[FA Worldmusic] surge of diplomacy

[Anastasia Tsioulcas]

>Back in the '60's the biggest names in jazz were sponsored by the U.S.
> State
> Department on world tours. In 1960 Herbie Mann traveled to 15 African
> countries which resulted in the "Common Ground" album featuring Babatunde
> Olatunje. In 1963 Duke and his Orchestra toured Sri Lanka, Egypt, India,
> Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey - which was commemorated
> by the "Far East Suite". It should have been labeled the Near or Middle
> Eastern Suite but what the hay.

In case anyone's interested:

There is a really excellent book on this topic by Penny von Eschen called
"Satchmo Blows Up the World"...she examines in wonderful detail how the
American musicians participating in these trips very often had politics and
a message that were far more politically and socially progressive than--and
in certain instances even subverted--the "official message" the US
government meant to send. And in certain instances, the trips (especially to
African countries) underscored/encouraged the African-American artists' link
to a pan-African identity, which was one of the last things that the State
Department wanted to cultivate!


Best regards,
Anastasia


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www.anastasiat.com
Anastasia Tsioulcas
anastasiat at gmail.com