In 1956, Dizzy Gillespie became the first jazz musician to participate in the State Department's Cultural Presentations program, a multifarious initiative to positively influence public attitudes towards the United States around the world while simultaneously fighting communist propaganda. I argue that these LPs were never meant to document the tours with veracity rather, they were products of a political and technological moment when Gillespie's record label could leverage musical diplomacy to circulate an elevated vision for jazz within the country's cultural hierarchy. This article reveals how, despite the albums’ claims of representation from abroad, the LPs contain only a small portion of Gillespie's tour repertoire. ![]() The role that commercial record making played in the renegotiation of African Americans’ social position during this era, however, remains undertheorized. To date, scholarship about the tours highlights how Gillespie skillfully navigated the shifting political landscape both on and off the bandstand. Seeking to capitalize on this historic moment, Gillespie's record company issued two LPs featuring his ambassadorial ensemble: World Statesman (1956) and Dizzy in Greece (1957). ![]() Government's Cold War propaganda efforts abroad. In 1956, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie became the first jazz musician to participate in the State Department's Cultural Presentations program, a highly public aspect of U.S.
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