Nobody
wants to talk about it, but America is losing its edge on the soft power front.
We used to be the unchallenged world leader when it came to movies, TV, and
contemporary music, but, we no longer have the same overwhelming advantage in
2018. Gagas and Beyonces are increasingly irrelevant in the era of internationally
rising K-Pop groups like Girls Generation and 2NE1. It was a different story
during the Cold War. Some of the most influential jazz artists in history participated
in U.S. State Department sponsored good will tours—and the world loved them. Hugo
Berkeley chronicles the rocky but mostly successful jazz diplomatic initiative
in The Jazz Ambassadors (promo here), which premieres
tomorrow night on PBS.
Before
the musicians stepped onto the airport tarmacs, their music had already won
over the world, especially countries behind the Iron Curtain, thanks to Willis
Conover’s Voice of America jazz program, Music
USA. Listeners eagerly traded samizdat recordings of his broadcasts, drinking
in his music and the freedom jazz represents. Seeing them in person was an
ecstatic joy they could never reasonably hope for. The so-called “non-aligned”
nations were a tougher room to play. They were highly susceptible to the USSR’s
incessant propaganda exploiting Southern segregation. Inevitably, this led to
awkward moments when musicians touring on behalf of the State Department spoke
out against Jim Crow.
Not
surprisingly, Penny Von Eschen, author of Satchmo Blows Up the World, appears as a talking head and served as advisor to the
film, which makes sense since she has written the only book on this subject.
Yet, that means the film reflects her biases, at least to some extent. A great
deal of time is devoted to the national embarrassment of the Jim Crow South,
but there is absolutely no discussion of the Soviet’s oppressive human rights
record and the resulting stakes involved in the Cold War. If all knew about the
Cold War came from Jazz Ambassadors,
you would be amazed the West won and most likely depressed at the injustice of
it. Obviously, this is highly problematic.
Nevertheless,
it is nice to see Conover get his due. The presence of Russian and Polish jazz
musicians and fans also provides a bit of balance. Still, the selective
cherry-picking can be frustrating. In fact, they make Duke Ellington sound like
a rather reluctant participant, whereas he believed in the American cause (as
well as the need for greater progress on Civil Rights). He even forged a
friendship with Richard Nixon.
It
is even more depressing to realize how many of the musicians of that era are
now gone. Only Charli Persip (it is strange the film does not use his preferred
spelling, identifying him instead as “Charlie”), Bill Crow, and Quincy Jones were
available to talk about their personal involvement in the tours. However, some
of the best recollections come from musician Darius Brubeck, who accompanied
his legendary father Dave Brubeck on the quartet’s tour of Poland. Happily, one
critically important thing the film gets right is the real deal jazz score composed
by Michael J. McEvoy and recorded by an ensemble of London-based jazz musicians.
