Duke Ellington on “American music”.
In summer 1963, Duke Ellington headed to the Middle East and India on his first Jazz Ambassador tour. In a rare Swedish Television interview, he discusses the plight of African Americans, their contributions to society, and jazz music as “the American music.”
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[Music] American Negro very trustingly have come along a hundred years now after the Emancipation Proclamation and of course now their their demands are coming more strong and as it should be their blood has been given in every war and today I mean they've contributed culturally and this thing that we're in music I think is that is the music that is recognized as the American music which of course is mostly Negro [Music] Ellington's shift to being willing to go on a tour represent the United States was very dependent on the fact that the government was finally moving overtly and civil rights [Music] in the summer of 1963 following Kennedy's promise to introduce a sweeping civil rights bill to Congress Duke Ellington headed to the Middle East and India on his first jazz ambassador tour [Music] [Applause] [Music]
