Jazz Photo Exhibit Features the Greats as They Charmed the World!
April 3, 2012
Tucson, AZ -- Pima Community College is pleased to host a month-long exhibit of photographs of some of the world’s greatest musicians as they traveled the globe playing that most American of art forms, jazz.
The Jam Session: America’s Jam Ambassadors Embrace the World exhibit, organized by Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C., features photos of musicians who, as part of a U.S. Department of State initiative, were international “ambassadors of jazz” from the 1950s to1970s – everyone from Louis Armstrong and Count Basie to Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie.
The photos will be on display at the second-floor lobby of the Campus Center Building at Downtown Campus, 1255 N. Stone Ave., from April 17 to May 25. The exhibit kicks off Tuesday, April 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. with a reception in the Amethyst Room at Downtown featuring light refreshments and the PCC Jazz Ensemble.
The exhibit is sponsored by PCC, the Tucson Jazz Society and the Meridian International Center, a partner of the U.S. Department of State.
“Not only is jazz an exhilarating form of music, but it is also a living piece of our culture and history -- nationally and locally in Tucson,” said Patricia Houston, academic dean at Pima’s Downtown Campus. “The Jam Session exhibit traces the musical art form through its cultural, artistic and even historical and political impact on the world and now we can connect it right back to Tucson and our own rich jazz traditions here. We are delighted to be able to offer this glimpse of history to our students and the local community.”
“We are so pleased to bring this important and engaging exhibit to Pima,” said Stuart Holliday, president and CEO of Meridian International Center. “This exhibit has toured the world and touched millions of people abroad with a uniquely American art form. It is wonderful to reflect that good will back in the U.S.”
Jam Session chronicles the international tours of legendary jazz musicians selected by the U.S. State Department to serve as roving cultural “ambassadors” from the 1950s through the 1970s. Over 100 compelling images, together with posters and other materials, portray the journeys of music greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, and Sarah Vaughan.
These musicians toured countries ranging from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to the Middle East and North Africa, where they played their world-famous music and interacted with people abroad, promoting a positive view of the United States at a time when Cold War tensions were at their height. It was perhaps the most successful public diplomacy program of our time. The traveling exhibition has reached millions of people in more than 35 countries, providing a unique perspective on American cultural expression. Next month, the exhibit will be on display in Beijing, China’s prestigious National Centre for the Performing Arts.
The exhibit was curated by Dr. Curtis Sandberg, Meridian’s Senior 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.
Photo: Lucille Armstrong films Louis in a classic tourist setting/Giza, Egypt, 1961/Courtesy of the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
- Where: Downtown Campus, Campus Center building, 1255 N. Stone Ave.
- When: April 17, 6 p.m.-8 p.m., opening reception in the Amethyst Room, Downtown Campus, 1255 N. Stone Ave.; exhibition, April 17-May 25, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, exhibit open in the second-floor lobby.
- Admission: Free.
CONTACT:
C.J. Karamargin
Vice Chancellor for Public Information and Government Relations
(520) 206-4850