An evolution of the U.S. Department of State’s 1955 Jazz Ambassadors program that sent America’s foremost jazz musicians on world tours during the Cold War continues with the “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad” program.
“One of the great things about this program is that it covers all kinds of American music. … Bluegrass, a lot of people have not heard it before overseas. It was really great to be able to show people something new and to be able to tell people about our music and how it fits into American society,” said Liz Chibucos, who plays guitar and violin and sings with The Student Loan.
The program brought the Charlie Porter Quartet jazz ensemble and The Student Loan, a progressive bluegrass quartet, to Washington, D.C., to perform at the National Geographic Society on June 17.
As U.S. cultural ambassadors The Rhythm Road 2010 artists will perform in countries that are not regularly visited by American musicians. The artists hold public concerts, master classes, lecture-demonstrations, workshops, and jam sessions, and collaborate with local musicians.
The Student Loan performed originally composed and written songs that strayed from the traditional bluegrass structure, which comes from the American folk music tradition. The band likened the evolution of bluegrass to the evolution of jazz. Their music was mostly fast and full of bluegrass twang, although reggae influences could be heard in their slower melodic song, “Throw us a bone.”
A crowd of business professionals, federal government employees, and students bobbed their heads, while one young woman danced in the back of the auditorium.
Chibucos said that bluegrass music is supposed to inspire dance—a point that required effort from the band to explain to reserved audiences in Asia. She said South Americans were quicker to understand this point. Bassist Sam Howard added that in South America audiences were able to identify with string instruments like the banjo and mandolin that they may have never heard before, due to the strong presence of string instruments like the guitar and bass in South American music.
The Student Loan has toured twice with The Rhythm Road program. The group visited Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Algeria, Yemen, and Cyprus. The quartet is comprised of Liz Chibucos on guitar, violin, and vocals; Mark Gerolami on banjo, guitar, and vocals; and Chad Kimbler on mandolin and vocals. The Student Loan is based in Portland, Ore.
The band was named for the circumstances in which it was formed. Founding members of the band met in music school and shared the experience of purchasing musical instruments with their student loans.
The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program has been administered by Jazz at Lincoln Center for the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, for the past five years. More than 118 musicians from 32 ensembles have toured with the program, visiting 97 countries on five continents.
