The Politics of UNESCO's International Jazz
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
FORUM FOR INTER-AMERICAN RESEARCH (FIAR) VOL. 12.2 (OCT. 2019) 5-14 ISSN: 1867-1519 © forum for inter-american research “Jazz Embodies Human Rights”: The Politics of UNESCO’s International Jazz Day MARIO DUNKEL (CARL VON OSSIETZKY UNIVERSITY OF OLDENBURG, OLDENBURG) Abstract This article explores the representation of jazz at UNESCO’s International Jazz Day, focusing in particular on the 2016 edition of the event hosted by former President Barack Obama at the White House. It locates Jazz Day in the history of US jazz diplomacy, demonstrating that the event results from strategies of the US government that emerged in the 1950s and sought to use jazz as an emblem of an American social order that was ethically superior to the Soviet Union. While Jazz Day – in the tradition of US jazz diplomacy programs – casts jazz as an embodiment of intercultural dialogue, diversity, and human rights, this article seeks to juxtapose this rhetoric with the event’s economics and politics. It argues that Jazz Day’s messages of diversity, intercultural dialogue, universal human rights, and peace, in their one-dimensional and non-intersectional form, ultimately serve to obfuscate the economic and political power interests that underlie the event. Contrary to its rhetoric, Jazz Day has so far failed to challenge the power structures that lie at the heart of a socially unequal global order built on the denial of basic human rights. Keywords: UNESCO, International Jazz Day, Politics, Jazz, Diplomacy, International Relations Introduction But jazz is also about diversity, drawing on roots in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and Celebrating the fifth edition of UNESCO’s elsewhere. And through jazz we learned International Jazz Day on 30 April 2016, UNESCO about discrimination, about racism, but we Director General Irina Bokova explained why learned about pride and dignity. Through the organization had decided to embrace jazz jazz we improvise with others, we live by introducing an annual International Jazz Day: together better, in dialogue and respect. Jazz I believe touches our hearts and souls and influences the way we think What is most important for us is that we and behave. And this is why UNESCO celebrate jazz as a dialogue among culture, created the International Jazz Day. (United as human rights, as quest for freedom, Nations) and for human dignity. Jazz was born in this country [the US], but now is travelling all around the world. It has helped shape Delivered as a contribution to Jazz Day’s main the American spirit, and now it is owned by event, the so-called Global Concert, Bokova’s all the people all over the world. This [sic] speech in many ways exemplifies the rhetoric is not only that jazz is a great music, it is that has framed UNESCO’s International Jazz because jazz carries strong values. Jazz is Day since its inception in 2011. Accordingly, jazz about freedom, about courage, renewing is a carrier of “strong” but highly opaque “values,” itself every time it is played, and we are including freedom, dignity, dialogue, and human seeing this with every single minute this rights. By thus framing jazz’s values, Bokova evening. Jazz is about civil rights and civil appropriates the music as an embodiment of dignity. It was the soundtrack of struggle UNESCO’s core mission. [1] At the 2017 Global in this country, and I would say beyond. Concert, Bokova would repeat verbatim parts 6 M. DUNKEL: “JAZZ EMBODIES HUMAN RIGHTS” of the speech she gave in 2016, confirming hand, and studies on the history of human rights, that musical differences mattered less than on the other, it is indebted to research on music jazz’s supposedly transhistorical essence as an and diplomacy by such scholars as Penny von embodiment of UNESCO’s ethical agenda. Eschen, Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Lisa Davenport, Rebekah Ahrendt, Jessica Gienow-Hecht, and This article explores the representation of jazz Martha Bayles. Exploring the functions of music at UNESCO’s International Jazz Day. It locates in international relations, their works have helped Jazz Day in the history of US jazz diplomacy, to establish the study of music diplomacy as a demonstrating that the event results from significant academic field that is located between strategies of the US government that emerged history, political science, and musicology. In in the 1950s and sought to use jazz as an her 2004 study Satchmo Blows Up the World: emblem of an American social order that was Jazz Ambassadors Play the Cold War, Penny ethically superior to the Soviet Union (Eschen von Eschen details the way in which the US 1-26). While Jazz Day – in the tradition of US government began to appropriate jazz music in jazz diplomacy programs – casts jazz as an the 1950s, demonstrating the extent to which embodiment of intercultural dialogue, diversity, jazz diplomacy was an integral part of US Cold and human rights, this article seeks to juxtapose War politics. Defined as an African-American this rhetoric with the event’s economics and musical genre, jazz became an emblem politics. Post-colonial feminist scholars such as of diversity and democracy, countering the Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Jacqui Alexander, negative images of US culture that resulted from and Sara Ahmed have pointed to the way in racist violence directed against the Civil Rights which the language of diversity can be emptied Movement (Eschen 1-26). In the course of two and dissociated from the “points at which power decades, the US State Department sent many relations meet” (Ahmed 14). As such, the of the most celebrated jazz musicians abroad, language of diversity can “bypass power and including Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Dave history,” providing a façade that hides rather Brubeck, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington, than exposes social inequality (Ahmed 14). The among others. Following the success of US jazz historian Samuel Moyn has similarly argued diplomacy programs, jazz, in the early 1960s, that the pervasive ethical concept of human became a more broadly Western instrument rights can be little more than an “empty vessel” in the ideological antagonism of the Cold War appropriated for non-humane political purposes as it was embraced by other Western cultural in highly contradictory and inconsistent ways institutes and governments including West (Moyn 51). This article argues that Jazz Day’s Germany (Dunkel, “Jazz – Made in Germany”). messages of diversity, intercultural dialogue, While the scale of American jazz diplomacy universal human rights, and peace, in their programs started to decrease in the late 1970s one-dimensional and non-intersectional form, (Eschen 251), jazz has remained an important ultimately serve to obfuscate the economic and diplomatic means for the US – despite the fact political power interests that underlie the event. that the organization of jazz diplomacy programs Contrary to its rhetoric, Jazz Day thus fails to has been handed over to Jazz at Lincoln Center challenge the power structures that lie at the (see Jankowsky 277) and the Thelonious Monk heart of a socially unequal global order built on Institute of Jazz. Significant jazz diplomatic the denial of such basic human rights as the missions since 2000 have included trips by US “right to life.” musicians to Vietnam, India, France, Morocco, and several other nations. In 2005, the Monk International Jazz Day as US Music Diplomacy Institute sent a group of musicians to Vietnam “to mark the 10th anniversary of the US and Vietnam My analysis of International Jazz Day is resuming diplomatic relations” (Thelonious informed by three main research areas. In Monk Institute of Jazz, About Us). Two years addition to drawing on the work on diversity by later, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter postcolonial and feminist scholars on the one accompanied a group of students to India as FORUM FOR INTER-AMERICAN RESEARCH VOL. 12.2 (OCT. 2019) 5-14 7 a contribution to the celebrations of the Indian 2014), France (Paris 2015), and Cuba (Havana nonviolent movement’s 100th anniversary. The 2017). The US is the only country that has hosted Monk institute sought to reaffirm the association Jazz Day twice. After the shared 2012 inaugural of jazz with nonviolent resistance in 2009 concerts in New Orleans and New York, Barack by sending Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Obama hosted Jazz Day at the White House in Terri Lyne Carrington, George Duke, Chaka 2016, thus demonstrating that his administration Khan, along with Martin Luther King III and a considered jazz an integral part of its public Congressional Delegation around John Lewis diplomacy. to India in order jointly commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Public Diplomacy at UNESCO’s 2016 Global Scott King’s 1959 trip to India (ibid.). Concert This association of jazz with nonviolent resistance thematically prepared the inclusion of According to the organizers of Jazz Day, jazz into UNESCO’s International Day program. decentralization is one of the basic ideas behind The close association of jazz with nonviolent the event. Jazz Day’s official website therefore resistance that the Monk Institute seeks to accentuates that everyone is welcome to plan underscore is indeed rooted in US social history. events on 30 April, register them on jazzday. Harking back to African American blues and com, and celebrate Jazz Day locally. As if to gospel traditions, the jazz style known as hard testify to the diversity and inclusivity of the event, bop was closely tied to the African American the website lists all of the locations where jazz civil disobedience and cultural pride associated day events have taken place so far (International with the Civil Rights Movement (Saul; Monson; Jazz Day, 2017 Global Celebrations). This focus Dunkel, Charles Mingus). Building on this on decentralization can hardly obscure the fact historical association of jazz with peaceful that the so-called Global Concert – Jazz Day’s resistance and the struggle for social equality, main concert of celebrity musicians from different UNESCO increasingly accepted jazz as a music countries that takes place in the respective host that could help to promote the organization’s city – is Jazz Day’s main event.