The following are excerpts from an article by J. Freedom du Lac, published in the Washington Post on February 3, 2011.
“The ghosts are jamming again. They're playing that hot jazz in the Turkish Embassy's old Sheridan Circle mansion, just as they did in the 1930s and '40s, when the ambassador's boys, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, were always inviting their favorite musicians over to hang and blow and thump. The informal, integrated gatherings achieved near-mythic status - "Washington's most famous private jam sessions," jazz journalist Bill Gottlieb called them in The Washington Post in 1943 - and then they evaporated into history.
“On Friday, in a nod to Black History Month, Tan will announce a series of six invitation-only concerts at his palatial residence just off Embassy Row. The first, March 1, will feature pianist Orrin Evans. Jazz at Lincoln Center, on whose board Ahmet Ertegun served, is curating the series, which Tan conceived to highlight the mansion's past as one of Washington's most exclusive - and unlikely - jazz venues.
“These will be much more formal affairs than the jam sessions hosted by the brothers: Ahmet, who founded Atlantic Records and produced some of R&B's greatest sides; and Nesuhi, who ran the jazz department at Atlantic and produced classic records for John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin and Roberta Flack.
"I thought it would be wise to rebuild the historical image of the Turkish Embassy residence as a center for jazz and jazz fans," Tan said. "People should be aware of the historical significance of this house and of Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun. They made a good place for Turkey in the hearts and minds of the black community here and in the music community around the United States and elsewhere."
“The Ertegun boys were already hard-core swing buffs by the time their father was named Turkey's ambassador to Washington in 1934, when Nesuhi was 17 and Ahmet was 11. Upon landing in America, the young Turks dived headlong into the heart of the District's hopping jazz scene, frequenting the Howard Theatre, a mecca of black entertainment, to hear Ellington and other favorites. The Erteguns began promoting concerts, too - at the Jewish Community Center, the National Press Club and elsewhere - partly because they so loved the music but also out of a sense of social responsibility."