Posted on 01/08/2009 5:36:18 PM PST by nickcarraway
Well said.
One of my favorite recordings is an album titled “Masterpieces by Ellington,” which I discovered in 1960 at a radio station. I aired selections from it whenever I could.
The length of the arrangements was such that the LP contained only four selections.
In addition to some classics was a major new work, “The Tattooed Bride.” The disc having been released in 1950, I think this classifies as a late-period composition.
It was from this album that I became an Ellington fan. I got to shake his hand a year or so later after a concert and complemented him particularly on his work on this album.
He said, of course, “Love you Madly!”
The CD of this album is hard to find, but I finally did locate one about fifteen years ago.
Yep, like I said, it's "a very rare thing".
I suppose what I meant by "honest liberal" is that Hentoff doesn't come off to me as the typical, knee-jerk goofball kind of liberal. Also, he tends to take the US Constitution seriously which, again, is a very rare thing for a liberal.
FRegards,
LH
Ellington was a monster! One of my fave LPs of his is a radio concert from the end of WWII - the 6 minute romp through “Body and Soul” is one of the most sublime things I’ve ever heard. We miss you, Duke!
Absolutely, you have said a mouthful
Thank you for an informed, thoughtful and balanced comment in marked contrast to the predictable and tiresome reactionary knee jerking spew that has become the norm on this board.
Actually, a very good strategy.
Major dittoes. A great journalist. Glad he's found a new home.
Hentoff gave major, early, in-depth coverage for Terri Schiavo and other victims of the Deathocracy you probably never even heard of.
Hentoff initially mounted a one-man campaign to support Sarah Palin, practically introduced her to the hapless, feckless McCain.
Hentoff publicized and wrote liner notes almost 50 years ago for Doc Watson, the greatest flat-picking acoustic guitar artist ever was, here in my beloved Southern Appalachia. For that alone, Nat owns my heart.
And he does a high percentage of his own thinking.
Something I'd like to see more of, here on Free Republic.
And, I've heard tell that he also conducted the early interview of Bob Dylan for Playboy. (I've heard tell that). Course, the usual suspects get a-twitching at a Dylan mention. There's another one who does his own thinking!
Some well-meaning people will go to their graves insisting the Terri Schiavo case was about the right to life. But, it wasn't. Nor was it about the right to die. It was all about who speaks for a person when she is unable to speak for herself.
And, as I see it, the court had little if any choice in that regard because, when she married, she left her parents to join her spouse. As was probably said in their marriage ceremony, "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
Just my opinion, of course.
I don't believe it would be stretching it to expand that to " ...let not man put asunder, nor six feet under." Which is, of course, what her husband did.
Hentoff’s point and mine is that since her wishes were unclear the decision shouldn’t have been made to kill her. Criminals whose guilt is unclear aren’t executed; an innocent person whose wishes are unclear shouldn’t be killed, and that’s what happened in this case, since definite actions were taken that shortened her life.
Only if he's the one who caused her incapacitation. Apparently, the court did not find him guilty of that.
And my point has always been that her wishes were made clear when she voluntarily married him.
When my wife and I married, we became one. Therefore, if I am unable to communicate my wishes, my wife speaks on my behalf. Anyone who intends to put asunder what God joined together will need to have overwhelming evidence to have any hope of doing so.
Since when is marriage a license to kill?
I've never heard anything resembling what you assert, but you aren't even getting the point. The Schiavo case is indeed a life issue because it was about when a person gets the right to decide to kill a living person. If it were just about a person with no chance to live being disconnected from machines, there wouldn't be an argument. That's not what this is about; it's about euthenasia. It's a much bigger issue than your personal views of marriage.
Yeah, Ellington's late period begins in 1950, so "Masterpieces" was the first. Whoa, you got to see the maestro in concert, shake his hand, and get a "Love you Madly" out of him to top it off?! Doesn't get better than that, musically. I became a fan in the early '80s (in my early 20s), about 10 years after his death.
Hentoff is an expert in jazz, but he is almost always wrong when he talks about the “Constitution”. (For example, where is his denunciation of the Warren Court for all their made-up-out-of-whole-cloth Constitutional rights???)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.