despite all his success with pop music he looks real passion has always been a jazz here he is with duke ellington really inspires him aren't cleanly produced radio hits but the improvisational skills of great musicians. of course was ritual that's what fascinates me the most for this concept of freedom that's because that's why i believe that jazz was the most important musical invention of the 20th century and one of his no notes was. in 1902 city blocks fulfilled a longstanding dream by starting his own jazz record label under the ac t. imprint he signed a roster of 1st class musicians and produced highly acclaimed albums. for the band 4 wheel drive he proud to gether to sweets trombonist newsline clean and bassist laws danny a son with 2 german pianist mitchell is whiny and drummer voice going huff now it was a stroke of genius. was. bad . luck continues to have an open ear for new sounds like a jazz big band that uses techno beats. with one new the more of you if you stay curious then you might have the chance to keep discovering one or 2 new things with even an old age written an iota the fa

it's how duke ellington, armstrong and tom casey transformed america.there are another three that are people you could spend time with and i think there's is an incredibly uplifting story about how they changed the racial horizon and sets the table for the civil rights movement. >> host: what a way to deal with the mccarthy thing. >> guest: thank you. i hope so. >> host: this has been fabulous. we got quite a few questions from folks and had a wonderful crowd of about 100. i want to thank the book festival folks, the library folks, all the other people that helped put this together. i want to remind people it is in fact the wisconsin magazine of history that you and i have both written for and you have an article coming out very soon and i think with that we will turn back to our host. >> guest: i want to thank joh john. you are wonderful in assembling the program into dealing with my e-mails. >> i'm only here to say thank you to john and larry thank you both so much. this is wonderful and the kind of conversation the book festival exists to have and i

that whole era when that was built, the clubs and the big guys coming in, duke ellington, they owned all that along with tom pendergast. the next step in this story is in 1931 as the result of a conflict in new york. all of these particular families, they were families like this kansas city group in cleveland, in detroit, in new york, in boston, in providence, they all grew up pretty much the same way. and they knew each other from the old country. there were ties. but there wasn't a national syndicate of these crime families. now there was. they put this together on a national basis. they formulated a commission of so many bosses who would rule on certain interfamily problems. so, this had the semblance of a corporate entity. so, that was more power for the kansas city crime family. then in 1932 was the board of police commissioners had to be elected locally. well, who was there locally? there was john lazia and there was tom pendergast. so, they elected the board of police commissioners. and that was when they took over the city lock, stock and barrel. they opened it up for every k

there were all kinds of exhibits, including a hall of fame, honoring african-americans, duke ellington performance, entertained the crowd. and at the center of it all was a huge hall, featuring 33 dioramas. what were they trying to show? >> that african-american people have contributed enormously to this country's development and wealth. >> reporter: made of wood, plaster, and masonite, with human features often carved wood or clay, they portray scenes from black history. matmatthew hanson, and a dock worker believed to be the first columnist killed in the revolution, and the landing of the african-american in 1619. >> how can you not be swayed by what you see here. >> reporter: these dioramas were all recently restored. how that happened is quite a story. the 33 dioramas were all created under the direction of charles dawsen, a noted commercial artist. after the exhibition, he brought 20 d dioramas to tuskegee, and what happened to the other 13 is an enduring mystery. but they fell into disrepair, and robinson believed it was essential for african-americans to help restore these works

me for having spent three long years with joe mccarthy and it's about called the jaz zmen how duke ellington armstrong and count basie transformed america and i think they are on Ãbthere aren't three better people he could spend time with. there is is an incredibly uplifting story about how they changed the racial horizon of america and set the table in many ways for the civil rights movement. >> walked away to clean up the having dealt with mccarthy thing. [laughter] >> thank you. >> larry tye this has been fabulous, we got to ask quite a few questions from folks, we had a wonderful crowd of about 100 tonight. i want to thank book festival folks, the library folks, all the other people that helped put this together, want to remind people it is in fact the wisconsin magazine of history you and i both written for and that you will have an article coming out very soon. with that we will turn it back to our host. >> can i just say really quickly, i want to thank john, who was a terrific interlocutor tonight. [applause] i want to thank connor who was really wonderful and assembling this program