Real Ambassadors in Bloomington, MN

In 1961,
Dave Brubeck
put together a remarkable musical show. Using the talents of
Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars
,
Carmen McRae
, the innovative
bop
vocal group
Lambert, Hendricks And Ross
, and his own rhythm section,
Brubeck
and his wife, lyricist
Iola
, wrote a largely upbeat play full of anti-racism songs and tunes that celebrated human understanding. Although it had only one live performance (at the 1962
Monterey Jazz Festival
),
The Real Ambassadors
was recorded for posterity and now, with its reissue on CD, the original 15 selections have been augmented by five more. It is important to listen to this music without prior expectations because
Paul Desmond
is nowhere to be found,
Louis Armstrong
does not play that much trumpet here, and
essentially function as background singers. However
Satch
and
make for a very potent team, and there are many touching and surprising moments. ~ Scott Yanow