The Word on The Street

Shortt Dogg Entertainment is excited to announce the addition of “The Word on the Street” Community and Entertainment newsletter to our website.  Our goal is to offer a medium to share information about news and events in our community of importance to our friends and fans.  In addition, we want to extend an invitation to all our fans to share exciting and informative articles of community interest or articles relating to live music and entertainment community.  You may submit your articles via email or on the fan feedback page of our website. We hope that you enjoy The Word on the Street.

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN INDUCTED INTO THE NESUHI ERTEGAN JAZZ HALL OF FAME AT LINCOLN CENTER IN NEW YORK

NEW YORK -- Charlie Christian, who came out of the legendary jazz halls of Deep Deuce in Oklahoma City during the 1930s to develop a legend of his own as a pioneer in playing the electric guitar solos, was inducted Friday into the Nesuhi Ertegan Jazz Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center in New York City.  Executive Director Anita Arnold of BLAC Inc. and the Black Liberated Arts Center in Oklahoma City told the story of Christian during the ceremony at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in the Lincoln Art Center. Also inducted were trumpet player Clifford Brown of Wilmington, DE; guitarist Django Reinhardt of Belgium and alto saxophonist and trumpet player Benny Carter - all jazz legends in their own time. Freddie Jenkins, a cousin of Charlie Christian, and his wife Daisy also were there for the induction along with James Johnson of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the alumni of Douglass High School in Oklahoma City. Freddie Christian was born in Oklahoma City and grew up in Ardmore.          Charlie Christian was born in Bonham, Texas, in 1916. He grew up in Oklahoma City and was one of numerous jazz musicians who studied under Zelia Page Breaux at Douglass. He joined the Benny Goodman band in 1939 and became nationally famous. He also joined with jazz leader Lionel Hampton in writing Hampton's theme song, "Fly Away Home." Christian died in 1942.          Arnold noted that Ed Durham and Count Basie played it the electric guitar first, but Christian helped make it an instrument that became common all over the world. She said Christian often said he tried to make his guitar "sound like a trumpet or a saxophone." She also pointed out that Oklahoma City has celebrated the Charlie Christian Jazz Festival for 22 years.          The program for the event quoted Christian as saying: "Don't never try to be like somebody else. Let somebody else try to be like you."  Brown lived from 1930 to 1956. Reinhardt, who lived from 1910 to 1953, played in Belgium during World War II and then came to New York. Carter lived from 1907 to 2003. Wynton Marsalis, world famous jazz trumpeter who serves on the board of Jazz at Lincoln Center, introduced Maxine Roach, daughter of Hall of Famer Max Roach, hosted the luncheon ceremony. Christian, Brown, Reinhardt and Carter joined legendary jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker and Fats Waller in the Jazz Hall of Fame.       In addition to Christian, famous jazz artists such as Leslie Sheffield and Jimmy Rushing played in Deep Deuce at places such as Slaughter's Hall, the Hole and Ruby's Grill. The luncheon was to be followed by a Benny Carter Centennial jazz concert at the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis directing The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.