Bird Lives
Last Friday we were in Kansas City visiting my brother and his family for the Thanksgiving holiday and we took the opportunity to see the terrific American Jazz Museum on 18th and Vine.
I was impressed with the museum and the whole jazz district. Stop in if you’re in the area.
But what really got to me was the photo exhibit: The Real Ambassadors. This collection of photos recounted the story of how a select group of jazz musicians, including Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and others, toured the world, creating genuine good will in a time of fear and suspicion – the so called “Cold War.”
Some people talk of “American Exceptionalism” and how the good old US of A is without a doubt the greatest country in the world. I stood there looking at those pictures with a lump in my throat and I was ashamed, as an American, of how we treated these artists here in the states.
But I was also uplifted, seeing Satchmo raised on a chair and carried triumphantly into an African stadium. There really is hope when the names you remember and the art they created outlive the hate and ugliness. Just listen to this, Armstrong’s intro to a performance of “The Real Ambassadors” at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival.
In my humble way, I’m the USA. Though I represent the government, the government don’t represent some policies I’m for.
History is a difficult thing, especially if you approach it with your eyes open and without preconceptions.
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