Radio and Robeson

I confess I don’t listen to much radio these days.  The World Wide Web pulls me in other directions, mostly.  But just this morning I tuned in to WBAI.  I wondered what sort of programming they are airing these days (and whether promoting You’re Sure to Fall in Love might fit in somewhere).

I have fond memories of guesting on WBAI when The Official Fulton Fish Market Cookbook was first published.  My host asked me to bring some music.  When June leBell (who, sadly, died in April at age 73) interviewed me for her wonderful show Kitchen Classics on WQXR, she chose a lovely duet from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.  It still echoes in my mind.  But for WBAI I was on my own.

What sounds like fishing?  I kicked around several ideas, but ended up with Bobby Short’s recording of Noel Coward’s Matelot.  It felt sufficiently sea-faring, and more than that, the piano accompaniment was played by my then-partner, William Roy.  I knew that Bobby was a natural rather than a trained musician, and that there was something about the Noel Coward catalog that made him nervous.  So he asked Billy to play several of the songs on his new album.  And that makes Billy Roy the only pianist ever to play for Bobby Short!

Thank you for your patience.  There really is a point to this story:  Tuning into WBAI this morning, I was delighted to come in on a Paul Robeson documentary.  I thought I knew about Robeson, his huge talent, and his lifelong struggles with American inequality, both customary and legislated.  But this morning I began to see Paul Robeson as a world figure who took up the cause wherever he was—the plight of Welsh miners, for instance, was dear to his heart.  But his first priority was always his own people back home.

Hearing how Robeson is all but unknown to young people today reminded me that struggles are never won, and continued vigilance is always essential.  As is education.  Just as the African American population is always at risk, so is the LGBTQ American population.  So I pledge to be more vigilant in the new year, more aware of hard-won rights and equalities, and more willing to step out of my comfort zone whenever the country is in danger of backsliding.

Bruce