TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp On Jazz.
During the Cold War, Duke Ellington became one of America’s most powerful cultural ambassadors. Beginning in the 1960s, Ellington and his orchestra toured Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa as part of U.S. State Department goodwill missions. Wherever they went, Ellington presented jazz rooted in history, dignity, and creativity.
His orchestra demonstrated discipline and elegance, while his compositions carried the blues, swing, and the lived experience of Black America. Audiences heard something unmistakably American—yet deeply universal.
Ellington also listened. He absorbed local sounds and cultures, which later shaped his work. He demonstrated that jazz could represent a nation—complex, expressive, and endlessly evolving.
This has been Rapp On Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by Layman Publishing Partners, celebrating 50 years of expert content creation, authoritative information management, and standards-driven print and digital production.