Jazz Goes Global

Jazz emerged in New Orleans in the early 20th century from African American musical traditions blended with European harmony and Caribbean rhythms. The first jazz recording was made in 1917, and records, radio and touring bands spread it rapidly; by the 1920s Paris had a vibrant jazz scene where performers like Josephine Baker became stars. During the Cold War, the US State Department sent Jazz Ambassadors such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington on international tours from 1956 to showcase American culture.

This created a paradox: African American musicians represented American freedom abroad while facing segregation at home, and Armstrong publicly criticized the government during the 1957 Little Rock crisis. Jazz also took root locally, producing Ethio-jazz in Addis Ababa, Afro-Cuban jazz and Brazilian bossa nova. The story shows how a culture born from oppression became a global art form and a tool of diplomacy.