ABSTRACT

T hanks to the college I now had the financial security and free time to follow my eclectic American music muse, to quote Ellington, “music beyond category.” Up to then, I had soft-pedaled my natural ease with American music, not wanting to be pigeonholed, but now I crawled into the hole on all fours. It started at a session with Doctor Bergman. Why, I do not know, but I said to him that the sixtieth anniversary of the concert that launched Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was fast approaching, and “wouldn’t it be nice if someone would re-create that concert on the anniversary?” He paused, then asked, “Who would do a good job?”