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@#19 ... Lionel Hampton ...

Speaking of Lionel Hampton and clarinets ...

Facts About Benny Goodman Even Jazz Buffs Might Not Know
themusicalheritagesociety.com

... He wasn't just the "King of Swing." Benny Goodman broke barriers, launched careers, and transformed jazz into a movement that swept across dance floors and radio waves during the 1930s and 40s.

While many remember his chart-topping hits and sharp tuxedos, there's a lot more to Goodman than most people realize.

From breaking racial boundaries to sneaking off to classical music gigs, here are some lesser-known facts that shed light on this American icon.

He Was a Pro Musician Before He Turned 14

Benny Goodman grew up in Chicago's Maxwell Street neighborhood, one of twelve children in a family of Russian Jewish immigrants. Life wasn't easy, but Goodman's clarinet playing stood out early. He joined the local musicians' union at just 13 years old and began earning money as a professional musician. Some of those early gigs included bands led by Bix Beiderbecke and Ben Pollack, giving him firsthand experience in jazz before he even reached high school.

His 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert Changed Music History

Swing music had never been played at Carnegie Hall before Benny Goodman performed there on January 16, 1938. Some critics scoffed, believing jazz didn't belong in such a prestigious venue. Goodman didn't just prove them wrong -- he blew the roof off.

Goodman Was One of the First to Integrate His Band

In the 1930s, having an integrated band was almost unheard of -- but Goodman didn't care.

He brought pianist Teddy Wilson and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton into his groups, breaking unspoken rules and helping pave the way for progress in civil rights within music.

His focus was on talent, not skin color, and that quiet rebellion resonated far beyond the bandstand. It wasn't just bold; it was a turning point. ...



Benny Goodman Sextet Rose Room (1939)
www.youtube.com

Lionel Hampton is there on the vibes. ...

Piano ...

Nat King Cole is often viewed for his vocalizations.

But he is an accomplished piano player.

A few decades ago I read that Mr Cole was a piano player for his band's gig (King Cole Trio). But the vocalist did not show up for that gig, so he was asked to take to the microphone for the gig. A career was born.

Nat King Cole
en.wikipedia.org

... Nathaniel Adams Coles ...

Cole began his career as a jazz pianist in the late 1930s, when he formed the King Cole Trio, which became the top-selling group (and the only black act) on Capitol Records in the 1940s. Cole's trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed.

Starting in 1950, he transitioned to become a solo singer billed as Nat King Cole.

Despite achieving mainstream success, Cole faced intense racial discrimination during his career. While not a major vocal public figure in the civil rights movement,

Cole was a member of his local NAACP branch and participated in the 1963 March on Washington. He regularly performed for civil rights organizations.

From 1956 to 1957, Cole hosted the NBC variety series The Nat King Cole Show, which became the first nationally broadcast television show hosted by a Black American. ...



Yeah, he can play piano ...

F.S.T. (Fine, Sweet & Tasty)
www.youtube.com



Cesar Chavez School in Yonkers could be renamed amid new sex assault allegations
abc7ny.com

... The Cesar Chavez school in Yonkers could be renamed amid new accusations of sexual abuse aimed at the famed farm union leader.

This week several women came forward with accusations of abuse and even rape.

"We recognize the power of these women who spoke out about the things that occurred to them and so we want to be intentional as we move forward, but yes, you know, all signs lead to us having to do something significant," said Yonkers Schools Superintendent Anbal Soler, Jr.

In 2018, the elementary school made history as the first in New York state named in honor of Chavez. The Yonkers school district is 63% Latino, and the name change was seen as a way to build community.

Now the Yonkers' Board of Education is now reviewing its policies regarding the naming of schools. ...


@#10 ../. Iran doesn't need to do that yet. ...

That reminds me of ...

Numbers station
en.wikipedia.org

... A numbers station is a shortwave radio station characterized by broadcasts of formatted numbers, which are believed to be addressed to intelligence officers operating in foreign countries.[1] Most identified stations use speech synthesis to vocalize numbers, although digital modes such as phase-shift keying and frequency-shift keying, as well as Morse code transmissions, are also used. Stations may operate on set schedules and frequencies in the high-frequency band, while others broadcast at irregular times.[2]

Numbers stations have been documented since at least World War I and reached peak activity during the Cold War.[3] Several espionage prosecutions have confirmed the practice: the conviction of the Cuban Five in the United States in 2001,[4][5] and the arrest of members of the Russian Illegals Program in 2010,[6] both involved the use of shortwave number broadcasts to transmit instructions to agents.[7] Messages are typically encrypted using a one-time pad, a method considered theoretically unbreakable when applied correctly.[8]

Shortwave signals can propagate over intercontinental distances by reflecting off the ionosphere, allowing a single transmitter to reach agents worldwide. The receiving agent requires only an ordinary consumer shortwave radio, possession of which carries a degree of plausible deniability. These properties, combined with independence from satellite and internet infrastructure, have led analysts to argue that numbers stations retain operational relevance even in the 21st century.[9]

Numbers stations have long been monitored by shortwave listeners, and many are known by informal nicknames based on distinctive interval signals. Hobbyist groups including ENIGMA 2000 have also developed systems for classifying identified stations.[10][11] ...


@#13

That seems to run counter to what he has said recently ...

Trump says U.S. doesn't need Strait of Hormuz
www.cbsnews.com

... 4:01 PM / March 20, 2026
Trump says U.S. doesn't need Strait of Hormuz

Asked about the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said the U.S. doesn't need the critical waterway that's used to transport oil from the Persian Gulf.

"We don't use the strait, the United States, we don't need it," he told reporters on the White House South Lawn.

"At a certain point, it'll open itself," he said of the strait. ...


@#10 ... And yet just a moment ago trump promised war crime level actions, bombing Iran's power plants, the largest first ...

So now, Pres trump seems to be going after the very Iranian citizens he had hoped would rise up and overthrow Iran's ruling regime?


Trump threatens Iran's power plants if strait not opened in 2 days
abcnews.com

... President Donald Trump said the U.S. will "hit and obliterate" Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz isn't opened within 48 hours

"If Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" Trump said in a post on his social media platform. ...



www.youtube.com

Greenwald explains the current situation quite welll

&nbsn

Then there's this ...

US military says Iran threat to Hormuz 'degraded'
www.24newshd.tv

... The US military said Saturday that Iran's ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz has been "degraded" by the bombing this week of an underground facility where it stored cruise missiles and other weaponry.

With Iran mostly closing off the Strait, the gateway for one-fifth of the world's oil, the US military has brought out some of the heaviest bombs in its arsenal to penetrate adjacent missile sites.

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said it had dropped multiple 5,000-pound bombs on a "hardened" underground facility located along Iran's coast that it used to store anti-ship cruise missiles, mobile missile launchers and other equipment.

"We not only took out the facility, but also destroyed intelligence support sites and missile radar relays that were used to monitor ship movements," Cooper said in video message posted on X.

"Iran's ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz is degraded as a result, and we will not stop pursuing these targets," he added.

CENTCOM had revealed its use of the bunker-busting bombs on Tuesday, but in his message Saturday, Cooper elaborated on their impact -- as Washington comes under growing pressure to address the repercussions of the war on Iran on oil prices and global commerce. ...



Another view ...

Three weeks in, Iran war escalates beyond Trump's control
www.reuters.com

... President Donald Trump ends the third week of the Iran war confronting a crisis that seems to be slipping out of his hands: Global energy prices are surging, the United States stands isolated from allies and more troops are preparing to deploy despite his promise the war would be only a "short excursion."

A defensive Trump called other NATO countries "cowards" for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and insisted the campaign was unfolding according to plan. But his declaration on Friday that the battle "was Militarily WON" clashed with the reality of a defiant Iran that is choking off Gulf oil and gas supplies while launching missile strikes across the region.
...



@#20 ... Sax ...

Ben Webster ...

Art Tatum - Have You Met Miss Jones? (1956)
www.youtube.com

Mr Webster's sax starts around 1:35 into the song.

Emotional.


Also in that song is Mr Tatum's great piano playing. A little more, um, flowery, than I usually like,but excellent. At a level of Teddy Wilson's piano playing.


@#16 ... Michael Murphy's 'Carolina in the Pines'...

Speaking of Michael Murphey...

Michael Martin Murphey - Wildfire (1975)
www.youtube.com

Well, there's that cool piano intro that is often cut from the shortened version the pop stations use ... :)

Lyrics excerpt ...

...
he song's story led to a lot of speculations and detractors.

Per Murphy "

The song came from deep down in my subconsciousness. My grandfather told me a story when I was a little boy about a legendary ghost horse that the Indians talked about. In 1936, author J. Frank Dobie identified this ghost horse story as the most prominent one in the lore of the Southwest.

From "cowboy singer" Michael Martin (middle name added later to his "official" title) Murphy's most successful 1975 album Blue Sky " Night Thunder

[Verse 1]
She comes down from Yellow Mountain
On a dark, flat land she rides
On a pony she named Wildfire
With a whirlwind by her side
On a cold Nebraska night

[Interlude]

[Verse 2]
Oh, they say she died one winter
When there came a killing frost
And the pony she named Wildfire
Busted down his stall
In a blizzard, she was lost

[Chorus]
She ran calling Wildfire
Calling Wildfire
Calling Wildfire

[Verse 3]
So by the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl howling outside my window now
'Bout six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go

[Chorus]
We'll be ridin' Wildfire
Ridin' Wildfire
Ridin' Wildfire

On Wildfire we're gonna ride
Gonna leave sodbustin' behind
Get the hard times right on out of our minds
Riding Wildfire
...





Some banjo ...

Béla Fleck - Magic Fingers (1992)
www.youtube.com

...
Banjo, Producer: Béla Fleck
Acoustic Guitar: Béla Fleck
Slide Guitar: Béla Fleck
...

(No lyrics, it's an instrumental ...)

Piggy's messaging continues to be bizarre.

The framing of the conflict is clarifying.

Oh and something people need to get clear in their head about the Strait of Hormuz.

To say the strait is closed really isn't accurate. The truth is that Iran controls the traffic through the strait. Ships are passing through it and reportedly paying tolls to Iran. If Iran can control who goes in and out in the long run that will be the true death of our power in that area. the gulf states would be at their mercy. And again, there is no realistic military option to prevent Iran's actions.

So, congrats not only did we not defeat Iran we left them far more powerful than before.

The effects of the war are being felt, especially in the far east. Fishermen are unable to fish due to a lack of fuel. Workers are being sent home in India for lack of power.

Piggy continues to waffle between insulting our allies and begging them for help. And he insulted the conservative Japanese PM to her face. And the bitch canceled his meeting with Xi-what was supposed to be the most important trade meeting in his term.

To keep score here, despite Piggy's pronouncements Iran is

Increasing its bombing
Answering tit-for-tat on strategic bombing-oil infrastructure, nuclear facilities
Pounding Israel
Getting support from proxies in Iraq
Unleashing missiles that have far greater range that was previously thought they were capable of
Increasing its rate of missile and drone firing
Hitting American and Israeli aircraft (including the allegedly stealthy F-35)

Meanwhile the US is using 5,000 lb bombs to blow up buried speedboats and launchers

Again, while the US and Israel are degrading the Iranian military, without a doubt, this attrition warfare, with the economic damage underway is decidedly not to our advantage

I remind people Iran lost anywhere from 200,000 to 700,000 people during the Iran-Iraq war. This is existential for them. They are very unlikely to quit

Thanks a great deal magat scum. You have ---- America, likely irredeemably.

__________
#182 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-03-21 10:38 AM
... 40 at the most, and overwhelmingly males trans-gendered into females (but, for some reason, hardly any females trans-gendered into males) want to play sports ...

... alienate conservative voters by supporting transgender rights or alienate liberal voters by ignoring transgender rights ...

Still not getting it - it's not a "liberal/conservative" issue, it's at least an 80/20 issue, and it's not about general "transgender rights" but the special "rights" of tiny number of males trans-gendered into females to PLAY in cis-female SPORTS, which are usually separated from male sports for very good reasons, and pissing off millions of people who champion women's rights and would generally vote for a Democrat.

.

#183 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-03-21 10:44 AM
Check this out: The existence of Trans people ...

Check this out: it's not about the existence of Trans people.

Oh so it's just like interracial marriage. Lots of anguish from outsiders.

Still clinging to false equivalence fallacy with civil rights of hundreds of millions...

Still don't want to understand both the numbers involved and very specific subset of issues and attempting to conflate the "rights" of participating in SPORTS by a tiny "very special circumstances" group with general civil rights of millions of POC and religious rights - as I've already explained.

And this is not just the US issue. But if that's one of the hills the US "progressives" want to die on... Dems will have tough time getting and holding onto power for decades, no matter how badly MAGA freaks eff up.

Apparently some people can beat their heads against the wall and expect different results longer than anticipated.

You can't always get what you want, especially in politics at the expense of millions of votes. Or Dems can keep at it and Let It Bleed.

Too bad we don't have a strong SANE third party, just different tiny ones with their own sets of inconsistent ideals and unworkable kooky ideas...
__________

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