Free Republic

When Chicago burned, I offered a song about Chicago. So, with Kenosha burning, I thought I'd offer a song about Kenosha - figuring the way things are going in America this format should keep me going till retirement. Alas, I failed to anticipate that there are apparently no songs about Kenosha. Oh, well. There must be a songwriter or two born in Kenosha. But again, apparently not. There is, however, a very great instrumentalist who, while not born in Kenosha... After his father's death in the Great War, Hamp spent his boyhood in Kenosha, in the second decade of the...

The Republican Who Broke the Color Barrier By Joe Bendel One can only assume the Republican National Convention kicking off in New York this week will spend a good deal of time in tribute to President Ronald Reagan. As the man who drove a stake in the heart of an expansionist Communist Empire, and recast the Republican Party is his own image, such tributes are only fitting and proper. The RNC would also be well advised to give significant time to mark the contributions of another longtime GOP stalwart who passed away since the 2000 convention, jazz legend Lionel Hampton....

More on Yahoo! • Lionel Hampton There was more than musical magic on stage that day in 1936 when Lionel Hampton joined Benny Goodman in a Manhattan ballroom — it was a breakthrough in American race relations. Hampton, a vibraphone virtuoso who died Saturday, broke a barrier that had kept black and white musicians from performing together in public. Through a six-decade career, he continued to build a name for himself as one of the greats in jazz history. "He was really a towering jazz figure," said saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who played with Hampton in the 1950s. "He really...

Jazz Great Lionel Hampton, 94, Dies Sat Aug 31, 6:56 AM ET NEW YORK (AP) - Lionel Hampton, the vibraphone virtuoso and standout showman whose six-decade career ranked him with the greatest names in jazz history, died Saturday at a Manhattan hospital. He was 94. Hampton, whose health was failing in recent years, died at Mount Sinai Medical Center at about 6:15 a.m., said his manager, Phil Leshin. Hampton worked with a who's who of jazz greats, from Benny Goodman to Charlie Parker to Quincy Jones. But over the last decade, Hampton battled health problems and a fire that destroyed...