| The Real Ambassadors | |
|---|---|
 Original Cast Recording | |
| Music | Dave and Iola Brubeck Louis Armstrong |
| Productions | 1962Monterey Jazz Festival |
The Real Ambassadors is ajazz musical developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s byDave and Iola Brubeck, in collaboration withLouis Armstrong and his band. It addressed theCivil Rights Movement, the music business, America's place in the world during theCold War, thenature of God, and a number of other themes. It was set in afictional African nation called Talgalla, and its central character was based on Armstrong and his time as ajazz ambassador.[1] It was the first major large scale musical collaboration between Dave and Iola Brubeck and served as a template for their future musical collaborations. Songs from the musical were recorded by Columbia Records and a soundtrack album was released in 1962, just before the show's premiere at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival with an all star cast.[2]
In writing this work, the Brubecks drew upon experiences they and their friends and colleagues had touring various parts of the world on behalf of theUS State Department. The Brubecks and Armstrong (among many other musicians such asDizzy Gillespie,Benny Goodman, andDuke Ellington) were part of a campaign by the State Department to spread American culture and music around the world during the Cold War, especially into countries whose allegiances were not well defined or that were perceived as being at risk of aligning with theSoviet Union. Fittingly,The Real Ambassadors was about the important role that musicians play as unofficial ambassadors for their countries.[3]
Among the events referenced, directly or indirectly, were the 1956 student riots inGreece in which stones were thrown at the US Embassy, which dissipated following performances by Dizzy Gillespie; Louis Armstrong's 1956 visit toGhana as the guest of Prime MinisterKwame Nkrumah; and Armstrong's dispute with theEisenhower Administration andPresident Eisenhower personally over the handling of the1957 Central High School Crisis inLittle Rock, Arkansas.
| The Real Ambassadors | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album | |
| Released | 1962 (1962) |
| Recorded | September, December 1961 |
| Studio | Columbia 30th Street (New York City) |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Label | Columbia |
| Producer | Teo Macero |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| New Record Mirror |  [4] |
The musical's soundtrack album was recorded in September and December 1961 in theColumbia Recordsrecording studio on 30th Street inNew York City, and was released the following year. It was produced byTeo Macero. Performers included Dave Brubeck and his band (includingbassistGene Wright anddrummerJoe Morello, but not includingsaxophonistPaul Desmond); Louis Armstrong and his band (includingtrombonistTrummy Young, drummer Danny Barcelona, bassist Irving Manning, clarinetist Joe Darensbourg, and pianistBilly Kyle);vocalese groupLambert, Hendricks & Ross; and vocalistCarmen McRae. Its most recent release was oncompact disc on June 14, 1994, bySony’sLegacy label.[5]
The musical was performed in a cut-down version of 10 tunes, with Iola Brubeck narrating live, at theMonterey Jazz Festival in 1962 by Brubeck and his band; Armstrong and his band; Lambert, Hendricks & Ross; and Carmen McRae. Television cameras, though present, did not capture the performance.[1] Forty years later, in 2002, The Real Ambassadors returned to the Monterey Jazz Festival, this time featuring theDave Brubeck Quartet,Lizz Wright,Roy Hargrove, andChristian McBride.[6] Archival footage of this performance is available through the Monterey Jazz Festival Collection at Stanford University.[7] The first revival of the musical was presented at the 2013 Detroit Jazz Festival with Bill Meyer using the same format of a concert performance with narrator as the Brubecks had staged at Monterey. It was next performed in New York City for the first time, in 2014, atJazz at Lincoln Center, featuring original vocalist who performed at the Monterey premiere, Yolande Bavan, this time in the role of Narrator.[8] Connecticut jazz vocalist Dianne Mower has been making efforts to bring about aBroadway revival of the show. A slide/vocal clip of Louis Armstrong singing the title tune at Monterey can be foundhere. Songs from the album were performed through TheLouis Armstrong House in 2021, with narration by Alphonso Horne and featuring footage in both the Brubeck and Armstrong homes, which can be viewed on Youtube.[9]
The Real Ambassadors was able to capture the often complicated, and sometimes contradictory, politics of the State Departments tours during the Cold War Era. Addressing African and Asiannation building in addition to the US civil rights struggle, it satirically portrayed the international politics of the tour.[10] The musical also addressed the prevailing racial issues of the day, but did so within the context of witty satire. Below is an excerpt of Armstrong's opening lines to the piece "They Say I Look Like God".
They say I look like God.
Could God be black? My God!
If all are made in the image of thee,
Could thou perchance a zebra be?He's watchin' all the Earth.
He's watched us from our birth.
And if He cared if you black or white,
He'd a mixed one color, one just right.
Black or white... One just right...
Despite Iola Brubeck's intention for some of her lyrics to be light and humorous in presentation, believing that some of the messages would be better received if presented in a satirical manner, Armstrong saw this performance as an opportunity for him to address many of the racial issues that he had struggled with for his entire career, and he made a request to sing the song straight. In one 2009 interview with Dave Brubeck, he remarked on Armstrong's seriousness: "Now, we wanted the audience to chuckle about the ridiculous segregation, but Louis was cryin'... and every time we wanted Louis to loosen up, he'd sing 'I'm really free. Thank God Almighty, I'm really free'."[11] After years of demeaning roles in his public performances, the collaboration inThe Real Ambassadors offered Armstrong material that was closer to his own sensibility and outlook.[10]
The studio recording was finished in just one take, and everyone in the studio was "crying their eyes out" by the end of the performance. Armstrong's straight performance of Iola's lyrics, combined with Brubeck's subtle pianocomping and gorgeous background vocals performed by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross created a powerful, emotional musical experience for all involved.
Later, at the live performance of "The Real Ambassadors" with Armstrong at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival, Lambert, Hendricks, and Bavan put sackcloths and hoods over their heads (which they lifted before singing) just before beginning "They Say I Look Like God". The performance was not filmed, and Brubeck still regrets not having had the cash on hand to pay the festival's $750 fee to record the performance, stating that it was a "terrible goof" that the live performance wasn't filmed.
Asterisked selections appeared on the 1994 CD release, but not on the original LP release.All songs by Dave Brubeck and Iola Brubeck - except "My One Bad Habit" is by Dave Brubeck, Iola Brubeck andElla Fitzgerald.
Penny M. Von Eschen.Satchmo Blows up the World: Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004).ISBN 0674015010.
