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SATCHMO BLOWS UP THE WORLD: JAZZ AMBASSADORS PLAY THE COLD WAR
By Penny Von Eschen


Reviewed by Matthew Thomas
MAR 31, 2008

Following the end of the Cold War and the opening up of communications channels for a free flow of information, the United States government played a less active role in promoting a positive image of American culture abroad, perhaps under the assumption that the international appeal of American popular culture would do the job on its own.  One of the unintended consequences of this hands-off approach to public diplomacy has been a rising tide of anti-Americanism, based upon, among other things, the inadequacy of popular culture to provide a full and accurate picture of American society and values.  There is now an increasing consensus that active steps need to be taken in order to counter the international perception of American society as uncultured and unsophisticated.  Reinvestigating the past successes and failures of American cultural diplomacy as described by Penny Von Eschen in her latest book on the “jazz ambassadors” of the Cold War might provide a good starting point for analysis. Von Eschen’s thought provoking book entitled Satchmo Blows up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War, explores how and why the U.S. Department of State sent American jazz artists around the world as cultural ambassadors during the Cold War.  On one hand, Von Eschen argues, the prominence of black artists, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong, as well as integrated bands led by white musicians such as Benny Goodman and Dave Brubeck, helped counter international criticism of racism and segregation in American society.  On the other, jazz music was promoted by the State Department as an exclusively American cultural contribution:  “Unlike classical music, theater, or ballet, jazz could be embraced by U.S. officials as a uniquely American art form.  Government officials and supporters of the arts hoped to offset what they perceived as European and Soviet superiority in classical music and ballet, while at the same time shielding America’s Achilles heel by demonstrating racial equality in action.” Von Eschen’s survey of music as a cultural diplomacy tool begins with Dizzy Gillespie’s tour of the Middle East in 1956 and ends with Clary Terry’s tour of Greece, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in 1978.  In the context of the Cold War, however, perhaps most significant was the jazz ambassadors’ ability to penetrate the Iron Curtain and establish an influence where little existed in the way of cultural and ideological exchange.  Jazz tours of the Soviet Union appealed to the general public and often cunningly bypassed the Soviet authorities by impromptu public performances and unannounced jam sessions.  During Benny Goodman’s tour of the Soviet Union in 1962, Goodman took out his clarinet in Red Square and mocked the Soviet guards by playing “Pop Goes the Weasel” as they marched by.  There is no better testimony to the success and potent influence of such performances than the response of the Soviet authorities to attempts by Russian jazz musicians to participate in jam sessions or speak with the band members in private.  On the night of their final concert,…...  -->

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