In reflecting on the life of Jimmy Carter as the former president approaches his 100th birthday, God bless him, I came across an extraordinary event that took place on the South Lawn of the White House in June 1978. Carter hosted a jazz concert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival. The concert was part of Carter’s initiative to honor various American art forms. It is this week’s reason to smile. What’s most remarkable is the list of attendees. Four decades on, it is one of the greatest groups of American jazz artists ever assembled. The guests and performers included Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Lionel Hampton, Eubie Blake, Pearl Bailey, Chick Corea, George Benson, and Max Roach, to name but a handful. Please take a moment to watch this, as sadly, only a few short film clips exist of the event. Carter, the former peanut farmer, had one request that day. He asked trumpet virtuoso Gillespie to play his song “Salt Peanuts.” Gillespie agreed on one condition. He said he would “play it if [Carter] will come up here and sing it with us.” And he did, in this audio clip. The concert was such a hit, Carter let the musicians play well past their scheduled time. It must have been an incredible evening. |
