The Foundation for the National Archives announces a partnership with Natixis Global Asset Management, one of the world’s leading asset managers, that supports a free public program series at the National Archives Museum exploring the history of jazz music and its role in America’s cultural and diplomatic relations.
The museum’s jazz programming begins in April – National Jazz Appreciation Month – and spans the next five months, during which the National Archives Museum and the nonprofit Foundation for the National Archives will present jazz-related panel discussions, concerts, film screenings, special events, and family activities exploring one of America’s greatest cultural exports.
Natixis Global Asset Management recently launched the “2014 Jazz Diplomacy Project,” which includes high-level panel discussions and roundtables, two renowned jazz festivals, and a series of more than 200 events celebrating jazz and bringing together thought leaders to explore solutions to challenges facing the world today. “We are pleased to partner with the National Archives to promote the unifying force of jazz and highlight the role that the genre has played historically in broadening collaborative dialogue and uniting global cultures,” said John Hailer, president and chief executive officer, Natixis Global Asset Management – The Americas and Asia.
“Natixis Global Asset Management is a tremendous supporter of jazz,” said Patrick M. Madden, executive director of the Foundation for the National Archives. “This generous contribution aligns with the Archives’ desire to celebrate how jazz brings people together and crosses cultures. Our programs will showcase key records from the Archives’ holdings and great music. During this series, audiences will be entertained and surprised at the varying connections between this American art form and our government.”
The series, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the famed Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Global Asset Management, kicks off April 24 at the Archives’ William G. McGowan Theater with Jazz Diplomacy: Sending America’s Music to the World, a panel discussion on how the U.S. government used jazz as a diplomatic tool during the Cold War.
Moderated by Dr. John Edward Hasse, author, curator, biographer of Duke Ellington, and founder of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, the discussion will focus on efforts by the United States Information Agency, the Voice of America, and the U.S. State Department, and will showcase textual, photographic, motion picture, and recorded sound records of the National Archives. Special attention will be given to the life and career of Willis Conover (1920–1996), jazz producer and broadcaster at the VOA for more than 40 years.
The series will culminate in August, when the Archives screens rare performance footage from the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival, featuring performances by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, Oscar Peterson, Ray Charles, and others.
An up-to-date listing of concerts and related programs can be found at archivesfoundation.org/jazz.
The Foundation for the National Archives also will participate in this year’s Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I., August 1–3, bringing facsimiles of jazz-related records from the National Archives for festival participants to explore, and providing take-home materials to inspire further research at the National Archives.
