The Real Ambassadors
The following lyrics are those of “The Real Ambassadors”, written by Dave and Iola Brubeck, and performed by Louis Armstrong and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross (Lyrics Playground). It is the title song of the musical “The Real Ambassadors”, written by Dave and Iola Brubeck, originally recorded in 1961 (The Real Ambassadors). The play was produced in response to the jazz ambassadors of the Cold War and the racial issues that followed. It also celebrates Louis Armstrong’s travels as a jazz ambassador (Nocera). Jazz Ambassadors were the American jazz musicians sent on state sponsored tours around the world with the idea of using them “as cultural ambassadors” (Von Eschen 6), of American culture. Famous artists such as Dizzie Gillespie, Duke Ellington,
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Although these jazz tours were trying to promote the importance of black culture in America as stated above, there was still a massive problem with racism in the country, at the time. The first state sponsored Jazz tour was of Dizzie Gillespie in 1956 to the “Middle East with the aid of the President’s Emergency Fund” (Von Eschen 1). That being said, the president at the time was Dwight Eisenhower, who himself had been in carriages driven by black servants, was troubled of the Supreme Court in it’s 1954 case of Brown V. Board of Education where the court had shown concern for the lives of black school children, and was said to have felt uneasy around black people (Von Eschen 2). Not only did the president demonstrate racism towards African Americans, but America in itself was still a Jim Crow nation, with Jim Crow laws in effect. (Von Eschen 4). It can be observed that although there was an underlying problem of racism, African American culture was diffusing and actually starting to be seen as acceptable. That being said, the world knew there was a race problem in the United States, and thus the U.S. used the campaign as propaganda to defy the criticism of racism being engrained in their culture, and strived to build tighter relations and grab the Third World countries in Africa and Asia (Von Eschen
Although these jazz tours were trying to promote the importance of black culture in America as stated above, there was still a massive problem with racism in the country, at the time. The first state sponsored Jazz tour was of Dizzie Gillespie in 1956 to the “Middle East with the aid of the President’s Emergency Fund” (Von Eschen 1). That being said, the president at the time was Dwight Eisenhower, who himself had been in carriages driven by black servants, was troubled of the Supreme Court in it’s 1954 case of Brown V. Board of Education where the court had shown concern for the lives of black school children, and was said to have felt uneasy around black people (Von Eschen 2). Not only did the president demonstrate racism towards African Americans, but America in itself was still a Jim Crow nation, with Jim Crow laws in effect. (Von Eschen 4). It can be observed that although there was an underlying problem of racism, African American culture was diffusing and actually starting to be seen as acceptable. That being said, the world knew there was a race problem in the United States, and thus the U.S. used the campaign as propaganda to defy the criticism of racism being engrained in their culture, and strived to build tighter relations and grab the Third World countries in Africa and Asia (Von Eschen