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During the Cold War of the 1950s, America fought an asymmetrical campaign against the Soviet Union, using a mysterious weapon: jazz.
President Eisenhower’s State Department deployed jazz musicians worldwide, seeking to persuade humanity that the USA was better than Communism.
Among these ambassadors were Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck. The two musicians, along with Brubeck’s wife Iola writing lyrics, collaborated to create a jazz musical, The Real Ambassadors, which premiered in 1962.
With the blessing of the Brubeck estate, Springfield Regional Opera will perform the Missouri premiere of the production, 7:30 p.m. June 4, at the Gillioz Theatre.