jazz diplomacy

Delivering invigorating Latin jazz was only part of pianist Chucho Valdés's agenda Saturday night at the Warner Theatre; he also affirmed alliances between various Afro-Cuban idioms and several American jazz legacies.

The programme is conducted in partnership with the Lincoln Center, and produces an annual series of international tours for ten American ensembles performing jazz, urban, or other American roots music at venues outside of the US.

Wynton Marsalis pulled a young Cuban trumpeter aside as he left the Mella Theater here on Wednesday after a Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra concert. The band was here for a residency that ended over the weekend, and Mr. Marsalis had seen 17-year-old Kalí Rodríguez play a few nights earlier at an official reception for the American musicians.

Recent years have seen a welcome resurgence in U.S. Cultural Diplomacy, which after honorable service in the Cold War, sailed into the doldrums in the mid-1990s. Today, the State Department is reaching out to foreign publics in partnership with major private sector partners including Jazz at the Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music as well as maintaining its own program of visits, exhibitions and tours. While the new initiatives began under the administration of George W.

June 24, 2010

Any performance, but particularly if it’s an impromptu jazz performance or jam session, is a matter of communication -- one may even say, diplomacy...Such was the case during the special performance of the New York City-based Mark Sherman-Tim Horner Jazz Quartet on June 17 at the official residence of US Ambassador Harry Thomas, Jr. in North Forbes, Makati [Philippines].

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