Customer Reviews

Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War

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Von Eschen is a historian of the cold war, and her book overlaps other recent works detailing how the demands of the cold war forced otherwise cautious presidential administrations to back civil rights and government support for the arts when they really would have preferred to buckle under to conservative congressional lobbies and their own reactionary impulses. The overlap is unfortunate, as without reading May Duziak's "Cold War Civil Rights" and Stephen Stonor Saunders' "The Cultural Cold War" this book leaves some small holes that may nevertheless prove confusing at times.

In a nutshell, this is Von Eschen's premise: in the 1950's the Eisenhower administration was getting hammered by the Soviets over civil rights atrocities in the south, and losing its influence over the newly emerging nations of Africa and Asia. In addition, the Soviets were sending symphony orchestras and ballets around the world to popular acclaim. America couldn't match them, because the state of the arts in this country was so bad. So Ike, who loathed both civil rights and jazz, started sending integrated jazz bands overseas to demonstrate racial progress and show off a form of cultural expression the Russians couldn't match. Dizzy Gillespie was the first, in 1956, followed by Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Benny Goodman and others during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. For the artists, it was a chance to fly the flag for jazz, keep big bands employed in the hardscrabble days of the 60's, and prove their joint loyalty to nation and race.

After a bit of a disorganized start in which she can't decide between following a chronological or artist-based organization, the author wisely settles on the latter. Although Von Eschen is no jazz critic, she avoids any flubs by simply staying out of the way and sticking to what she does know. For the jazz fan/historian, the highlights include a wonderful account of the joint Dave & Iola Brubeck/Louis Armstrong project "The Real Ambassadors," a musical comedy meant for Broadway but only performed once at Newport. It was based on their experiences as State Department representatives and good-naturedly sends up everyone involved. (It was studio recorded in the weeks before Newport and is available from Amazon as a Columbia CD). Also, there is a detailed acccount of Benny Goodman's 1963 disaster of a trip to Russia, where Benny managed to alienate the Russians, the State Department, and his own musicians.

In all, a well-written book. Jazzbos will be happy as long as they keep in mind that this is not exclusively a jazz book and are willing to stick with it through the cultural and political history.

This book appeals to me on two levels. As a jazz musician, I found it to be the most comprehensive, thoughtful presentation I've ever seen on an important episode in jazz history: the U.S. government-sponsored jazz ambassador tours of the mid-1950s through the late 1970s. As a political scientist who grew up during the Cold War, I appreciate the linkages that the author makes between her subjects and the geopolitics and domestic struggles of the day.
Jazz buffs will delight in the well-documented accounts of the overseas experiences of Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and Benny Goodman. Many other jazz ambassadors and their noteworthy band members are covered in less detail, or simply mentioned briefly (for example, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Charles Mingus, Sonny Stitt, Phil Woods). Some readers may wish that their favorite artist had been given more coverage, but in any case you'll be surprised at how many performers in the jazz community of that era were involved in this multi-decade enterprise.
As the bands endured grueling travel schedules to appear in seemingly unlikely locations for jazz concerts (such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union, to name just a few), they were often embraced and sometimes challenged, not just by host country officials, but also by State Department employees at U.S. embassies. A fascinating sample of these interactions is chronicled here, along with the almost universal enthusiasm for the performers by audiences and local musicians at all of their destinations.
Jazz aficionados and readers too young to remember any part of the 1950s-70s may have less interest in the book's discussion of the interplay between the jazz tours, the U.S. civil rights movement, and the Cold War policies of containment of the Soviet Union and courtship of non-aligned nations. Nonetheless, there were important dynamics at work that should attract more than just academic interest. The book does an excellent job of showing that the jazz tours presented a face of America to the world that was not exactly what the State Department was expecting, but perhaps was better because it was more authentic.

i was very prepared for this item to be in detail about Mr. Armstrong and pleasantly found it to address a multitude of other topics regarding politics and music. and not just music but Jazz as it was shared in a most unique manner with the rest of the world by our government. i highly recommend this book!

Philip

I love kindle books, but this book does not show any of the pictures that are in the paperback. There is only a picture description and a disclaimer saying that the pictures are not displayed in the kindle edition. This is horrible. The publisher should be ashamed to sell a crippled version of the book without a disclaimer. Amazon should not sell crippled version of books without everything, pictures and other features included in the kindle edition.