[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 28 (Monday, February 28, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E329-E330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE EMBASSY OF TURKEY AND THE ERTEGUN FAMILY FOR THEIR 
                          CONTRIBUTION TO JAZZ

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 28, 2011

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, a recent Washington Post article examined 
the Embassy of Turkey's role in promoting jazz in America. Former 
Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Munir Ertegun and his sons Ahmet and Nesuhi 
Ertegun were instrumental in raising the profile of jazz in the 1930s 
and 40s in the District of Columbia.
  While growing up in Washington, DC, Ahmet Ertegun and his brother, 
Nesuhi, disregarded the racial barriers that divided the city and the 
country and hosted jam sessions at the Turkish Embassy. Many notable 
jazz artists performed, including Lester Young, Benny Carter, Meade Lux 
Lewis, Leadbelly, and members of the Count Basie and Ellington bands. 
On a recent visit to the Embassy, Ambassador Tan showed me a picture of 
Dr. Martin Luther King at the embassy with jazz musicians.
  Later in his life, Ertegun went on to found Atlantic Records in 1947 
as a record label for gospel, jazz and R&B music with partner Herb 
Abramson. His brother eventually joined the firm and created one of the 
most successful independent labels in American history.
  Many renowned artists joined Atlantic Records such as Ray Charles, 
Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker, the Drifters, the Coasters, Aretha Franklin 
and Led Zeppelin. Other artists shaped by Ertegun include John 
Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, and Mick Jagger.
  Asked by the Slate magazine on his legacy, Ertegun responded, ``I'd 
be happy if people said that I did a little bit to raise the dignity 
and recognition of the greatness of African-American music.''
  On Friday, February 4th, in acknowledgement of Black History Month, 
Namik Tan, the Republic of Turkey's current ambassador to the United 
States, announced a series of six concerts at the Turkish Ambassador's 
residence to highlight the unique role the Embassy played in the 
promotion of jazz music and racial integration and acceptance in our 
Nation's capitol. The first concert will be tomorrow and it will 
feature the Orrin Evans Trio.
  As we conclude Black History month, I would like to pay tribute to 
the contributions of the former Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Munir Ertegun 
and his sons Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun and to their contributions to 
bringing jazz to the world.

      A stirring Moment in Jazz History To Echo in Turkish Embassy

                         (By J. Freedom du Lac)

       The ghosts are jamming again.
       They're playing that hot jazz in the Turkish Embassy's old 
     Sheridan Circle mansion, just as they did in the 1930s and 
     '40s, when the ambassador's boys, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, 
     were always inviting their favorite musicians over to hang 
     and blow and thump. The informal, integrated gatherings 
     achieved near-mythic status--``Washington's most famous 
     private jam sessions,'' jazz journalist Bill Gottlieb called 
     them in The Washington Post in 1943--and then they evaporated 
     into history.
       ``So many people don't know about it,'' said Namik Tan, 
     Turkey's current ambassador. He's in the mansion's second-
     floor music parlor, envisioning Lester Young sitting in the 
     wood-paneled room, coaxing those light, airy notes out of his 
     tenor saxophone. Or maybe it's Benny Carter, making his alto 
     sax sing. And aren't those the cats from Duke Ellington's 
     band--Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Barney Bigard--on deck to 
     play?
       ``Just try to scan back and imagine sitting here and 
     listening to those great jazz musicians play,'' Tan said.
       On Friday, in a nod to Black History Month, Tan will 
     announce a series of six invitation-only concerts at his 
     palatial residence just off Embassy Row. The first, March 1, 
     will feature pianist Orrin Evans. Jazz at Lincoln Center, on 
     whose board Ahmet Ertegun served, is curating the series, 
     which Tan conceived to highlight the mansion's past as one of 
     Washington's most exclusive--and unlikely--jazz venues.
       These will be much more formal affairs than the jam 
     sessions hosted by the brothers: Ahmet, who founded Atlantic 
     Records and produced some of R&B's greatest sides; and 
     Nesuhi, who ran the jazz department at Atlantic and produced 
     classic records for John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin 
     and Roberta Flack.
       But any jazz is notable at 1606 23rd St. NW, where the 
     Erteguns proudly flouted the conventions of segregated 
     Washington by welcoming black musicians through the front 
     door. This was done, as Ahmet Ertegun liked to point out, 
     much to the consternation of ``outraged Southern senators,'' 
     who complained to his father, Ambassador Mehmet Munir 
     Ertegun, about the practice.
       ``I thought it would be wise to rebuild the historical 
     image of the Turkish Embassy residence as a center for jazz 
     and jazz fans,'' Tan said. ``People should be aware of the 
     historical significance of this house and of Ahmet and Nesuhi 
     Ertegun. They made a good place for Turkey in the hearts and 
     minds of the black community here and in the music community 
     around the United States and elsewhere.''
       The Ertegun boys were already hard-core swing buffs by the 
     time their father was named Turkey's ambassador to Washington 
     in 1934, when Nesuhi was 17 and Ahmet was 11.
       Upon landing in America, the young Turks dived headlong 
     into the heart of the District's hopping jazz scene, 
     frequenting the Howard Theatre, a mecca of black 
     entertainment, to hear Ellington and other favorites. ``I got 
     my education in music at the Howard,'' Ahmet later declared.
       The Erteguns began promoting concerts, too--at the Jewish 
     Community Center, the National Press Club and elsewhere--
     partly because they so loved the music but also out of a 
     sense of social responsibility. ``You can't imagine how 
     segregated Washington was at that time,'' Nesuhi told The 
     Post in 1979, a decade before his death. ``Blacks and whites 
     couldn't sit together in most places. So we put on concerts. 
     . . . Jazz was our weapon for social action.''
       They regularly invited musicians back to the embassy. The 
     typical gathering began with a meal served by servants in 
     tuxedos. Then came the sweetest dessert for hard-core swing 
     fans.
       ``Nesuhi and I made the most out of the extra-territorial 
     situation offered by the embassy by inviting musicians who'd 
     played in town the night before over for Sunday lunch,'' 
     Ahmet recalled in his 2001 book, ``What'd I Say: The Atlantic 
     Story.'' ``They all loved the idea of having lunch at an 
     embassy, particularly one as well-appointed and in such grand 
     surroundings as the Turkish embassy in Washington. After 
     lunch, jam sessions would inevitably develop.''
       If there's a record of the artists who visited the 
     Erteguns, the embassy hasn't been able to find it. Based on 
     interviews with the brothers, Gottlieb's columns in The Post 
     and photos at the Library of Congress, though, the cumulative 
     guest list probably included Young, Carter, boogie-woogie 
     pianist Meade Lux Lewis, blues giant Leadbelly, and members 
     of the Count Basie and Ellington bands.
       You can feel it when you set foot in the place, said 
     Washington jazzman and educator Davey Yarborough, who 
     performed at the residence in October in what Tan called ``a 
     practice for the series.''
       ``You feel the history coming up the steps,'' Yarborough 
     said. ``There's a sense of energy, a sense of ancestry that 
     you get to absorb. If Lester Young played here, his spirit is 
     still here, and he might guide me through a breakthrough on 
     my instrument--like, `Here, let me show you what it really 
     felt like.' ''
       To Nesuhi Ertegun, watching Ellington's band jamming at the 
     mansion ``was one of the biggest thrills of my life,'' he 
     told The Post in 1979.
       The music, he said, seemed to go over well with others, 
     too. ``I remember once there was an embassy party, and I was 
     having some musicians over at the same time. We were really 
     getting kind of loud, and I was worried that maybe the people 
     outside could hear us. At about that time, my father peered 
     in and said, `Can you leave the door open? That music sounds 
     awfully good.' ''

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