- Geof Bradfield
Jazz has long been a favored tool of the U.S. State Department: Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, and Louis Armstrong, among many others, have gone abroad in a sanctioned ambassadorial role. Naturally, some of them have been inspired by their travels; Ellington created his famous Far East Suite following one such excursion.
Last year local reedist Geof Bradfield visited Africa under the auspices of a program called Rhythm Road, put together by the State Department and Jazz at Lincoln Center.