Satchmo Blows Up the World
By Penny Von Eschen

Guiding Questions for Chapter One – Two
Discussion Wednesday, February 10th

Chapter One
1. Explore the tension surrounding the acceptance of Jazz as High Art. 
2. How does Von Eschen use Ellison’s Invisible Man to explain the position of Jazz musicians? 

Chapter Two
1. Describe the Gillespie Tour and analyze how Dizzy used the tour for his own objectives?
2. Compare Benny Goodman’s and Dave Brubeck’s approach to race and analyze their differing tour experiences.

Guiding Questions for Chapter Three  – Six
Discussion Wednesday, February 17th

Chapter Three
1. Who in the World is this Louis Armstrong! Find a Few Video or Audio Performances that          we can view in discussion - List the url’s…
2. Analyze Armstrong’s politics/political statements.

Chapter Four
1. How did Jazz reveal Soviet approaches to Art and Race? 
2. Was Goodman’s tour of the Soviet Union successful? 

Chapter Five
1. How did Duke Ellington deal with his position as a civil rights activist and as a performer supported by the US State Department?  
2. How did Ellington's performers view 'cultural exchange'? 

Chapter Six
1. Why was Africa such a problem for the Johnson Administration?
2. How did the emerging global music economy change the State Department's approach?  Was the embrace of different musical forms successful? 

Guiding Questions for Chapter Seven  – Nine
Discussion Wednesday, March 3

Chapter Seven
1. What was most important to the State Department in the tours of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and did this emphasis affect the musical choices?

Chapter Eight
1. What caused the fading out of the State Department tours?

Chapter Nine
1. What faults does Von Eschen find with other attempts to inject culture into the understanding of the Cold War?

Overall/Summation
What kind of history is Von Eschen doing?  Critically analyze her contribution.