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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'll choose to take Max's word, Jim, as I really do
not want to believe that Kenton was a racist just as I hate to find out that
anyone whom I would like as a friend is a racist. Mea Culpa</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=JimDBB@aol.com href="mailto:JimDBB@aol.com">JimDBB@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com
href="mailto:dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com">dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, January 18, 2003 10:23
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Dixielandjazz] From Mike Vax on
rumors of Stan Kenton's 'racism.'</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2><BR>MIke Vax was an
essential part of Stank Kenton's band for some years. I asked him about
these rumors that Stan Kenton was a 'racist.' Here is his reply.<BR>Jim
Beebe<BR><BR>"That rumor was pretty much started by Ken Burns in his infinite
stupidity!<BR><BR>In the book that went along with the wonderfully full of BS
- PBS crap that he put out, he sites that Stan once voted for George
Wallace. He actually joked about that on the bus one day and said that
the only reason he voted for him was that he was sick and tired of all the
lies and BS that the politicians were putting out, and Wallace <BR>was the
only one that spoke what he really felt. (That never made it into Burn's
book.)<BR>Stan had many black musicians tour with the band, including Charlie
Parker, Dizzy, Ernie Royal and others. The main reason that more blacks didn't
play on the band had nothing to do with Stan's personality or his political
beliefs. Black jazz players did not want to play the kind of music that
Stan was performing and recording, because it wasn't swing oriented and they
weren't drawn to it. Very rarely did blacks ever audition for the
band.<BR><BR>Stan Kenton loved ALL kinds of people. He was one of the
nicest, kindest and most respectful human beings that I ever met. He was
also one of the very best band leaders in the way he treated all the musicians
on the band."<BR><BR>Mike Vax</FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=3
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"> ---<BR></FONT>
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<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>Dixielandjazz
mailing
list<BR>Dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com<BR>http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>