jazz ambassadors tour

How the U.S. Used Jazz as a Cold War Secret Weapon

A lmost exactly 60 years ago, in the crisp, early spring of 1958, a young boy from California named Darius shuffled through the streets of Warsaw. He shivered; it still felt like winter, and snow frosted the bullet holes that peppered the city’s buildings, a stark reminder that the Second World War had concluded little more than a decade previously. Poland was in Russia’s sphere of influence, and Darius was there as part of a mission orchestrated by the U.S. State Department. His brief: to gain exposure to foreign cultures, and not cause any trouble.

This moment was a new experiment in what is known as “cultural diplomacy.” Darius was tagging along because his father, the famous pianist Dave Brubeck , was a jazz ambassador.

The State Department hoped that showcasing popular American music around the globe would not only introduce audiences to American culture, but also win them over as ideological allies in the cold war. The Brubeck Quartet’s 12 performances in Poland were some of the first in a long tour that would never stray far from the perimeter of the Soviet Union. They passed through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Other tours would allow jazz legends like Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie to trumpet American values in newly decolonized states in Africa and Asia. The idea was always the same: keep communism at bay by whatever means possible.

In Poland, audiences were used to more formal, Soviet-approved culture like ballet and opera. Early jazz had flourished in the country in the 1930s, but after the Soviet takeover following the end of the war, jazz was forbidden from the airwaves, believed inferior to the high arts that had government support. An underground scene resisted this repression; they tuned in, when they could, to “Jazz Hour,” a shortwave radio show broadcast by Voice of America. Brubeck’s performances — the first of any American jazz band behind the iron curtain — were an exceedingly rare opportunity for Poles to see jazz played live.

The response to Brubeck’s first concert, performed in Szczecin on the border between Poland and East Germany, was rapturous. “It was uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time,” Darius Brubeck, now in his 70s, tells TIME. “Our whole era of propaganda and demonization just evaporated in seconds.”

His father, who was moved by the dedication of Polish jazz fans, would often address the crowd at his performances. “No dictatorship can tolerate jazz,” he said . “It is the first sign of a return to freedom.”

The State Department had first realized jazz’s potential as a cold war weapon just three years before the Brubeck family found themselves in Poland. “In that moment, the U.S. and the USSR both saw themselves as models for developing nations,” says Penny Von Eschen, a professor at Cornell and an expert on the jazz ambassador program. “They were in fierce competition to win the hearts and minds of the world.” Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a congressman with close ties to the jazz community, first suggested sending jazz musicians around the world on state-sponsored tours in 1955. No time was wasted, and by 1956 the first jazz ambassador, Dizzy Gillespie, was blowing America’s horn in the Balkans and the Middle East. “America’s secret weapon is a blue note in a minor key,” proclaimed the New York Times .

Gillespie’s first tour was a great success, and provided the blueprint for a whole host more in the following decades. Jazz bands had toured abroad independently for years, but State Department support allowed the music to reach geopolitically strategic locations lacking real profit incentive.

The music of jazz, which was structured around improvisation within a set of commonly agreed-upon boundaries, was a perfect metaphor for America in the eyes of the State Department. Here was a music of democracy and freedom. What the bands looked like was important too. “The racism and violence within the U.S. was getting international exposure,” says Von Eschen. “For President Eisenhower and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, this was a great embarrassment.” By sending bands comprised of black and white musicians to play together around the world, the State Department could engineer an image of racial harmony to offset the bad press about racism at home.

“In the late 1950s, as the civil rights movement took hold, the violence intensified,” says Hugo Berkeley, the director of a new film, Jazz Ambassadors , premiering on PBS in the spring. The film shows how in 1957, in protest against the Little Rock crisis, Louis Armstrong cancelled plans for a State Department tour through the Soviet Union. It was not until 1961, when the civil rights movement had made significant headway, that Armstrong changed his mind, and agreed to tour Africa. “There was this feeling that a page was being turned in the political discussion of race,” Berkeley says.

Berkeley’s film sets out to answer the question of why black musicians chose to cooperate with the State Department’s mission of making a case for America as the greatest country in the world. “This question was clearly a paradox,” Berkeley says. “They were being asked to do this thing, but they didn’t feel good about the way their country treated African American people. The question is, how do they go to present a positive version of their nation at the same time?”

The first ambassador, Gillespie, was a black man who had grown up in the South, who had no illusions about the irony of promoting America’s ‘freedom’ abroad whilst remaining a second-class citizen at home. He refused to be briefed by the State Department before a performance. “I’ve got 300 years of briefing,” he said. “I know what they’ve done to us and I’m not going to make any excuses.”

When Dave Brubeck and Louis Armstrong returned home from their tours, they set out to tackle the ironies of the program in a musical titled The Real Ambassadors . The script was written primarily by Brubeck’s wife, Iola, who accompanied him and the children on the 1958 tour. She cast Armstrong as a version of himself, a jazz ambassador touring the globe. The story begins with him being mistaken for a real ambassador, which leads him to ponder his position. “Who’s the real ambassador?” Armstrong asks in a musical interlude. “Though I represent the government, the government don’t represent some policies I’m for.”

The musical was designed to “bring home the absurdity of institutionalized political racism in the U.S.,” says Darius Brubeck, reminiscing decades later. “To ask, how can we preach to the world about democracy, when we had a situation where the south was still segregated?” The musical was only performed once in public during the 20th century, at Monterey Jazz Festival in 1962, and then fell into relative obscurity. A flurry of activity recently suggests interest is growing again. Performances at high profile venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, and interest from documentary makers like Berkeley, seem poised to throw the jazz ambassadors back into the limelight.

After all, it may not be too much of an exaggeration to say the jazz ambassadors could have saved the world. “The cold war was a militarized conflict, which was diffused by cultural exchange,” says Berkeley, between rushes of his documentary at a studio in London. “And you needed both of those, because if you didn’t have cultural exchange, the militarized conflict could get out of hand.”

Thirty years after the concerts in Poland, in 1988, Dave Brubeck was invited to soundtrack nuclear disarmament talks between Reagan and Gorbachev, in Russia. “That really did work, in terms of breaking the ice between the delegations,” Darius says. “It was something they could focus on, where they could just have some fun together and be human beings.” The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed soon afterwards, limiting the possibility of a catastrophic nuclear war breaking out.

The spirit of the jazz ambassador program is still going strong, though most state funding has dried up. Now, a patchwork of initiatives are keeping the idea of cultural diplomacy alive, including institutions like the Fulbright program and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy. Darius Brubeck remains a key advocate, carrying the flame of his father, who died in 2012 .

Although Darius, his brother Mike and his mother Iola were forbidden by the State Department from following the quartet on the tour past Turkey, the experience stuck with him throughout his life.

“You can say that there’s an element of cultural imperialism, but it really was in the spirit of sharing,” he says. Now a professional pianist himself, he played in Poland a few years ago, and people who were at the concerts in 1958 came. Some were in their 90s.

“It wasn’t so much that they had to hear me play,” he says. “It was a way of demonstrating what it meant to them at the time.”

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Jazz Ambassadors of The United States Army Field Band

Saturday April 13, 2024, 2:00pm

Ticket holders must be seated by 1:45pm.

Running Time: 1 hr and 15 mins with no intermission.

Age Recommendation: All Ages

Free Community Concert First Come, First Served Tickets

Limit 4 tickets per person.

General Admission

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Contact our Box Office: Monday-Friday 11:30 am - 5:30 pm 607-734-8191 or 800-724-0159 [email protected]

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Clemens center presents.

The Jazz Ambassadors is the official touring big band of the United States Army. Formed in 1969, this 19-member ensemble has received great acclaim at home and abroad performing America’s greatest original art form, jazz.

Concerts by the Jazz Ambassadors are programmed to entertain all types of audiences. The band’s diverse repertoire includes big band swing, bebop, Latin, contemporary jazz, standards, popular tunes, Dixieland, vocals, and patriotic selections, many of which are written or arranged by members of the Jazz Ambassadors.

The Jazz Ambassadors has appeared in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, and throughout Europe. Recent notable performances include concerts at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Jazz Education Network Conference, and an appearance on the Colbert Report. Gordon Goodwin, Bobby Shew, Ernie Watts, and the Dave Brubeck All-Star Quintet are just a few of the outstanding jazz artists who have shared the stage with the Jazz Ambassadors. The band has been featured in joint concerts with Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Pops, the Colorado Pops Orchestra, and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. The Jazz Ambassadors’s rigorous touring schedule and reputation for excellence has earned it the title “America’s Big Band.”

Dates/times/programs are subject to change.

Ticket prices vary for each performance and are either Reserved or General Admission seating. For patrons with special needs, please inquire about services when placing your order.

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The Jazz Ambassadors

Airs Friday, April 30, 2021 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2

The Cold War and Civil Rights movement collide in this remarkable story of music, diplomacy and race.

In 1955, as the Soviet Union’s pervasive propaganda about the U.S. and American racism spread globally, African-American Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. convinced President Eisenhower that jazz was the best way to intervene in the Cold War cultural conflict.

For the next decade, America’s most influential jazz artists, including Dizzy Gillespie , Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington , Benny Goodman and Dave Brubeck , along with their racially-integrated bands, traveled the globe to perform as cultural ambassadors.

But the unrest back home forced them to face a painful moral dilemma: how could they promote the image of a tolerant America abroad when the country still practiced Jim Crow segregation and racial equality remained an unrealized dream?

Told through striking archival film footage, photos and radio clips, with iconic performances throughout, "The Jazz Ambassadors" reveals how the U.S. State Department unwittingly gave the burgeoning Civil Rights movement a major voice on the world stage just when it needed one most.

Leslie Odom, Jr. narrates the film.

Notable Talent:

• Quincy Jones , Musician and Arranger
• Charlie Persip , Drummer, 1965 Dizzy Gillespie Tour
• Adam Clayton Powell, III, Son of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
• Darius Brubeck , Jazz Musician
• Bill Crow , Bass Player, Benny Goodman USSR Tour
• Leslie Odom, Jr., film narrator
• Hugo Berkeley, Peabody Award-winning director ("Land Rush," "A Normal Life")
• Mick Csáky , producer (producer/ director of “Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock And Roll” for AMERICAN MASTERS )

Noteworthy Facts:

• Spurred by presenter Willis Conover’s hugely-popular "Voice of America" radio show, audiences worldwide develop a passion for American jazz.
• When Louis Armstrong plays before more than 100,000 people in West Africa, U.S. diplomats take note, thinking that jazz could give America an edge in the Cold War.
• In January 1956, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie kicks off his tour of the Middle East and Turkey to help counter Soviet stories about American racism.
• Over the next 10 years, more than 20 tours featuring renowned jazz musicians visit over 100 countries, giving Civil Rights an international platform even while the performers themselves questioned representing a nation still roiling with segregation and intolerance.
• Benny Goodman and his mixed-race band’s 1962 tour of the Soviet Union was the first time that the Russians permitted a foreign jazz band to tour the region.
• The U.S. State Department scaled back the Jazz Ambassadors program when Duke Ellington’s tour of the Middle East and India was tragically cut short by JFK’s assassination.

Buzzworthy Moments:

• Louis Armstrong performing in the British West African colony of The Gold Coast (now Ghana), where he dedicates the iconic song “Black and Blue,” about the agony of racism, to Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah.
• Quincy Jones shares his incredible experiences at age 22 as Dizzy Gillespie’s musical director, arranger and trumpet player with the band, performing in countries including Iraq, Iran, Syria and Pakistan.
• In a press interview after the September 1957 incident in Little Rock, Arkansas where white crowds prevented African American children from entering their school, Louis Armstrong discusses racism in American homes and says he refuses to lie about it overseas.
• In a rare interview on Swedish television amidst the U.S. struggle towards Civil Rights, Duke Ellington discusses the sacrifices and cultural contributions made by African Americans, as well as jazz being recognized as “the American Music” while the genre was “mostly Negro.”

Watch On Your Schedule:

This program is no longer available to stream on demand on PBS. You can purchase or rent the film on Amazon Prime Video .

A co-production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET and Antelope South Limited and Normal Life Pictures , in association with the BBC and ZDF , in collaboration with ARTE . Directed by Peabody Award-winner Hugo Berkeley and produced by Emmy-winner Mick Csáky. For THIRTEEN: Benjamin Phelps is coordinating producer, Julie Anderson is executive producer and Stephen Segaller is executive in charge.

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@bucknellu social media accounts, meet our students social media accounts, the jazz ambassadors of the u.s. army field band.

MILITARY BAND

Friday, April 12, 7:30 p.m. Weis Center Concert Hall

FREE! Tickets required

Known as America's Big Band, the Jazz Ambassadors are the premier touring jazz orchestra of the U.S. Army. Formed in 1969, this 19-piece ensemble has received critical acclaim throughout the U.S. and abroad performing America's original art form, jazz. Performances by the Jazz Ambassadors offer some of the most versatile programming of any big band. Concerts include classic big band standards, instrumental and vocal solo features, patriotic favorites, contemporary jazz works and original arrangements and compositions by past and present members of the Jazz Ambassadors. Many of these original works are available for free download through Perspectives, a jazz education initiative by the Jazz Ambassadors.

The Jazz Ambassadors have performed in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, India and Europe, and in joint concerts with the Boston Pops, National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and Seattle Symphony and at Carnegie Hall with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops. Appearances at international jazz festivals in Montreux, Switzerland; Newport, R.I.; Toronto; Brussels, and the Netherlands have been met with enthusiastic acclaim, as well as concerts in England, Wales, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic and Norway.

www.ArmyFieldBand.com/about/ensembles/Jazz-Ambassadors

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The Jazz Ambassadors of the United States Army Field Band

The US Army's Jazz Ambassadors present, "This We'll Defend," a video-integrated, patriotic concert experience in honor of Veterans Day. Join America's Big Band as they celebrate military service through music and storytelling. Honor our Greatest Generation, welcome home Vietnam Veterans, and get to know today's American soldiers. Be inspired and entertained by the military's finest musicians as The Jazz Ambassadors share the meaning behind the motto, "This We'll Defend."

Tickets Go On Sale Friday, October 6, 2023 at 10AM

Note:  There is a limited number of tickets that will be available to reserve online.  Please call 480-782-2680 or stop by our box office to reserve your tickets.

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ARMY JAZZ AMBASSADORS

The Jazz Ambassadors is the official touring big band of the United States Army. Formed in 1969, this 19-member ensemble has received great acclaim at home and abroad performing America’s greatest original art form, jazz. Concerts by the Jazz Ambassadors are programmed to entertain all types of audiences. The band’s diverse repertoire includes big band swing, bebop, Latin, contemporary jazz, standards, popular tunes, Dixieland, vocals, and patriotic selections, many of which are written or arranged by members of the Jazz Ambassadors. The Jazz Ambassadors has appeared in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, and throughout Europe. Recent notable performances include concerts at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Jazz Education Network Conference, and an appearance on the Colbert Report. Gordon Goodwin, Bobby Shew, Ernie Watts, and the Dave Brubeck All-Star Quintet are just a few of the outstanding jazz artists who have shared the stage with the Jazz Ambassadors. The band has been featured in joint concerts with Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Pops, the Colorado Pops Orchestra, and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. The Jazz Ambassadors’s rigorous touring schedule and reputation for excellence has earned it the title “America’s Big Band.”

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This is a free show.   (orders limited to 8 tickets per order regardless of order method (online, over the phone, in person)., for group ticket sales (up to 25 people), please call 724-836-8000., ticketholders must be seated by 2:45 pm. patrons without tickets can fill available seats at 2:45 pm..

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The event is finished., ticket sales are final; no refunds or exchanges unless the show is canceled. in the event of a cancellation or postponement, certain service and historic preservation charges are not refundable., ticket guidelines, the palace theatre 21 west otterman street greensburg, pa 15601, • westmoreland    cultural trust • greensburg garden   & civic center.

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The Palace Theatre has been a major force in Westmoreland County’s cultural scene for generations. Opened September 2, 1926, as the Manos Theatre, The Palace Theatre today hosts the widest variety of live entertainment in the area in a beautifully renovated 1369-seat facility, located across from the county courthouse.

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THE JAZZ AMBASSADORS OF THE US ARMY FIELD BAND

April 21 @ 3:00 pm 5:00 pm.

The Jazz Ambassadors of The US Army Field Band

Sunday, april 21 3 pm.

The Jazz Ambassadors of the US Army Field Band is the official touring big band of the United States Army . Formed in 1969, this 19-member ensemble has received great acclaim at home and abroad performing America’s greatest original art form, jazz.

The band’s diverse repertoire includes big band swing, bebop, Latin, contemporary jazz, standards, popular tunes, Dixieland, vocals, and patriotic selections, many of which are written or arranged by members of the Jazz Ambassadors.

The Jazz Ambassadors has appeared in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, and throughout Europe. Recent notable performances include concerts at the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Jazz Education Network Conference, and an appearance on the Colbert Report.

Gordon Goodwin, Bobby Shew, Ernie Watts, and the Dave Brubeck All-Star Quintet are just a few of the outstanding jazz artists who have shared the stage with the Jazz Ambassadors.

The band has been featured in joint concerts with Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Pops, the Colorado Pops Orchestra, and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.

The Jazz Ambassadors’ rigorous touring schedule and reputation for excellence has earned it the title “America’s Big Band.”

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A FREE PERFORMANCE, BUT TICKETS ARE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY.

This event is General Admission, but for questions related to accessible seating, please call UCPAC’s Box Office at 732-499-8226 .

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Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World

This exhibition was curated by Dr. Curtis Sandberg, former Meridian Vice President for the Arts, and 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 . Major sponsorship was provided by Anheuser-Busch Foundation , Verizon Wireless , The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation , Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sonnenreich, Ms. Meryl Chertoff, and Mr. Raymond Garcia, and Dr. Fruzsina M. Harsanyi.

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Home » Jazz Articles » Under the Radar » State and Mainstream: The Jazz Ambassadors and the U.S. ...

State and Mainstream: The Jazz Ambassadors and the U.S. State Department

He had no political message, no slogan, no plan to sell or save the world. Yet he, and the other traveling musicians like him had inadvertently served a national purpose. —Iola Brubeck

Sidney Bechet

Early cultural exchanges.

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Duke Ellington

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The jazz ambassadors program.

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Charlie Christian

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Teddy Wilson

Coleman Hawkins

Billie Holiday

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Paul Desmond

Carmen McRae

The paradox of cultural diplomacy.

Archie Shepp

Ornette Coleman

Charles Mingus

The end of an era, the contemporary jazz ambassadors program: american music abroad (ama).

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Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories and includes a local jazz events calendar.

Karl Ackermann

New York based contributor. Author of: "A Map of Jazz: Crossroads of Music and Human Rights" and keynote speaker/host of Pearson Jazz Foundation's International Jazz Day event (2018, 2019)

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Jazz’s Caribbean roots

These days, Jamaicans rarely have the opportunity to experience a jazz performance by international musicians, but I maintain it is essential that Kingston participate in staging jazz concerts because the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also designated Kingston an international Music City in 2015, with part of its mandate promoting diverse music events. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange must be commended for supporting Jazz Day since its inception.

UNESCO introduced International Jazz Day in 2011, with the very influential and famous pianist and composer Herbie Hancock as its ambassador. It was introduced “to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe” to be celebrated annually on April 30. It has been honoured in Jamaica since then, allowing at least one international jazz ensemble annually.

When Grange was approached regarding resources to produce the event, she didn’t hesitate. In thanking her for supporting the event, she responded: “Well, first of all, I view it as a family affair. And as Jamaicans, we celebrate Jazz Day. I am excited to again offer my support as minister of culture for such a progressive musical genre. Jazz was created because of slavery and is at the root of our ska music, and ska is the mother of all other forms of popular Jamaican music, so how could I not support such an occasion?”

While jazz is generally associated with New Orleans as its birthplace, that American city, according to several cultural historians, myself included, it is geographically and culturally more Caribbean than North American. Furthermore, New Orleans was populated by a mixture of African, French, Creole, and Caribbean enslaved and free peoples who first innovated jazz. Indeed, in his allegorical account of jazz recorded on The Drum is a Woman , Duke Ellington acknowledges jazz’s Caribbean antecedence with the depiction of Carribee Joe as the drummer and Madam Zajj as the drum who arrived in New Orleans and produced a child called Jazz.

Even Jamaica’s Marcus Garvey employed music to uplift blacks with the performances of his Universal Negro Improvement Association’s (UNIA) band, the Universal Jazz Hounds.

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Jamaica has been the birthplace of several renowned jazz musicians who have gained worldwide recognition since the 1930s and International Jazz Day allows us to celebrate and showcase their incredible talent. So we also celebrate Alpha Boys School from where we have Jamaicans, including Leslie ‘Jiver’ Hutchinson, Bertie King, Dizzy Reece, Harold ‘Little G’ McNair, Wilton Gaynair, Joe Harriott, Monty Alexander, Totlyn Jackson and many more.

FORERUNNERS

All but two of these musicians are from the renowned Alpha Boys School. They established themselves internationally by touring, recording, and residing in metropolitan cities playing jazz. These are the forerunners of Raymond Harper, Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Rico Rodriquez and Johnny Moore, Alpherians who created ska, the precursor to the globally popular Jamaican music.

Jazz Day attracts jazz enthusiasts, young musicians, and cultural advocates and is not just a series of concerts and festivals occurring worldwide. It also includes an educational component emphasising the importance of sharing jazz history and reflecting on the mutual respect and democratic principles necessary for humanity and music to thrive in an environment of freedom.

Jazz Day establishes a theme to be maintained through June. The Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) is mounting an exhibition, Jazz: What Does Jamaica Have to Do with It, at the Institute of Jamaica as a counterpart to this concert to celebrate Jamaican jazz musicians. JaMM will also host events throughout the exhibit, including workshops, masterclasses, performances, and talks highlighting Jamaican jazz musicians. In addition to those above, the series will focus on the multidimensional innovations of Joe Harriott, the Jamaican alto saxophonist, composer, Free Form conceptualist, and bandleader.

The upcoming concert on Tuesday night is staged to inspire diversity, enhance humanity, bring people together, and entertain. It features internationally recognised musician Curtis Lundy and his Quintet. Curtis is no stranger to Jamaica. He first performed at the late Blue Monk Jazz Gallery 1983 as the bassist with the world-acclaimed tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. He again performed in a duet with pianist Steven Scott in Kingston in 2018. Lundy’s illustrious career began as a young musician playing in the band of jazz Deva Betty Carter. Over the years, he has recorded and performed with, among others, Pharoah Sanders, John Hicks, Clark Terry, Chico Freeman, Mark Murphy and his sister vocalist Carmen Lundy.

The evening will also feature some of Jamaica’s best jazz artistes. The JaMM Orchestra, led by Ozou’ne Sundalyah, its musical director, has demonstrated an expansive palate of jazz styles and is sure to excite. Maintaining the tradition is Keisha Patterson, who has established herself as the pre-eminent jazz singer on the island since the reign of others, such as the late Totlyn Jackson and the first lady of the form, Myrna Hague. Patterson will perform with her Trio featuring drummer, Desi Jones. The audience-pleasing Dr Kathy Brown Trio will unite the evening with her lilting upbeat style. Kingston Night Market will provide a festive experience for this family affair. MC Elaine Wint will guide proceedings with her well-honed appreciation and understanding of the jazz aesthetic.

The International Jazz Day aims to raise awareness of jazz’s roots, future, and impact, showcasing its liberating expressions and influence on our island’s rich musical heritage. The concert also highlights the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding while promoting international cooperation and communication.

Therefore, International Jazz Day provides a unique cultural exchange, learning opportunity, and “good time” experience. The concert will be at the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre, Ranny Williams Centre, 36 Hope Road, Kingston, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30.

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Theatres in Moscow

Cultural life of Moscow city is various and rich! Operas, ballets, symphonic concerts... Russian composers have created some of the most beautiful classical music. Russian classical music is very popular in Moscow. It is performed in many beautiful historical venues. Do not forget to include a visit to a concert hall in your itinerary when you are planning your stay in Moscow! And do it in advance.

There are almost no restrictions on dress code in Russian theatres. Visitors may wear jeans and sports shoes, they may have a backpack with them. Only shorts are not allowed.

A typical feature of Russian theatre – visitors are bringing a lot of flowers which they present to their favorite performers after the show.

Here are some practical advices where to go and how to buy tickets.

The Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is the oldest, the most famous and popular opera and ballet theatre in Russia. The word “Bolshoi” means “big” in Russian. You can buy a ticket online in advance, 2-3 months before the date of performance on the official website . Prices for famous ballets are high: 6-8 thousand rubles for a seat in stalls. Tickets to operas are cheaper: you can get a good seat for 4-5 thousand rubles. Tickets are cheaper for daytime performances and performances on the New Stage. The New Stage is situated in the light-green building to the left of the Bolshoi's main building. The quality of operas and ballets shown on the New Stage is excellent too. However, you should pay attention that many seats of the Bolshoi’s Old and New Stages have limited visibility . If you want to see the Bolshoi’s Old Stage but all tickets are sold out, you can order a tour of the theatre. You can book such a tour on the official website.

If you want, following Russian tradition, to give flowers to the performers at the end of the show, in the Bolshoi flowers should be presented via special staff who collects these flowers in advance.

In August the Bolshoi is closed.

The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre

This theatre is noteworthy. On one hand, it offers brilliant classical opera and ballet performances. On the other hand, it is an experimental venue for modern artists. You can check the program and buy tickets online here http://stanmus.com/ . If you are opera lover, get a ticket to see superstar Hibla Gerzmava . The theatre has a very beautiful historic building and a stage with a good view from every seat. Tickets are twice cheaper than in the Bolshoi.

The Novaya Opera

“Novaya” means “New” in Russian. This opera house was founded in 1991 by a famous conductor Eugene Kolobov. Its repertoire has several directions: Russian and Western classics, original shows and divertissements, and operas of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is very popular with Muscovites for excellent quality of performances, a comfortable hall, a beautiful Art Nouveau building and a historic park Hermitage, which is situated right next to it. You can buy tickets online here http://www.novayaopera.ru/en .

Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center

The Opera Center has become one of the best theatrical venues in Moscow. It was founded in 2002 by great diva Galina Vishnevskaya. Nowadays its artistic director is Olga Rostropovich, daughter of Galina Vishnevskaya and her husband Mstislav Rostropovich, great cellist and conductor. Not only best young opera singers perform here, but also world music stars do; chamber and symphonic concerts, theatrical productions and musical festivals take place here. You can see what is on the program here http://opera-centre.ru/theatre . Unfortunately “booking tickets online” is available in Russian only. If you need help, you can contact us at and we can book a ticket for you. 

Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and The Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory

These are two major concert halls for symphonic music in Moscow. Both feature excellent acoustics, impressive interior, various repertoire and best performers. You can check the program here http://meloman.ru/calendar/ . You need just to switch to English. Booking tickets online is available only for owners of Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian phone numbers. If you need help, you can contact us and we can book a ticket for you. 

Moscow International Performing Arts Center (MIPAC)

This modern and elegant concert hall houses performances of national and foreign symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, solo instrumentalists, opera singers, ballet dancers, theatre companies, jazz bands, variety and traditional ensembles. Actually, it has three concert halls placed on three different levels and having separate entrances. The President of MIPAC is People’s Artist of the USSR Vladimir Spivakov, conductor of “Virtuosy Moskvy” orchestra. You can see pictures of the concert halls here http://www.mmdm.ru/en/content/halls . The program is impressive in its variety but is not translated into English. You can contact us at and we can find a performance for you.

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Alex Cuba Embraces His Original Sound

Grammy Award–Winning Artist Set to Perform at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club May 8

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Alex Cuba , born Alexis Puentes, thrives on a free-flowing creative process. The Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter “receives” his inspiration in moments when music is the last thing on his mind. If he’s on a plane and an idea strikes, he’ll retreat to the bathroom and record the melody. “Way up in the sky, you know,” he laughed. “Close to God, I guess.” 

Cuba’s commitment to artistic freedom has fueled a remarkable career with nearly 100 million streams and a shelf overflowing with accolades — a Grammy, four Latin Grammys, and two JUNO Awards. A talented songwriter, he is also the creative force behind half of Canadian icon Nelly Furtado’s acclaimed Spanish album, Mi Plan . Currently on his national 17-date Paralelo Tour, the singer will perform at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club on Wednesday, May 8. He hopes to share new music while on tour and is excited about his stop in Santa Barbara — a place he’s never been.

The 50-year-old is calling in from Canada, where he’s lived since 1999. Originally from Artemisa, Cuba, he shared that music comes from his father’s side. His father, Valentin Puentes, was a music educator in Cuba and taught him how to play guitar when he was 6. He locked himself in his room practicing for so long that his parents sometimes had to remind him to eat. Cuba shared that by the time he was 16, he was the best bass player in his town. 

When I asked him to describe his sound, he said that he loves when people ask him that question because it gives him trouble. Sure, he grew up listening to Cuban music and is heavily influenced by it, but his goal as an artist is to explore all sounds. You can’t confine him to a box, nor does he want that. He hopes everyone, Latin or not, can relate to his music. “If I was inside a box, you would have to be a fan of Latin music to understand,” he said. Drawing influence from many different genres of music, he’s formed a sound that “transcends culture.” Even if you can’t understand what he says, you can feel the beat — find meaning in the melody. 

He taps into his Cuban roots through percussion instruments like the Afro-Cuban shekere. “There is no Cuban music without those instruments,” he said. Cuba sings in both Spanish and English and incorporates the sounds of jazz, folk, and funk, making for very groovy melodies.

Authenticity is very important to him. Who is he, if not his true self? “I’m not afraid of sounding original,” he said. “I’m not afraid of sounding different.” He feels most like himself when playing solo shows around Canada. He has immersed himself in Canadian culture and said he feels comfortable playing for an English-speaking audience and being an ambassador of Latin and Cuban culture in Canada. 

Cuba’s laughter was contagious throughout our conversation. His positive energy is palpable. While his music is filled with uplifting messages, he readily admits that even positive people get down sometimes, and when that happens, he’s not interested in making music. “But when I’m at peace, when I’m happy, I tell you, it’s like a river coming on me.” 

When inspiration does strike, he acts immediately. When the pandemic hit, he turned his living room into a recording studio. The album he recorded there, Mendó , won a Grammy in 2022 for Best Latin Pop as a producer, artist, and engineer. He assures me that he does have a proper studio now. 

With a discography of nine albums, Cuba isn’t slowing down anytime soon. “They have been having a hard time keeping me down,” said Cuba on his work ethic. He is releasing a new album on May 31 called Voices of My Family . This collection of songs is unique from his previous works in that it includes the voice of his aunt from Cuba, who has dementia. During the pandemic, his cousin sent him recordings of her singing a capella. He heard a “beautiful voice that no one in the family knew she had.” He received more recordings and added backing vocals, sound, and harmony. “This album has a strong feeling of love and unity,” he said.

An Evening with Alex Cuba takes place at SOhO on Wednesday, May 8. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with his performance scheduled for 8 p.m. To purchase tickets, see sohosb.com . 

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Terry Carter, Barrier-Breaking Actor and Documentarian, Dies at 95

He was a rare Black presence on “Combat!” and “The Phil Silvers Show,” then made well-regarded documentaries on luminaries like Duke Ellington and Katherine Dunham.

By Robert D. McFadden

Terry Carter, who broke color barriers onstage and on television in the 1950s and ’60s and later produced multicultural documentaries on the jazz luminary Duke Ellington and the dancer-choreographer Katherine Dunham, died on Tuesday at his home in Midtown Manhattan. He was 95.

His death was confirmed by his son, Miguel Carter DeCoste.

Mr. Carter was raised in a bilingual home next door to a synagogue in a predominantly Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. His best friend was the future jazz great Cecil Taylor . In his first stage role, at 9, Mr. Carter played the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama on a voyage of discovery.

And in a wayfaring six-decade career, he was a merchant seaman, a jazz pianist, a law student, a television news anchor, a familiar character on network sitcoms, an Emmy-winning documentarian, a good will ambassador to China, a longtime expatriate in Europe — and a reported dead man; in 2015, rumors that he had been killed were mistaken. It was not him but a much younger Terry Carter who had died in a hit-and-run accident in Los Angeles by a pickup truck driven by the rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.

Slightly misquoting Mark Twain, Mr. Carter posted on social media: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

While he acted in some 30 television series and movies, Mr. Carter was best known to viewers as Sgt. Joe Broadhurst, the sidekick to Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver) on NBC’s “McCloud” series from 1970 to 1977, and in 21 episodes of “Battlestar Galactica,” as Colonel Tigh, second-in-command of the starship fleet in ABC’s original science-fiction series in 1978-79. (The series was revived for a second run from 2004 to 2009.)

In the 1950s, when many American entertainments were racially segregated and hundreds of actors had been blacklisted during Communist witch-hunts by congressional investigators, Mr. Carter met the veteran actor Howard Da Silva, whose Hollywood and television career had stalled in 1951 after he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

“It was Howard who talked me into becoming an actor — he’s the one who changed my life,” Mr. Carter said in an interview for this obituary in 2018. “I quit law school and began studying at Howard’s acting school. I think he called it the Mobile Theater Workshop.”

Mr. Carter appeared in several Black-cast stage productions, both on Broadway and Off Broadway, before breaking into television as the only regular Black cast member on “The Phil Silvers Show” (1955-59). He played Pvt. Sugie Sugarman in 92 half-hour episodes of the CBS comedy about an Army con man, Sergeant Bilko, and his motor pool crew.

The show was filmed before studio audiences in New York City. Memorized lines were occasionally flubbed, there were awkward pauses, and the actors often improvised to cover the gaffes, all of which created a spirit of camaraderie in the cast.

“Well, I am the last living survivor of ‘The Phil Silvers Show,’” Mr. Carter said in 2018. “But I’m reluctant to take too much credit for being the only Black man on the show. I was only a cog in the wheel. I slew the foe, but I was just a ham like everybody else. It was a wonderful bunch.”

In 1958, Mr. Carter co-produced an Off Broadway version of Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The predominantly Black cast featured the actress Hilda Simms as the faded Southern belle Blanche du Bois, and Black actors played Stanley and Stella Kowalski, while white actors filled smaller parts.

Mr. Carter starred with the British actress Sally Ann Howes in “Kwamina,” a 1961 avant-garde musical that explored the romance between a white female doctor and an African tribal chief’s son. After previews in Toronto and Boston, it ran for 32 performances on Broadway.

Also in 1961, Mr. Carter appeared in the Hollywood film “Parrish,” starring Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden and Troy Donahue in a Delmer Daves adaptation of a Mildred Savage novel about family conflicts on a tobacco plantation. And in 1965 he was the only Black actor to portray a G.I. in any of the 152 episodes of the World War II series “Combat!,” which appeared on ABC from 1962 to 1967.

After decades onstage and onscreen, Mr. Carter formed his own production company in 1975 and made educational documentaries. In the 1980s, he expanded into more sophisticated documentaries for PBS, the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1988, his two-part documentary, “A Duke Named Ellington,” for the PBS American Masters Series, became the United States entry in television festivals around the world. Narrated and directed by Mr. Carter, it used recorded interviews with Ellington, who died in 1974, and filmed performances by his orchestra. It won CINE Golden Eagle and Golden Antenna awards and an Emmy nomination.

“We went through about 70 hours of film footage, over 90 percent of which has never been seen before,” Mr. Carter told The Times. “Going through this material was like discovering plutonium when you’re searching for a common metal.”

He also produced and directed “Katherine Dunham: Dancing With Life,” documenting the career of the dancer, choreographer and anthropologist who died at 96 in 2006. Described as a “work in progress,” the film was screened in 2013 at Town Hall in Manhattan.

Terry Carter was born John Everett DeCoste on Dec. 16, 1928, in Brooklyn, the only child of William and Mercedes (Durio) DeCoste. His father was a handyman, and his mother managed the home. At home he learned Spanish and gained an appreciation for cultural diversity. He was an excellent student in public schools and graduated from the elite Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in 1946.

Mr. Carter later joined the merchant marine and served on a ship that carried European war refugees to Latin America. He played piano with a jazz combo in Boston while attending Northeastern University, and studied law at St. John’s University for nearly two years before turning to acting. (Returning to Northeastern, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree there in 1983.)

Mr. Carter’s first major Broadway role was the lead opposite Eartha Kitt in “Mrs. Patterson” (1954), about poverty and ambitious dreams.

In 1964, while working in Europe, he married Anna Scratuglia, his Italian tutor in Rome. They had two children, Miguel and Melinda, and were divorced in 1990. In 1991, he married Beate Glatved, a film editor. She died in 2006. In 2009, he married Selome Zenebe, who had a daughter, Hiwot Minale, from a previous relationship.

In addition to his son, Mr. Carter is survived by his wife, his daughter, his stepdaughter and one granddaughter.

From 1965 to 1968, Mr. Carter was New England’s first Black news anchor, at WBZ-TV in Boston, then a Westinghouse-owned NBC affiliate.

He went to China in 1991 for the United States Information Agency on a cultural lecture tour, and after nearly two decades working in Scandinavia, he returned to New York in 2013.

Mathew Brownstein contributed reporting.

An earlier version of this obituary erroneously credited Mr. Carter with a distinction. He was the only regular Black cast member on the 1950s sitcom “The Phil Silvers Show”; he was not the only Black actor to play a character on that show.

How we handle corrections

Robert D. McFadden is a Times reporter who writes advance obituaries of notable people. More about Robert D. McFadden