Leave it to William Katz, our participant-observer at Urgent Agenda, to illustrate the value of being a generalist who knows a lot about a lot of things. You'd expect that of someone who could work for the CIA, be a comedy writer, and a novelist, among other "things." Today, he reminds us that February 12 is the real birthday of Abraham Lincoln. In the next breath, he tells us that this date also marks the premiere of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Both of these disparate events were world-changing in scope. Here's his post about a day where political history meets jazz.
Most Americans know Lincoln's significant writings rather well. OTR doubts that is so for Gershwin. To correct that musical deficiency, here is a June 10, 1924 recording of Gershwin performing an abridged Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and his band. It's as close to the premiere performance as we'll ever get and a full jazz expression as intended by the composer and conductor. The piece has certainly matured into something quite different over the past ninety years.
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