Jazz Diplomacy: Promoting America in the Cold War Era

Jazz as an instrument of global diplomacy transformed superpower relations in the Cold War era and reshaped democracyÂ’s image worldwide. Lisa E. Davenport tells the story of AmericaÂ’s program of jazz diplomacy practiced in the Soviet Union and other regions of the world from 1954 to 1968. Jazz music and jazz musicians seemed an ideal card to play in diminishing the credibility and appeal of Soviet communism in the Eastern bloc and beyond. Government-funded musical junkets by such jazz masters as Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Goodman dramatically influenced perceptions of the U.S. and its capitalist brand of democracy while easing political tensions in the midst of critical Cold War crises.