{"product_id":"satchmo-blows-up-the-world-jazz-ambassadors-play-the-cold-war-9780674022607","title":"Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt the height of the ideological antagonism of the Cold War  the U.S. State Department unleashed an unexpected tool in its battle against Communism: jazz. From 1956 through the late 1970s  America dispatched its finest jazz musicians to the far corners of the earth  from Iraq to India  from the Congo to the Soviet Union  in order to win the hearts and minds of the Third World and to counter perceptions of American racism.  Penny Von Eschen escorts us across the globe  backstage and onstage  as Dizzy Gillespie  Louis Armstrong  Duke Ellington  and other jazz luminaries spread their music and their ideas further than the State Department anticipated. Both in concert and after hours  through political statements and romantic liaisons  these musicians broke through the governments official narrative and gave their audiences an unprecedented vision of the black American experience. In the process  new collaborations developed between Americans and the formerly colonized peoples of Africa  Asia  and the Middle East--collaborations that fostered greater racial pride and solidarity.  Though intended as a color-blind promotion of democracy  this unique Cold War strategy unintentionally demonstrated the essential role of African Americans in U.S. national culture. Through the tales of these tours  Von Eschen captures the fascinating interplay between the efforts of the State Department and the progressive agendas of the artists themselves  as all struggled to redefine a more inclusive and integrated American nation on the world stage.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45789847552053,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674022602","price":23.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674022607.jpg?v=1784700508","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/satchmo-blows-up-the-world-jazz-ambassadors-play-the-cold-war-9780674022607","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}