Why Smithsonian Mag is Cool!

The Smithsonian Magazine always has something of interest. History, Biology, Culture, there's something for everyone. For me there are least two articles I want to sit down and devour right away and by the time the next issue comes I've read the entire thing.

This last month's the issue contained a great article on a lesser-known-to-the-layman, greater-to-the-music-world Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. I won't lie. While I do prefer old Jazz to the be-bop and elevator music varieties common today, beyond Ella Fitzgerald and Cole Porter my knowledge is pretty slim. Peterson is a wealth of musical history, crossing the generation gap of Jazz working with the golden age greats to some of today stars to headlining himself. The article covers his remarkable story including the performing return from stroke that left his left side completely immobilized in 1993.

But being a bit if living Jazz history, he is also a living bit of American history and he saw many changes. One of which he relates in a sotry about when he was traveling & performing with Dizzy Gillespie:

And I looked, and there was the famous sign: No Negroes. And the deal was, we all had duos or trios of friendship, so one of the Caucasian cats would say, ‘What do you want me to get you?’ And they’d go in, and they wouldn’t eat in there, they’d order and come back on the bus and eat with us. But Dizzy gets up and walks off the bus and goes in there. And we’re all saying, ‘Oh my God, that’s the last we’ll see of him.’ And he sits down at the counter—we could see this whole thing through the window. And the waitress goes over to him. And she says to him, ‘I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t serve Negroes in here.’ And Dizzy says, ‘I don’t blame you, I don’t eat ’em. I’ll have a steak.’ That was Dizzy exactly. And do you know what? He got served.”

Damn! I wish I had that much bravery, cleverness and class.

So read The Smith. You won't find stories like that anywhere else. ;)