VOA标准英语2013--歌手和演员 Herb Jeffries 斯庆祝100岁生日

 

Singer/Actor Herb Jeffries Celebrates 100th Birthday 歌手和演员 Herb Jeffries 斯庆祝100岁生日

Herb Jeffries earned fame as a singer with Duke Ellington, and as an actor in Hollywood westerns of the 1930s. He turned 100 on September 24.

One night in 1933, Jeffries was singing in a little nightclub in Detroit, Michigan when jazz icon¹ Louis Armstrong walked through the door.  In this interview by amateur² jazz historian³ Tad Calcara, Jeffries says Armstrong heard him sing, pulled him aside, and changed his life.

“He said, ‘Well there's a band in Chicago - that's where you should be now.  And he said 'I'm gonna write you a letter,’” Jeffries said.

Then Armstrong pulled a cocktail⁴ napkin off the table.

“He just wrote down on there, said, 'You want to hear this guy's voice.  You'll love him.  I do.’ And he put down ‘Pops,’” Jeffries said.

Armed with only this special “calling card,” Jeffries took the great man’s advice and headed for Chicago where he joined the band led by Erskine Tate.

Soon he was heard and hired by legendary⁵ band leader Earl “Fatha” Hines. Singing with Earl Hines, Jeffries traveled to California, where he would land a role and also sing the opening song in the Hollywood western, “Two Gunmen from Harlem.”

With his long frame, rakish mustache and exotic⁶ good looks, Jeffries capitalized on two unique styles of film that Hollywood was cranking out at that time: “Race Films” - movies by and for African-Americans - and “singing cowboy” pictures.

On a promotional tour for a film called “The Bronze Buckaroo,” Jeffries found himself in the same theater as Duke Ellington.  He was planning to head back to Hollywood that night, but The Duke had other ideas.  

For the next two years, Jeffries was lead singer in the Ellington band.  He toured the world and starred in “Jump for Joy,” the musical Ellington wrote and staged in Los Angeles.

“Jump For Joy” never made it to Broadway, as Ellington had hoped, but it helped cement Herb Jeffries as a bona fide star.  And 72 years later, Jeffries can still belt out that title song with as much verve as ever.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 amateur   

adj.业余的，非专业的；n.业余爱好者

参考例句：

• He made an amateur attempt to build a cupboard.他很外行地试做了一个碗柜。
• Although Tom's only an amateur he's a first-class player.虽然汤姆只是个业余爱好者，但却是一流的高手。

3 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

4 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

5 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

6 exotic   

adj.奇异的，异乎寻常的，外（国）来的，外国产

参考例句：

• There are some exotic words in English language.英语中有一些外来词。
• She likes to wear exotic clothes.她喜欢穿奇装异服。