i mean, you meet dizzy gillespie, and you're this young kid from panama. what's going on for you, as suddenly you're now with the great dizzy gillespie, and not only is he saying, "play with me," he's saying to you, danilo perez, "you have talent"? >> part of that is a basic fundamental that was, you know, meeting people like claudio roditi, victor mendoza, paquito d'rivera. and that... each one of those relationships took me to a place, all the way to dizzy gillespie. and somehow it's a story that has unfolded from every one of those experiences. and of course being with dizzy, i really learned about the human quality in the music, about "don't take things for granted." >> hinojosa: were it not for dizzy gillespie and the fact that he had this kind of global vision, and certainly hemispherically, north-south, in terms of the americas... i mean, he's the one who basically says, "the carribean, it's part of who we are." that... in a lot of ways, you're doing the same thing now with your career, you know? you're panamanian, you live in boston, but you're goi

dizzy gillespie, who you heard earlier.out he was more democratic than the state department. this is the image of american democracy. this is why you guys should like america instead of the soviet way of life. but as he is playing concerts through that tour of south asia, they are looking at the crowd saying all we are playing for american diplomats and their families. he even said something to the effect of why are we playing for the choir. he said let the ragamuffin children come in. he said they need to hear this o.sic, tou whentate department said he got back maybe we will go with goodman next time. someone who will say kinder things about the u.s. he did not go on another state-sponsored tour for another 14 years. when he did in 1973, in the interim, he did not actually run for president, this is a bit of a joke but it speaks to his cultural traction he gained as a jazz musician, he was fighting for civil rights, fighting free protection under the law, in that time he had become a convert and a devout believer in the h

he actually got it from dizzy gillespie on his birthday.came to his house with a shoe box and said, "happy birthday. now roll them up." >> stephen: a shoe box full, like the size of a buick or 150 joints. no, i wasn't there -- >> no one said you were, jon, no one said you were. you almost had that, like-- you know that was like you were being interviewed by a cop just now. >> jon: oh, yeah, yeah, see. they have stories about it that are pass down. but just not that committed so i don't know what form he delivered it to him in. >> stephen: okay. >> jon: but i coknow it probably happened because i heard it from an old guy. ( laughter ). >> stephen: was this old guy high when he told you this, jon? >> jon: i don't-- i don't think so. >> stephen: okay. >> jon: it's hard to tell because, you know, i don't mess around with that. >> stephen: you understand. >> jon: but his eyes weren't very red. that's a sign, right? >> stephen: yeah. ( laughter ) i don't know, jon. i'm not into that scene. i don't know, either. i'm a suburban dad. what would i kn

dizzy gillespie, those are his band members, but you can see the integrated nature of the band. the bassist, the drummer, the minusonist in athens, does he himself pure white and black traveling and living together. the statee image department wanted to put forward about america, saying this is what we are, not the stuff you hear about. this is the image of america they wanted to portray. a positive image of everyone getting along together. that was the state department's motivation. there is a different motivation why the musicians. they had different reasons for going along. they knew they were being sent to garner goodwill for american foreign-policy. you can tell that what they wanted first and foremost was a chance to play. that is what they wanted. they knew clearly this was something that would have been literally impossible as a commercial tour. even with the state department sponsorship and money it was almost impossible to get a decent piano in ghana, let alone one in tune. it was logistically enormous. they knew this was something they would never get to do besides. p

very early on, you see a different motivation by dizzy gillespie and these other musicians. they knew they were being sent by the state department to honor this goodwill american foreign policy, but right away, you can tell that the -- what they wanted first and foremost was a chance to play. they knew very clearly this would have been literally impossible as a commercial tour. the logistical tail on this whole thing is in enormous. this is something they would never, ever get to do otherwise, a chance to play. and second of all, they saw this as a validation of not only there are warm, but also of them as americans. the african-americans for whom jazz was kind of sidelined as lowbrow culture. and in the state department comes in and says we want you to be our ambassadors in the world and they say, finally, someone get it, someone appreciates jazz being a great music and art form and they appreciate me, and african-american for being capable of being that face of the united states and the world. what's the entire lecture tonight at 8 p.m. and midnight eastern on c-span three

gillespie -- those are his band members, not himself, but you see the integrated nature of the band. bassist, drummer, saxophonist there in athens, minus dizzy himself, white and black traveling together, playing together, and that's the kind of image he state department wanted to put forward about america. they wanted to say, "this is what we are, not that stuff you hear about back at home." this is the image of america they wanted to portray, a everybodymage of getting along together. lots of state department motivation, but later on, we can see that they have rather different reasons for going along with these things. they knew they were being sent to garner this goodwill for american foreign-policy, but right away, you can already tell that what they wanted first and foremost was a chance to play. these guys knew clearly that this was something that would literally impossible as a commercial tour. even with the state department sponsorship and money, it was almost impossible to get a , let alone one that was in tune. the logistical chaos was in norma's, so they knew this was something they would never ever get to do besides -- the .ogist