The skydiving phonograph is just one of many indelible images from the Oscar-nominated documentary, Soundtrack To A Coup D’Etat, a film that boldly illustrates, through juxtaposition, the entwinement of jazz music and colonial politics in mid-twentieth century Africa. And yet when you Google the term “skydiving phonograph” (using quotation marks), nothing of any relevance is retrieved — except Scott Gac‘s meticulously-researched article, “Jazz Strategy: Dizzy, Foreign Policy, and Government in 1956,” published in the Spring 2005 issue of Americana: The Journal Of American Popular Culture.
Gac’s piece kicks off with the opening paragraph from Michael James‘ front-page article for The New York Times‘ November 11, 1955 edition (below):
“A 50¢ Phonograph Is the Newest U.S. Weapon“
Can Be Air-Dropped with Messages for Red-Ruled People
Arthur Van Dyke
RCA research designer
Legendary Radio Corporation of America chairman David Sarnoff calls a conference in Midtown Manhattan. He presents a ten-ounce turntable, which seems ordinary except for its portability and the fact that the United States government has already tossed several of these record players out of military planes. Sarnoff’s introduction is serious. There is no dispute over sound theory. Packaged with various pro-American recordings, some members of the federal government believe that lightweight phonographs can help win the Cold War. The self-powered players are the latest device to further American empire.
For the United States, the Cold War era triggered strategic investments in arts and cultural programming aimed at winning over hearts and minds in support of the American freedom agenda, Gac observes —
The conference on the skydiving phonograph, though, pointed to a much larger postwar theme: the emphasis on sound in foreign policy. Long before the American military serenaded Manuel Noriega with ear-splitting rock tunes, the government spent millions blanketing foreign nations with more soothing sounds of America through radio programs, live performances, and library recordings.
Aside from the Works Progress Administration — the social relief program that employed millions of jobless Americans to create public works during the height of the Depression — the federal government was “relatively new to artistic support,” Gac notes. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev‘s relentless criticism of the American free enterprise system during the Eisenhower era had been dismissed at the time as Soviet propaganda, invalidated in the public mind as a fundamental disagreement between autocratic (i.e., state ownership, communistic) and democratic (i.e., limited government, capitalistic) systems.
But there was one particular accusation that could not easily be waved away, points out Gac:
The one censure that stuck, though, was the charge of racism. The Soviet Union and her allies pointed to segregation and the violence that accompanied it as evidence of an unenlightened America.
When the UN General Assembly opened in 1960, and Fidel Castro had angrily decamped to Harlem’s Hotel Theresa after a financial dispute with his Midtown hotel, Khrushchev strategically met with the Cuban leader at his new uptown lodging, since “by going to a Negro hotel in a Negro district, we would be making a double demonstration against the discriminatory policies of the United States of America toward Negroes, as well as toward Cuba,” noted Simon Hall (author of Ten Days In Harlem) in his 2020 piece for Smithsonian Magazine, “Fidel Castro Stayed in Harlem 60 Years Ago to Highlight Racial Injustice in the U.S.“
Gac cites 1956 as a historic shift in the US federal government’s attitude toward the utilization of jazz and other “indigenous” American sounds – as opposed to classical music from the Western canon – in the US State Department‘s diplomatic outreach abroad to help counter Soviet propaganda about the “race problem” back home. Thanks to the Database of Cultural Presentations, a searchable historical record of musical and theatrical performances sponsored by the US State Department, one can see a visual map of each of the stops made by The Dizzy Gillespie Jazz Band in 1956, a three-month “hearts and minds” tour that included Yugoslavia (Zagreb & Belgrade); Greece (Athens); Turkey (Istanbul & Ankara), Syria (Aleppo); Iran (Abadan); Pakistan (Karachi); and Bangladesh (Dhaka). This 18-member integrated ensemble, which also included two female members, singer Dotty Saulter and trombonist/arranger Melba Liston, is historically significant, as it is the first such tour sponsored by the US State Department, in collaboration with Voice of America.
Dizzy Gillespie’s Jazz Ambassadors
– 1956 Tour of Southern Europe, The Middle East & South Asia –
courtesy of Database of Cultural Presentations
Note: Gillespie’s Jazz Ambassadors also played South American shows that same year in Argentina (Buenos Aires), Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte & Santos), Ecuador (Quito), and Uruguay (Montevideo).
Quincy Jones fondly recalled his time as a Jazz Ambassador:
One of my happiest recollections is from 1955 when the U.S. government asked Dizzy Gillespie to organize a band that would travel to Southern Europe, the Middle East, & South Asia as America’s first Jazz Ambassadors. Dizzy was booked on a “Jazz at the Philharmonic” tour of Europe and was unable to recruit and rehearse the group. Since we had a history of working together he asked me to do it, and at the age of 22, you bet I did! The entire trip was an adventure. We didn’t know what we were getting into…neither did the State Department. But our jazz music brought peace to various areas and was used as a tool to help settle Cold War tensions.
S I D E B A R
Quincy’s “Jazz Ambassador“ Roots
1953 EPs
Three years prior to that inaugural “Jazz Ambassadors” tour, twenty-year-old Quincy Jones had already revealed himself to be an internationally-minded musician, when he arranged and conducted four jazz compositions (including one of his own, “Jones’ Bones“) for a November 10, 1953 recording session with a group of Swedish-American all-star musicians in Sweden’s capital city, Stockholm.
Quincy Jones & His Swedish-American All Stars Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Jazz And Diplomacy:
A Talk With Dave Brubeck
National Endowment For The Arts
In 2005, Dana Gioia, then-Chair of the National Endowment For The Arts, interviewed pianist and composer, Dave Brubeck, at his Wilton, Connecticut home. Their conversation included Brubeck’s extensive service as a jazz musician on behalf of his country, not only his work as a Jazz Ambassador beginning in 1958, but also his many performances over the years as a musical diplomat — a term of duty that has encompassed eight US presidents, one Pope (John Paul II), and numerous heads of state.
EXCERPT –
Gioia: Was the Voice of America the only way your music circulated behind the Iron Curtain?
Brubeck: Most of the people, when they spoke to you in English, sounded like Willis Conover from the Voice of America. His show came on every night worldwide.
Willis Conover
To Tell The Truth
April 8, 1963 episode
“One of the most important things our government has ever done was to have the Voice of America go worldwide. And to this day—Willis has passed now—you can hear his voice. In Russia, people sound like Willis. If you listened to my recordings in the Soviet Union during the darkest days of the Cold War, you could be sent to Siberia or worse. They listened to my records, and they called it “Jazz in Bones.” Using X-ray plates, they could record Willis Conover and get a fairly good recording. If you were caught with that, you were dead. But the doctors and the nurses and the students would very carefully listen to these recordings, and they had underground jazz meetings all the time. This is the power that we have with jazz, because it’s the voice of freedom all over the world.”
Dave Brubeck
For some musical artists – such as Urszula Dudziak and Michael Urbaniak – the freedom sounds being broadcast worldwide via Voice of America were a siren song that inspired dreams of emigration to the US. But for the Jazz Ambassadors who served in defense of democracy, I can only imagine the pain and disconnect of those who would eventually learn of the US government’s inconsistent track record with regard to respecting self-determination elsewhere. Part of the central narrative that threads Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat, tragically, is the complicity of the United States’ government in suppressing sovereignty abroad during the formation of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1960.
Le Monde
June 21, 2022 edition:
Belgium Prime Minister Officially Apologizes for the Death of Patrice Lumumba:
The restitution ceremony for a gold-capped tooth belonging to the Congolese leader who was assassinated in 1961 was marked by the denunciation of the ‘pernicious system’ of colonization.
Excerpt:
“I wish, in the presence of his family, to present in turn the apology of the Belgian government for the way in which, at the time, it contributed to the decision to put an end to the days of the first prime minister of the independent Congo,” said [Prime Minister Alexander] De Croo. He went further, referring to his desire to “qualify without ambiguity” what he called the “dark passages” of his country’s history. Colonization, he said, “established an unequal relationship, in itself unjustifiable,” and it was “a pernicious system that shamefully tarnished the history of our country.”
The New York Times
February 6, 2002 edition:
“World Briefing“
Belgium: Apology For Lumumba Killing
Excerpt:
A Belgian commission that finished a two-year inquiry last year heard testimony that the assassination could not have been carried out without the complicity of Belgian officers backed by the C.I.A.
Patrice Lumumba:
Popular Music’s Response
– Vintage Vinyl –
click on song title for streaming audio
Grand Kalle & African Jazz with Vicky Longomba
click here for lyrics + English translation
Patrice Lumumba, as leader of the Mouvement Nationale Congolais (MNC), had been detained October of 1959 by Belgian authorities following demonstrations of civil unrest in Stanleyville, though was released to take part in a “hastily summoned” January, 1960 Brussels Roundtable – under pressure from the Congo delegation – that would help define the parameters of Congo’s demand for independence. In the national elections held that May, the MNC would win a plurality of the vote, and thus Lumumba, deemed the winner, became the first prime minister of the independent state of Congo — albeit for just ten weeks. As the Royal Museum for Central Africa points out, “Table Ronde” and “Independance Cha Cha” (below) are both notable for being written as the events were taking place. Strangely, given the song’s historic significance, it is rather challenging to find an image of the original 1960 “Table Ronde” vinyl release, which features solo guitar work by Nicolas Kasanda (a.k.a. “Docteur Nico“), one of the pioneers of soukous music.
Grand Kalle Et L’African Jazz
Released in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zaire & France
“Indépendence Cha Cha” was released on Surboum African Jazz, founded by Joseph (“Le Grand Kalle“) Kabasele – in partnership with Belgian company, Fonior – a label whose recordings were marketed exclusively in Congo (Léopoldville) by Kabasele, with Fonior getting the distribution rights for Europe and the rest of Africa. This “still popular” anthem, released by the “father of modern Congolese music” shortly after Congo’s independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960, was a huge summer hit, says Discogs, that also saw release in France and Zaire. In 1961, the group undertook an extensive West African tour, with concerts in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leonne, and Guinea — according to Apple Music, this tour is credited with the birth of West Africa’s Latin American-influenced sub-style, “still a popular alternative to juju, highlife, and afrobeat.”
Ray Allen Trio
“See Africa First (Tshombe-Lumumba-Kasavubu)”
The Ray Allen Trio — whose earliest doo wop recordings for Cincinnati’s King Records were produced by Henry Glover, who also penned their first A-side — was subsequently renamed The Gum Drops (with the addition of guitarist, Vinnie Gambella) by Syd Nathan, who issued a handful of singles in the mid-to-late 1950s, including a calypso number, “Ba-Bee, Da Boat Is Leaving” from 1957, undoubtedly an attempt to cash in on the commercial success of Harry Belafonte’s “Day O.” By 1960, however, the group had reverted to the Ray Allen Trio, when they recorded their exhortation urging one and all to “See Africa First,” and punctuated by a chorus that chants the names of Tshombe (president of Katanga, breakaway state that declared its independence from Congo-Léopoldville in July, 1960), Lumumba (first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from June until September of 1960), and Kasavubu (first president of the newly-independent Congo republic who ultimately ousted Lumumba from power, with critical military assistance from Colonel Joseph Mobutu). According to Cash Box, the record was “grabbing hefty air-play and sales in the So. Calif., area,” as reported in the December 24, 1960 edition.
Olatunji
“Lumumba“
Released in USA
special 7-inch release
Michael Babatunde Olatunji, the Nigerian drummer, educator, activist, and recording artist, released this 45-only track that somehow escaped the attention of the music trade journals at the time of release except for Cash Box, who deemed the “Jolly Mensah“/”Lumumba” single a ‘Best Bet’ and praised the B-side as “a sly, more deliberate date from the performer and vocal-combo accompaniment” in its August 5, 1961 edition. Both sides of this special-edition 7-inch were arranged by Rayburn Wright.
E.C. Arinze & His Music
Released in Nigeria
Nigerian trumpeter and highlife bandleader, E.C. Arinze, recorded “Lumumba Calypso” in tribute to the fallen Congolese leader, with the vocal by Godwin Omabuwa voiced in pidgin English, as noted on the 45 label, while the flip side “Sisi Sisi” was sung in Yoruba. This 1961 single by the pioneering member of the famous Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Dance Orchestra was released as part of Decca’s West African Series.
I.K. Dairo & His Blue Spots
“Iku Lumumba“
Isaiah Kehinde Dairo, the Nigerian musician known as the father of juju for his role in establishing that musical style, which eventually displaced West African highlife as Nigeria’s national sound, would later serve as a professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Washington in Seattle, according to Discogs. Would you be surprised to learn that just two years after recording this tribute to Lumumba, Queen Elizabeth would bestow the title of M.B.E (Member of the British Empire) upon Dairo for his musical achievements? Originally issued in Nigeria as part of Decca’s West African Series.
Charles Iwegbue & His Archibogs
This 1961 highlife single by bandleader Charles Iwegbue – “Zik Governor General” b/w “Aya Congo Lumumba” – was issued in Nigeria as part of Decca’s West African Series. Decca also released both tracks in the UK on a 1961 10-inch LP release, Lagos Nightlife.
The Republicans
“Lumumba Deyie“
Released in Ghana
Ghanaian highlife group, The Republicans, recorded exactly four singles in the early 1960s — including “Odo E! Sambra” b/w “Lumumba Deyie” (“Lumumba Is Dead”) from 1961 — for Decca, who wasted no time compiling these eight sides into a “greatest hits” LP that was issued c. 1962.
Onyina’s Guitar Band
Released in Ghana
c. late 1961/early 1962
Ghanaian highlife guitarist, Kwabena “King” Onyina, uncle of Pat Thomas (“of legendary status,” who was awarded the 1978 ‘Golden Voice of Africa’) recorded a single for Decca’s West African Series – “Fa Wasem Ma Nyame” (“Give Your Troubles To God”) b/w “Lumumba Nante Yie” (“Goodbye Lumumba”) – that was likely released in late 1961 or early 1962 based on the 45’s catalog number. Onyina would later serve as the regional chairman of the Ashanti Regional Branch of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).
Bonnie And Skitter
“Lumumba“
Released in Jamaica
George “Bonnie/Bunny” Dudley and Vernon “Skitter/Skittles” Allen recorded the Nyabinghi drum chant, “Lumumba” — with support from percussionist/bandleader Count Ossie and backing band, The Warrickas — for Studio One label founder, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, who paired the song with “Hard Time Baby” and issued the 45 on his WorldDisc imprint in Jamaica in 1961.
La Sonora Cordobesa
“Lumumba“
1961
“Lumumba,” the second track on La Sonora Cordobesa‘s 1961 long-playing release, Cumbia en el Bohio, was written by Abraham Núñez Narváez, Colombian clarinet and saxophone player, composer, arranger, and orchestra leader. This orchestral ensemble recorded a number of albums for Discos Fuentes in the 1960s.
Aldemaro Romero And His Orchestra
“Lumumba“
Released in Venezuela
Prolific Venezuelan pianist, composer, arranger and orchestral conductor, Aldemaro Romero, recorded “Lumumba” for a full-length LP “shared” with another Venezuelan orchestra leader, Chucho Sanoja, in which each artist enjoyed an entire album side —- “Lumumba” kicks off side two. Romero, who has received numerous recognitions for his musical achievements both at home and abroad, was the creator of a new form of Venezuelan music, known as “New Wave” (Onda Nueva), derived from the Joropo and influenced by Brazilian Bossa Nova, so says Discogs.
Patrice Lumumba
Cash Box Sound Bites:
early 1960s
click on hyperlinks for full text
Cash Box
Reporting from Scandanavia:
Alf Montan, columnist in evening paper Expressen presenting a new dance called “Lumumba cha-cha-cha” — “Two steps to the left followed by a bigger riot.”
Cash Box
Reporting from Benelux:
Ronnex Records, Belgium, has released a new record by Belgian comedian Tony Geys, entitled “Kasa Moemba Cha Cha.” It is a satirical record, telling the story of Lumumba and Kasavubu dancing the cha cha cha!
Cash Box
Reporting from Germany:
The first African hit written after independence by Congo composer Kabasele, “The Independence Cha-Cha,” has been recorded in German by The Nilsen Brothers.
Cash Box news item
“MGM Edits ‘Top 40’ Deck“
NEW YORK—MGM Records has re-edited Mark Dinning’s Top 100 disking of “Top Forty, News, Weather & Sports” to delete reference to the recently slain Congolese Premier, Patrice Lumumba [i.e., “Lumumba doin’ the Rhumba to the tune of ‘Blue Tango.'”]
Lumumba in TV History
Television Magazine
One of the most dramatic events in the history of the United Nations occurred last month when rioters protesting the slaying of ex-premier Patrice Lumumba disrupted Ambassador to the U.N. Adlai Stevenson‘s presentation of the U.S. position on the Congo crisis. TV cameras were there to record the shock and horror of Stevenson and gallery onlookers.
