It has been said that the United States won the Cold War without firing a statement, like Pj o'rourke Once written, it undoubtedly surprised the veterans of Korea and Vietnam. But it would not be quite incorrect to call the long look between the United States and the Soviet Union a battle of ideas. Dwight Eisenhower has certainly seen it in this way, a world vision that inspired the 1956 creation of the President's special international program for international affairs participation, which aimed to use American culture to improve the country's image in the world. (The same year, Eisenhower also signed the construction of the interstate road system, such was the ambition of the country at the time.)
For a form of art without an American ambiguity, one could barely do better than jazz, which also had the advantage of counterbalanced the propaganda of the USSR by focusing on the disturbed racial relations of the United States. And therefore the State department I chose a series of “jazz ambassadors” to send carefully planned global tours, starting with Dizzy Gillespie and his interracial group of eighteen pieces (with the late Quincy Jones in the role of music director).
From March 1956, Ten of Gillespie presented dates throughout Europe, Asia and South America. It would not be his latest tours sponsored by the State Department abroad: in the videos above, you can see a clip of his performance in Germany in 1960. This tour even led to live albums like Stunned in Greece And Statesman of the world.
Other jazz ambassadors would follow: Louis Armstrong (who left the Lycée Integration Crisis in Little Rock), Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Dave Brubeck (whose dark vision of the program inspired the musical comedy The real ambassadors). But none went so far to continue their cultural-political interests that Gillespie, who was announced as a candidate for writing During the 1964 American presidential election. He promised not only to rename the White House at the Maison Blues, but also to appoint a cabinet including Miles Davis as Director of CIA, Charles Mingus as Secretary of Peace, Armstrong as Secretary of Agriculture and Ellington as Secretary of State. This jazzed administration was, alas, never to take power, but music itself has left more inheritance than any government. The fact that I write these words in a Korean coffee entirely covered with jazz speaks of itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Playlist
Related content:
Dizzy Gillespie is concerned about the nuclear and environmental disaster in vintage animated films
Louis Armstrong plays historic Cold War concerts in East Berlin and Budapest (1965)
When Louis Armstrong arrested a civil war in the Congo (1960)
Louis Armstrong plays the trumpet with Egyptian pyramids; Dizzy Gillespie charms a snake in Pakistan
How the CIA secretly used Jackson Pollock and other abstract expressionists to fight the Cold War
Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.