美国国家公共电台 NPR 'The Jazz Ambassadors': Cold War Diplomacy And Civil Rights In Conflict

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Finally today, we revisit the Cold War. It wasn't just an arms race. It was also a battle about values and culture. And one of the U.S.'s weapons of choice...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DIZZY GILLESPIE: The weapon that we will use is the cool one. (Playing trumpet).

MARTIN: Those are the words of the great jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, who is just one of the world-class musicians the U.S. government deployed¹ in the '50s and '60s to win hearts and minds around the globe. All this as the African-Americans among them were still fighting for human rights and dignity in the U.S. A new documentary, available on PBS, tells the story. It's called "The Jazz Ambassadors," and director Hugo Berkeley is with us now from our bureau in New York to tell us more about it. Hugo, thanks so much for joining us.

HUGO BERKELEY: Thank you very much for having me on.

MARTIN: Well, set the stage for us, if you would. When we hear Cold War, I think a lot of people think about the Cuban missile crisis. But this was also an era when the U.S. and Soviets³ were fighting a propaganda war. Could you talk a little bit about that?

BERKELEY: Absolutely. In the 1950s you have the Cold War that's happening, obviously. In the mid-1950s, you've really got the burgeoning⁴ of the civil rights movement in the United States. And you've also got this great process of decolonization that's happening around the world, where countries like India, African countries, Asian countries are having their own struggle to throw off their colonial oppressors and to embrace liberty. And that means that these countries then enter into a Cold War dynamic where they're being asked to choose either to side with the Americans or with the Soviets on the other side. And so there's this propaganda effort to try and reach out to these newly-independent countries - specifically, India is a huge one in the mid-1950s - to join their side. And that leads to this very interesting jazz ambassadors program.

MARTIN: One of the key drivers of this was Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a congressman⁵ - African-American congressman who represented Harlem. What was his role in this?

BERKELEY: So Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a fascinating guy. He was also married to Hazel Scott, who was a jazz pianist. And I think in that couple, they really blend politics and show business. And Adam Clayton Powell is someone who sees the value of American jazz musicians, of America's indigenous⁶ art form in terms of communicating to developing countries, countries that were recently experiencing independence. And he tries to convince the State Department that this is a great cultural resource. As the State Department is sending some American cultural exports like the Boston Symphony, or acapella singers, or folk dancers around the world, he says, hold on, why don't we send jazz musicians? There, an art form that's native to the United States, that no one else can compete with.

MARTIN: Maybe this is a good place to mention a radio host named Willis Conover.

BERKELEY: Absolutely. Willis Conover is such a wonderful person and almost maybe a story that people who are into jazz know but who maybe could enjoy a little bit more time in the public limelight. He was a radio broadcaster on "Voice Of America" who launched a show in 1955 called "Music USA."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILLIS CONOVER: Some music scholars have said that jazz, which was born here in the United States, is the one new art form in the world. Others say jazz is more than an art. It's a way of life. Jazz guarantees each musician absolute freedom within a framework of cooperation.

MARTIN: Why was he so important to this whole endeavor?

BERKELEY: Well, he's someone who sees jazz as somehow very symbolic⁷ of democracy in this - you know, everything's seen through a Cold War lens. And he's a huge figure around the world. His show is received ecstatically. The State Department in 1955 starts to receive all these letters saying how much they enjoy it. And I think people say, wow, this is so popular, maybe we could do something more with it. And he's a champion of jazz on the international stage then for the next 30 years or so in American broadcasting.

MARTIN: And also, importantly, he offered a platform to these musicians. I mean, he interviewed - what? - you know, a who's who of African-American and other jazz artists and gave them this - I mean, they were already known, I guess, by the time they got - they were starting to go overseas. People would have known who they were, right?

BERKELEY: Absolutely. There'd been a fairly well-trodden path outside of the United States in terms of touring artists in Europe and the edges of Europe, maybe a little bit in South America as well. But Willis Conover's broadcasts took the music of Dizzy Gillespie, or Louis Armstrong, or Dave Brubeck way beyond the reach that commercial tours could support at that time.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAVE BRUBECK'S "PENNIES FROM HEAVEN")

BERKELEY: And so when these artists showed up, I think they themselves were so amazed at the knowledge, the passion, the enthusiasm that, you know, audiences in Congo, or in Egypt, or in Poland had for their music. They had no idea, and that was really eye-opening for them.

MARTIN: But we also see moments in your film when a number of these artists were conflicted about being ambassadors for the U.S. at the time when they were still facing, you know, very obvious blatant⁸ discrimination and racism⁹ in the U.S. I mean, you know, you're thinking - you're watching this and you're thinking, you know, they would have been turned away from some hotels in the United States, you know, at that time. How did they deal with that dilemma¹⁰?

BERKELEY: I think that's the real heart of the film, and what we've set out to answer is that question. You know, this was obviously a great opportunity for them to tour the world and to go to new places. But it was - there was a paradox¹¹ at its heart, which is you're being asked to stump¹² for a country that doesn't treat your own people as equal citizens. And that is the great dilemma of America's stance in the Cold War at that time. So my effort in making this film was really to understand how each individual artist responded to that question in their own words. And we really looked around the world for pieces of archive, interviews, memoir¹³ writings, whatever we could find where Louis Armstrong, or Duke Ellington, or Dizzy Gillespie could answer that for themselves.

And what's so great about these musicians, they insist on almost unanimously telling it like it is - not sugar coating anything, being honest. And that comes through both in what they say and in how they play. And that's what really was the most successful, and probably from a State Department point of view, the least expected outcome of this. But it's what really worked.

MARTIN: There's a very moving image in your film of Louis Armstrong performing this jazz standard, "Black and Blue," in Ghana. It's a wonderful song. I'm not sure everybody always listens really carefully to the lyrics¹⁴, so I'm going to play a little bit of it. And then we can talk about what he's saying.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLACK AND BLUE")

LOUIS ARMSTRONG: (Singing) How would it end? Ain't got a friend. My only sin is in my skin. What did I do to be so black and blue?

BERKELEY: It's remarkable¹⁵ piece of footage to see Louis Armstrong singing that to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana in 1956 as that country's experiencing its own independence struggle. And Robin¹⁶ D.G. Kelley, who we interviewed in the film, speaks so eloquently¹⁷ about the universality of those lyrics about the desire to want to be other than you are. And Armstrong is really able to bridge this divide with that Ghanaian audience and specifically to such an important leader like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, such an important liberating¹⁸ figure in African politics and say, we sympathize. This is a universal issue, and we're somehow connected.

MARTIN: In the end, what do you make of their journeys? Do you think these musicians were ambassadors for the U.S., or were they in some ways ambassadors for music or for jazz as a kind of a universal language?

BERKELEY: I think that all of those things, actually. They are certainly ambassadors for the United States. And maybe it's a bit more difficult to imagine it from today's point of view, but the world they were inhabiting was so conditioned by this binary¹⁹ Cold War opposition²⁰ of Soviet² Communism and an American democratic values. So I really did get the sense as I researched this film and got closer to the thoughts of these musicians that they were very patriotic²¹ and they did want to help the United States. And yet, as many people who were involved in the film and we were able to interview attest²², there was - it was all about a kind of internationalism and a lack of a specific ideology²³ and forming connections around the world. So

that really goes beyond the, you know, the United States and its particular grievance²⁴ with the Soviet Union. So it's all of those things. And maybe that's what makes it both an interesting historical document but also a more universal one that I hope resonates today as well.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: That was filmmaker Hugo Berkeley talking about his new film "The Jazz Ambassadors." He joined us from our studios in New York. And you can now stream "The Jazz Ambassadors" on pbs.org.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

4 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

7 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

8 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

9 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

10 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

11 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

12 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

13 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

14 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

15 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

16 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

17 eloquently   

adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地)

参考例句：

• I was toasted by him most eloquently at the dinner. 进餐时他口若悬河地向我祝酒。
• The poet eloquently expresses the sense of lost innocence. 诗人动人地表达了失去天真的感觉。

18 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

19 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

20 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

21 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

22 attest   

vt.证明，证实；表明

参考例句：

• I can attest to the absolute truth of his statement. 我可以证实他的话是千真万确的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place. 这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

23 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

24 grievance   

n.怨愤，气恼，委屈

参考例句：

• He will not easily forget his grievance.他不会轻易忘掉他的委屈。
• He had been nursing a grievance against his boss for months.几个月来他对老板一直心怀不满。