The voice of America

Clive Myrie hears more about how jazz was used as a form of 'soft power' by the American establishment, via Voice of America radio broadcasts beyond the Iron Curtain. The State department was persuaded to send America’s biggest stars overseas to promote US music, and the tours would bring jazz to new audiences all over the world. The programme looks at how Martin Luther King inspired jazz musicians in life and death Clive hears how a 16-year-old Danny Scher persuaded Thelonius Monk to play to a predominantly white audience at his high school in California in the late 60s.

Producers: Ashley Byrne and Wayne Wright.
The Truth About Jazz is a Made in Manchester Production and was originally produced for the BBC World Service