Preaching to the Choir: American Jazz and Cold War Diplomacy in Southeast Asia

During the Cold War, the U.S. State Department sponsored international concert tours by many prominent jazz musicians in the hopes of presenting an attractive image of American culture and values. Preaching to the Choir: American Jazz and Cold War Diplomacy in Southeast Asia focuses on Benny Goodman’s Asian concert tour in 1956-57. It uses photographs, correspondence, clippings, and other archival materials to show the interaction between music and diplomacy. This exhibit developed from a term paper that Eugene Lim ’18 wrote last year for Prof. Rebekah Ahrendt’s freshman seminar on Music and Diplomacy. Eugene did archival research in the Benny Goodman Papers at the Gilmore Music Library, and also in the national archives of Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Credits

Eugene Lim '18, curator