Did Nixon really like jazz?

[Finger Poppin']

He did have Duke play at the whitehouse as well as having Armstrong there at times. But was Nixon a jazz fan? Does anyone know this answer?

[RDK]

There are some here - or at least on the old Blue Note board - who claimed that you couldn't truly love jazz if you were a Republican. :rolleyes:

[catesta]

I think Nixon really did.

He definitely had an appreciation for Duke, and I think Ellington might have held Nixon in high regards as well.


"In the royalty of American music, no man swings more or stands higher than the Duke."
- President Richard Nixon

"The wit, taste, intelligence and elegance that Duke Ellington brought to his music have made him, in the eyes of millions of people both here and abroad, America’s foremost composer." - President Richard Nixon

[3pointdeli]

i wonder if ben stein wrote those words that are attributed to nixon.

[sidewinder]

Didn't Larry Young and Joe Gallivan do a 'special' gig for him from the park opposite the White House? Story I heard is that it caused Nixon so much grief he asked for the plug to be pulled. So can't have been that great a fan ..

[3pointdeli]

politicians have to endear themselves to the people. most people like music. therefore, politicians must like music (or pretend to).

i'll bet nixon's taste in music was more along the lines of the serendipity singers.

[Chris A.]

I recall hearing that Duke considered his appearance at the White House to be in honor of the position rather than the person occupying it. I would not be surprised if Nixon approached the event in a similar manner--after all, it probably did more for Nixon's image than it did for Duke's.

[Jazzmoose]

Just don't shatter my illusions and tell me that Jimmy Carter really didn't like Dizzy!

[orroonie]

Nixon dug the Duke. It was rumored that in 1974 after hearing Dukes composition "What Am I Here For" and faced with almost certain impeachment for his role in Watergate he resigned from office.

"Tricky Dicky" was also a great fan of the Dukes trombone player Tricky Sam Nanton.

[Pharaohrock]

people shouldn't think it's so easy to equate aesthetic sensibilities with political ones, like if you're conservative then you must necessarily have corny/old-fashioned musical tastes. That's bullshit. After all, the liberal hero Bill Clinton confessed to liking Kenny G, so clearly there's no correlation between having "hipper" political sensibilities and being into hipper music.

Sure enough also, a revelation I had early on was a Libertarian, Milton Friedman-loving professor of mine telling me what a great fan of Oliver Lake and David Murray he was. And here I had him "pegged" as some kind of philistine who, proverbially speaking, understood the price of everything but the value of nothing.

Don't confuse music with politics is what I say. They generally don't correspond unless it's some kind of self-conscious thing like Max Roach's Freedom Now suite.

[Harold_Z]

Originally posted by Pharaohrock
Don't confuse music with politics is what I say. They generally don't correspond unless it's some kind of self-conscious thing like Max Roach's Freedom Now suite.

I totally agree.

[3pointdeli]

pharoah, clinton is also on the record for beig a big fan of peter brotzmann and dave brubeck. as a saxophonist, i'm sure he knows that many jazz fans turn their noses up at kenny g., but he admits to liking him anyway. that's pretty hip in my book. clinton is not my hero by the way...no politician ever will be.