The Jazz Ambassadors

1h

Documentary

The Cold War and Civil Rights collide in this remarkable story of music, diplomacy and race. Beginning in 1955, when America asked its greatest jazz artists to travel the world as cultural ambassadors, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and their mixed-race band members, faced a painful dilemma: how could they represent a country that still practiced Jim Crow segregation?

Production Companies

Normal Life Pictures

Antelope

Cast

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Self (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Self (archive footage)
Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Self (archive footage)

Release date

4th May 2018

Status

Released

Spoken languages

English