Jazz Diplomacy and Pakistan’s progressive jazz scene
During the the Cold War the United States who was struggling with its image at the time, sent out their jazz musicians through out the world to better their image and build international relationships through music.
The first Jazz ambassador being Dizzy Gillespie and his band.
Karachi was the choice of venue for his concert in Pakistan in 1956. One of the most iconic images of Gillespie (picture 2) shows him wearing a turban, sitting on the ground and charming a snake with his trumpet in the Pakistani metropolis. In Karachi he refused to play until the doors were opened to the underprivileged children because they priced the tickets so high the people they were trying to gain friendship with couldn’t make it.
Maliha Masood, author of Dizzy in Karachi, a book published in 2013, told a website that the concert helped nurture an “entire generation of Pakistanis who were influenced by American pop culture,” including her father.
“He talked about the mad rush for tickets, the impromptu jam session and Dizzy’s signature trumpet with the bent bell,” Masood writes.
Fun fact: His stay in Karachi left such an impact on him that in 1957 Gillespie and his band released a song called ‘Rio Pakistan' which you can find on YouTube and Spotify.
Sources: The New York Times, "when Ambassadors had Rhythm" by Fred Kaplan 2008
the Friday Times
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