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West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt, meeting with President Kennedy at The White House, expressed optimism there would be no East-West crisis over Berlin in the near future. The only problem; nobody really defined what "near future" was.

Otherwise, it was reported that the combined U.S. and European Allies had been spending an estimated $7 billion dollars annually for the past four years, aiding under-developed countries, while the Communist Bloc had been spending a scant $3/4 billion.

In other overseas news - the Conference of British Commonwealth Nations met and became involved in controversy regarding racial equality, focusing on the Apartheid government of South Africa. 7 out of 12 Commonwealth Nations voted to have South Africa recant those policies or resign from the Conference.

Back in the U.S. - President Kennedy would be asking Congress to approve funding for a stockpile of Polio vaccine. Congress did approve JFK's 10-point program to improve standards of living in Latin America. Cardinal Spellman opened up a salvo by opposing any Federal Aid to Education if it didn't include Parochial Schools.

And former Republican vice-President and 1960 Presidential hopeful Richard Nixon signed on with an L.A. Law firm. He also put the temporary kabosh on rumors he would be running for Governor of California. The operative word here is "temporary".

And so went that particular March 13 in 1961 as reported by NBC News On The Hour with Martin Agronsky.

(Chris McGregor in 1971 - helped bring Township Jazz to the ears of the world)

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Last Sunday I posted a program from Radio South Africa in the early 1960's where the emphasis was on Township Jazz and Jive during the Apartheid period. The Jazz scene in South Africa had been going on for a while and thanks to musicians like Hugh Masakela and Abdulah Ibrahmim (formerly known as Dollar Brand) it's presence was felt throughout the rest of the world in the early-mid 1960s. But those were a few examples, and they were largely regarded as "Exile Musicians", the ones who left South Africa and settled in England, France or Switzerland where they were free of the stigma of apartheid and the restrictions placed on Black musicians then. But musicians like Chris McGregor whose band The Brotherhood Of Breath did lot to break through those restrictions, even though they were forced to play at underground clubs and record outside South Africa because McGregor was White and his band was mostly Black.

In 1970 the progressive label Neon (via RCA) issued the first Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath album, first in the UK and then in the States shortly after. For me it was a revelation and tonight's track, MRA is the opening cut on that album. McGregor's band featured some of the cream of South African Jazz musicians, including the legendary alto-sax player Dudu Pukwana and drummer Louis Moholo. Augmented by some of the great UK Jazz musicians at the time (the album was cut in London for obvious reasons), this was the first time I had heard what was going on South Africa and I became a fan ever since.

Both McGregor and Pukwana sadly passed away in 1990, but their legacies still live on and this first album truly got the ball rolling for a lot of fans - me included.

I wore out my original lp of this album years ago, so I was completely knocked out to see it reissued on CD in Italy via the Akarma label. I'm not sure it's still in print, but it should be. McGregor left a rich legacy of great recordings, including a live album that's been issued just recently. I would urge you check him out and hear what you've been missing from this legendary pianist, arranger and composer.

(When even the announcers were segregated)

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A slight departure tonight. Music from Apartheid era South Africa. Township Jazz and Jive circa 1962, as presented by Radio South Africa's Transcription Service. The music is wonderful, the presentation is strange. During Apartheid programs like this were referred to as "Bantu Light Music" and the announcers were separated. The basic introduction announcer was white, but the program content announcer was "coloured". And it's interesting to listen to the lengths the announcer goes to let us know these musicians are all self-taught, largely illiterate and somehow miraculous they even exist.

But once you get past that and actually listen to the music itself, it is amazing and it offers further evidence the notes know no bounds or barriers. It is a slice of history, to be sure.

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(Neda Agha-Soltan - the face of repression's shame)

I don't usually post current items, or late breaking news. I leave that to Crooks and Liars to do, because they're a whole lot better at it than I am. But today I was listening to To The Point, the excellent news review program hosted by Warren Olney and broadcast here in Los Angeles on KCRW. Olney was interviewing Robin Wright, the broadcaster/journalist who I have been a fan of for years, ever since her days with CBS Radio, covering the Middle East and Southern Africa during the apartheid struggle. Wright has always been a source of good, solid information, truthfully presented without bias, and hearing her assessment of the current state of affairs in Iran and the significance of the tragic death of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26 year-old philosophy student gunned down on Saturday made me want to share this on my site. I do however urge you to sign up for the podcasts currently available at KCRW of To The Point and to check out Olney's companion show "Which Way, L.A.?", as well as support KCRW, a station doing what most stations don't these days; performing a service - Olney has been a mainstay in broadcast journalism for many years in the Los Angeles area. He is without flash, hysteria or gimmicks - something we are desperate for right about now.

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(Nelson Mandela in 1994 - putting new meaning in "Shine South Africa, Shine")

I almost let the week go by without acknowledging the recent election and swearing in of Jacob Zuma as President of South Africa on May 9th. But I was also reminded how defining that moment was for Nelson Mandela, on May 10 of 1994. How the political and social landscape of South Africa would change forever, and how apartheid was relegated to the trash heap of history and how a new era would emerge.

Fifteen years ago, this week. In some ways it feels like a hundred and in other ways it feels like a minute or two ago. How far we've come - how far there is left to go.