US Consul General Nina Fite launched a groundbreaking exhibition, ‘Jam Session: America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World,’ at the Nairang Art Gallery on Wednesday.
The exceptional collection of photographs and documents, drawn from important archives from around the United States, chronicles the tours of American jazz legends as they traveled the globe on behalf of the US Department of State.
From the mid-1950s through the 1970s, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and others served as cultural diplomats, transcending national boundaries, and sharing American jazz to many countries including Pakistan. The exhibition will be on display until May 29, 2012.
“Although its origins are in the United States, jazz has become an international art form, performed and enjoyed across cultures, languages, and musical traditions,” remarked Consul General Fite. “Jazz holds the continuing promise of bridging gaps between peoples, elevating our shared aspirations, and providing a common platform for our many and varied cultural traditions,” she continued.
The first Jazz Ambassadors programme was initiated in Pakistan and included jazz icons, Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck. The Jam Session exhibition includes 55 frames containing images and documents of musicians visiting 30 countries in four continents-each of which provides a unique insight into this successful diplomatic initiative. Millions of people experienced these concerts and thrilled to the many styles and variations of the remarkable American art form called jazz music.
Also on hand at the exhibition launch were Public Affairs Officer Brinille Ellis, Nairang Gallery Owner Nayyar Ali Dada and FM 89 Jazz programme host Masood Hasan who gave remarks about the influence of jazz in music and its influence in Pakistan.
