America’s Jazz Ambassadors Land at Hoover Square in Warsaw

Courtesy of Brubeck Collection, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Copyright Dave Brubeck

The American Embassy will be presenting an exhibit of Jazz Legends from the old “Jazz Ambassadors” tours June 27- July 26 at Hoover Square’s “Centrum Artystycznego Fabryka Trzciny” (Krakowskie Przedmieście 60A) in Warsaw.  From the mid-1950s through the 1970s, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and others served as cultural diplomats, transcending national boundaries, and making friends for our country.  Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World, an exceptional collection of photographs and documents drawn from archives around the U.S. chronicles the tours of American jazz legends as they traveled the globe on behalf of the U.S. State Department, announced Cultural Attaché Chuck Ashley.

Jam Session includes images and documents of musicians visiting 30 countries in four continents – each of which provides a unique insight into this successful diplomatic initiative. Millions of people experienced these concerts and thrilled to the many styles and variations of the remarkable American art form called jazz. The exhibit has been curated by Dr. Curtis Sandberg, Meridian International Center’s Vice President for the Arts, together with Professor Penny M. Von Eschen, an expert in the history of jazz diplomacy and author of Satchmo Blows Up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War.

To highlight the impact of American Jazz in Poland, Jam Session will be accompanied by a selection of historical photos taken by Polish photographer Marek Karewicz during the Jazz Ambassadors’ concerts in Poland.

Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World: June 27- July 26, 2009, Skwer – filia Centrum Artystycznego Fabryka Trzciny, Krakowskie Przedmieście 60A – Skwer Hoovera.

Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, President of Warsaw is the honorary patron of the exhibition and accompanying events.