching Ellington’s Atlantic Records in 1947 as a record label for berta Flack. band jamming at the mansion ‘‘was one of gospel, jazz and R&B music with partner Herb But any jazz is notable at 1606 23rd St. NW, the biggest thrills of my life,’’ he told The Abramson. His brother eventually joined the where the Erteguns proudly flouted the con- Post in 1979. firm and created one of the most successful ventions of segregated Washington by wel- The music, he said, seemed to go over well independent labels in American history. coming black musicians through the front with others, too. ‘‘I remember once there Many renowned artists joined Atlantic door. This was done, as Ahmet Ertegun liked was an embassy party, and I was having to point out, much to the consternation of some musicians over at the same time. We Records such as Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, ‘‘outraged Southern senators,’’ who com- were really getting kind of loud, and I was LaVern Baker, the Drifters, the Coasters, plained to his father, Ambassador Mehmet worried that maybe the people outside could Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin. Other art- Munir Ertegun, about the practice. hear us. At about that time, my father ists shaped by Ertegun include John Coltrane, ‘‘I thought it would be wise to rebuild the peered in and said, ‘Can you leave the door Stevie Wonder, and Mick Jagger.