名人轶事:Willis Conover Brought Jazz, 'the Music of Freedom,' to

（单词翻译）

Willis Conover Brought Jazz, 'the Music of Freedom,' to the World

Written by Dana Demange
(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

I’m Bob Doughty¹.

VOICE TWO:

Willis Conover     

And I’m Barbara Klein with People in America in VOA Special English. Today,

we tell about Willis Conover. His voice is one of the most famous in the

world. Conover’s Voice of America radio program on jazz was one of the most

popular and influential² shows in broadcasting history.

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VOICE ONE:

Willis Conover was not a jazz musician. However, many people believe that he

did more to spread the sound of jazz than any person in music history. For

more than forty years Conover brought jazz to people around world on his VOA

music programs. An estimated⁴ one hundred million people heard his programs. He

helped make jazz music an international language.

VOICE TWO:

Willis Conover was born in Buffalo⁵, New York, in nineteen twenty. Because his

father was in the military, his family moved around a great deal. When Willis

was in high school, he played the part of a radio announcer⁶ in a school play.

People told him that he sounded like a real radio announcer. Later, he

competed in a spelling competition that was broadcast on radio. The radio

announcer told Willis that he should work in radio. Willis had a deep and rich

voice that was perfect for broadcasting.

VOICE ONE:

At first, Conover worked for small radio stations in the state of Maryland. He

served in the military during World War Two. Because of his experience talking

to people on radio, Conover was not sent away to fight. He was needed to

interview new soldiers at Fort³ Meade, Maryland. After the war, he continued to

work for commercial radio stations.

Willis Conover heard a lot of jazz music during the nineteen forties in

Washington, D.C. This city was the center of a very important jazz movement.

Willis Conover knew many of the jazz musicians in both Washington and New York

City. He helped organize many concerts. He also helped stop racial separation

in the places where music was played at night.

At this time, mainly white people went to music clubs even though many of the

musicians were black. Conover created musical events where people of all races

were welcome.

VOICE TWO:

Willis Conover wanted to be able to play more of the jazz music that he loved

on his radio show. He did not like the restrictions⁷ of commercial radio. When

he heard that the Voice of America wanted to start a jazz music program,

Conover knew that he had found a perfect job. He had full freedom to play all

kinds of jazz music on his show which began in nineteen fifty-five.
VOICE ONE:

Willis Conover once said that jazz is the music of freedom. He said that with

jazz people can express their lives through music. And that the music helps

people to stand up a little straighter. #p#副标题#e#

Many people think that Willis Conover had great political influence during the

period after World War Two known as the Cold War. This was a time of increased

tensions⁸ between the United States and the Soviet⁹ Union. During the nineteen

sixties and seventies, listening to the VOA was not allowed in many Eastern

European countries.

Also, the governments of these countries thought jazz was dangerous and

subversive¹⁰. But the people in these countries loved jazz. Many people became

jazz musicians themselves. They first learned¹¹ how to play this music by

listening to Willis Conover’s “Music USA” program.

VOICE TWO:

During the many of years his program was broadcast, Conover presented his

expert knowledge about jazz. He interviewed great jazz musicians such as

Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. He played the best music

from the most current musicians. Here is a recording¹² of Conover talking about

the way jazz music changes over time. 

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VOICE ONE:

Willis Conover not only talked about jazz music on his program. He sometimes

wrote the music and the words to jazz songs. He usually wrote sad love songs.

His many musician friends put the words to music. Here he is voicing the words

to a song he wrote in the nineteen sixties. The music is written and played by

the great jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd.

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VOICE TWO:        

Very few Americans knew about Willis Conover’s program. Voice of America

programs are not permitted to be broadcast in the United States. But, he was

very famous in the rest of the world.

Audiences loved his program. When he traveled to Poland in nineteen fifty-

nine, he saw hundreds of people gathered near his plane. People held cameras

and flowers. They were cheering and smiling. Conover thought that they were

waiting for a famous person to arrive. Then, he saw a large sign that said, “

Welcome to Poland, Mister¹³ Conover”. The crowds were there to see him.

Willis Conover also worked to spread jazz in the United States. He was the

announcer for many famous jazz festivals and concerts in America. He presented

more than thirty concerts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing

Arts in Washington, D.C. He even produced the White House concert in

celebration of jazz musician Duke Ellington’s seventieth birthday in nineteen

sixty-nine.

VOICE ONE:

Willis Conover once said that Louis Armstrong was the heart of jazz, Duke

Ellington was the soul and Count Basie was its happy dancing feet. Here is

part of a nineteen seventy-three interview by Willis Conover with the great

Duke Ellington. This was one of the last times Conover talked to him. Duke

Ellington died the next year. In this interview, these great men express their

thanks to one another.

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VOICE TWO:

In his jazz programs Willis Conover played many kinds of jazz. He played songs

he liked and songs he did not like. However, he liked to play the musicians he

liked best, such as Duke Ellington, often. Here is the song “Chelsea Bridge”

from his favorite saxophonist musician Ben Webster. Conover once said that

nothing could quite match this song.

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VOICE ONE:

Willis Conover died in nineteen ninety-six after a long struggle with cancer.

He was seventy-five. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery¹⁴ outside

Washington, D.C. Though his programs are no longer broadcast, his influence is

very much alive. Jazz music owes a great deal to this special man.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA

Special English.