The Jazz Ambassadors (2018)

05/04/2018 (US) • Documentary • 1h

The untold story of America's coolest weapon in the Cold War

Overview

The Cold War and Civil Rights collide in this remarkable story of music, diplomacy and race. Beginning in 1955, when America asked its greatest jazz artists to travel the world as cultural ambassadors, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and their mixed-race band members, faced a painful dilemma: how could they represent a country that still practiced Jim Crow segregation?

The Jazz Ambassadors (2018)

05/04/2018 (US) • 1h

Documentary

The untold story of America's coolest weapon in the Cold War

Overview

The Cold War and Civil Rights collide in this remarkable story of music, diplomacy and race. Beginning in 1955, when America asked its greatest jazz artists to travel the world as cultural ambassadors, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and their mixed-race band members, faced a painful dilemma: how could they represent a country that still practiced Jim Crow segregation?

Top Billed Cast

Leslie Odom Jr.

Narrator

Self

Dizzy Gillespie

Self (archive footage)

Louis Armstrong

Self (archive footage)

Self

Self

Self (archive footage)

Self

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Status

Released

Original Language

English

Budget

-

Revenue

-

Keywords

cold war

jazz singer or musician

civil rights

racial segregation

jim crow laws

race relations

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