Who was your first

Yeah I can appreciate the cultural myopia that might conclude that jazz is an answer to social ostracism or that musicians who must work for a living never tire of complaining about the competition. But of all the genres jazz is the one solely about its sound, one that transcends looks, cars, clothes and hairstyles. Cultural pride is righteous but assigning racial labels to individuals or groups in an attempt to somehow explain, define or symbolically organize their behavior is the absurdity of racism itself. Detlof, does a turntable sound white due to its creative origin? Beethoven isn't great because of where or when he lived. Genius is genius. Some cats can play and some can't.

Hm, Rockvirgo, I would fully agree with your following sentence, which I incidentally find very well put, that "assigning racial labels to individuals or groups in an attempt to somehow explain, define or symbolically organize their behavior is the absurdity of racism itself." But please do not forget, that I was alluding to a time, which incidentally I am still acutely aware of, but which lies now almost 50 to 60 years behind us. Every generation interprets history, especially cultural history according to its own needs and values and what you rightly call cultural myopia now, was then within the very cradle of modern jazz seen, lived, interpreted and understood quite differently. And you're not quite right I feel, though Beethoven would be Beethoven wherever he lived and worked, his music would be not the same, had he composed in London or St.Petersburg and not in Vienna. Just as much as Handel's compositions do - at least in part - reflect the needs and tastes of the London society of his time.
My turntable is black and sounds black if thus fed by the way. (;

Perhaps my view and take is somewhat skewed here as I was in the business with CBS/Columbia and knew many of the names menetioned in this thread. Yep old geezer now, but the fire and memories of this time burn very deep. And some of the back water stories I could tell would warrant a book. Most respondents here are not of that era, but I lived a bunch of it first hand. Even in the days of segragation it was always about the music. On many occassions Dave Brubeck would turn down a TV appearance or live concert date, because in the contract they did not want to have Eugene Wright on camera or on stage. Brubeck would not allow this to happen to his friend. Eugene "The Senator" Wright was a valued member of the quartet and deserved as much recognbition as any other member of the quartet. And that is just one instance of long before integration where fellow jazz musicians defended each other. And lets not forget the jazz clubs on the other side where white musicians were not welcome. But through it all in those days it was the jazz musicians the held together and pushed the boundries of humanity against some very steep odds. Thankfully those days are behind us and never to be repeated. Trust me on this the records labels were color blind, once again the focal point was the music and the artist. So in the final analysis good ole american jazz is a multi-culutural affair that has withstood all the obstacles and has become our true art form to enjoy.

"So in the final analysis good ole american jazz is a multi-cultural affair that has withstood all the obstacles and has become our true art form to enjoy."

..and so it has become and I don't think your view is skewed at all, but as I mentioned, the beginnings were difficult and much of the mood of the music in those years expressed those difficulties very clearly. There were more musicians than Brubeck who tried to bridge the gap, win trust, respect and recognition, but it took time.

I recall that Nat King Cole had a 15 minute TV show in the early 50's but that was short lived because no company was willing to stand up and sponsor the show.I also recall that the early group harmony sound prior to do-wop could not be heard on white run radio stations but these hardships are not why Nat Cole's music lives on.It was his talent and talent does not have a color