ICD Music for Cultural Diplomacy Program

Music has always been a powerful medium for diversity that can breach cultural and language barriers. The ICD´s Music as Cultural Diplomacy department explores this potential and aims to tap it by coordinating musical events to bring people from different cultures together.

Even The Cold War was no match for the power of music as US Jazz musician Jason “Dizzy” Gillespie embarked on a world tour, providing a testament of modern cultural diplomacy. The tour meandered through Eastern Europe and South East Asia at a time of considerable international tension, with the spotlight on mistrust and miscommunication rife in international relations. Nevertheless, Dizzy Gillespie and his band highlighted the commonality, the love of music that is present in all of us, and proved that it is independent of our ideological views.

The Live Aid concerts held in 1985 brought together a live audience of over 200,000 and a television audience of over 1.5 billion, in over 100 different countries. This is a large-scale example of music’s ability to cross cultural barriers.

It is difficult to overstate the value of music in bringing people from different cultural backgrounds together for a common cause. Music has an almost limitless potential to unite both musicians and listeners regardless of their age, cultural background, language, or skin color. Why is music so powerful? Music is important because it is a common language and as Henry Wadsworth once said, "it can be appreciated and interpreted by anyone."

The emotions stirred by the dramatic climax in an opera and the soothing rhythms of a drum display are the same to everyone who hears them - though we are free to interpret them as individuals. Furthermore, music is universally accessible, where a live musical performance may take place in the corner of an underground station, on a village green, at a bar, or in front of thousands at a world famous music venue.

The ICD Cultural Ambassadors

MFA KERA

Kera was born in Madagascar and grew up in Senegal. After moving to Paris, she began her professional career singing the blues and gospel with Memphis Slim and working with such luminaries as Mickey Baker, John Lee Hooker and Milton Buckner. She was invited to sing in the film ‘The Adventure Of Jazz,’ topping the bill were Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton and George Benson. She released her first music on record in homage to Mahalia Jackson.

Kera also ventured into the pop arena with a number of funk releases and a remarkable first Afro-project with composer Wazis Diop on RCA. A spell in Los Angeles exposed her to the work of other African and Asian musicians, which influenced her decision to go to Berlin via Japan in search in sympathetic world- music projects. Still in contact with friends like Miriam Makeba, Salif Keita and Manu Dibango, she pursues her own style of cultural fusion. She identifies it as an ‘Ethno-Techno-Pan- African sphere’ in the '80s, using her gifts in the complementary fields of writing, composing, painting and singing.

Long-term collaboration with German electronic composer and arranger Reinhard Katemann, and master drummers like Ekow Alabi Savage and Souleymane Touré brought a fantastic synthesis to the market, that she called ‘Heavy-Wood-Music.’

Later she formed the ‘Black Heritage Orchestra’ working with US Jazzman Mike Russell, telling the story of black music in music (from Ethnic-African music through Blues, Afro-beat, Salsa, Gospel, Reggae, Jazz, Funk and Rap). With the help of Berliner Senat, Kera then wrote and produced the musical play ‘Odeylo’ from the repertoire of the ‘Black Heritage: the Story of Mama Africa.’ Part of the soundtrack of this successful musical was released on CD (feat. late Eddy Harris), which remained for one whole year on the world music charts (between places 8 & 9 of 110 releases).

Kera also worked for the publishing company ‘Klett’ by composing songs in French for use in schools. She traveled to China and brought back recordings with artists and percussionists from Mongolia. Kera was a fantastic success in Salvador de Bahia where she played at the ‘Femadum’ festival with ‘Olodum.’ She was often the guest of stars, like Carlinhos Brown.

After having performed with Black Heritage for the Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Kera was invited to sing for the president of the Fereral Republic of Germany Johannes Rau at his last ‘Presidential Summer.’ Kera composes, writes, produces, paints and also teaches, producing workshops worldwide.

Mike Russell

Born in 1952 in Washington D.C., he began studying classical and flamenco guitar at an early age. His professional career started in the 60s with soul and blues bands. Song writing and composing was an early interest and this creative side resulted in some studio work with Columbia Records as a guitarist and composer.

The year 1970 was his first record release as composer and the title ‘Black Woman’ was recorded by Grammy nominated Gloria Taylor and culminated in a US tour. The year 1972 saw his own jazz-rock group ‘Water Forest’ perform Andy Warhol at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

Since moving to Berlin in 1989 he has performed with Eddy Harris, Billy Bang and many others. He formed the Black Heritage Orchestra with singer MFA KERA and released the CD in 1995, which reached the Top 10 European world music charts. He also created his own jazz-soul-funk sound.

He has performed in the Guinness Festival, South Africa, Greece, Poland, America and on German TV, and recently returned to Washington D.C. to perform with Black Heritage at the world famous Blues Alley Jazz Club. He was also invited to host special workshops at the George Washington University Jazz department in 2002.

Gary Wiggins

Gary Wiggins born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, has had a long and successful career as a saxophonist. For more than 40 years he has been touring the globe, bringing with him his own sound and influence to music in his culture. For a quarter century of residing in Europe, he has performed in countless music festivals, jazz and blues clubs, private events, television shows, cinematic films, theaters, and public speaking events. In 1982 Gary spent a year on the Chicago blues scene where he played with the bands of the late Lefty Dizz, the late Sunnyland Slim, the late Johnny Littlejohn, Sugar Blue, Robert Covington, and Christian Rannenberg, with whom he co-founded the International Blues Duo (IBD).

He was a regular performer in The Kingston Mines, B.L.U.E.S, and the The Playboy Club headquarters. Since moving to Europe in 1983 and in addition to producing several music concerts, he has also toured with such greats artists as the late Arnett Cobb, the late Screaming Jay Hawkins, the late Johnny Copeland, Big Jay McNeely, Angela Brown, Jeanne Carroll and Johnny Heartsman.

The IBD produced and released three albums. Wiggins also recorded with Johnny Heartsman, Bobby McFerrin, Angela Brown, Eb Davis, Klaus Lage and Roy Gaines, with live recordings with Big Jay McNeely. He also produced three compact disc recordings under the Detroit Gary Wiggins Group. In 2001 he was awarded the prestigious Berlin Jazz and Blues Award. Gary is on the advisory board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy as well as a program director of music as cultural diplomacy, bandleader and member of The Very Soulful Tenors Show.