TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
By the 1950s and ’60s, jazz had become a global art form. American musicians toured widely, sometimes as part of U.S. State Department “jazz ambassador” programs.
Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington echoed America across Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Audiences embraced the music wherever they went—and local musicians responded with their interpretations.
At the same time, jazz absorbed influences from around the world. Latin rhythms from Cuba and Brazil fueled new styles like Afro-Cuban jazz and bossa nova, made famous by Stan Getz and João Gilberto. Musicians like John Coltrane and Yusef Lateef explored Indian, Middle Eastern, and African sounds, weaving them into modern jazz.
Jazz was no longer just America’s music; it had become the world’s music.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.