Satchmo Meets Amadeus (review)

Reflecting a series of symposia and concerts held in New Orleans, Louisiana and Salzburg, Austria both before and after Hurricane Katrina, Satchmo Meets Amadeus provides a prime example of collaborative international, intercultural American Studies scholarship. Simply finishing this project was a considerable feat of international collaboration in itself for, as the editor, University of Salzburg-based historian Reinhold Wagnleitner explains, Katrina struck New Orleans three days before the deadline for the final submission of essays!

Satchmo Meets Amadeus examines the relationship between classical music ‘the soundtrack of the Europeanization of the world’ and jazz ‘the classical music of globalization’ within the context of the clichéd reputations of Salzburg and New Orleans as ‘cities of music’. Distinguished contributors from both sides of the Atlantic—including an essay by Joe Muranyi, the last surviving member of the Louis Armstrong All Stars—examine a multiplicity of cultural, economic, social and political dynamics which shaped both the creation and reception of the music for which the respective cities are famous and the myths which have surrounding its primary originators.

The 27 contributions address topics including the highly ambivalent roles of Mozart and Armstrong in the creation of contemporary images of the cities of their birth and the associated creation of those ‘Satchmo’ and ‘Amadeus’ trademarks which have become absolutely central to the tourism industries upon which both cities rely.

While sometimes marred by rather awkward translations from German-speaking contributors, this is a valuable collection of essays. It would be of particular interest for cultural historians considering issues such as the growing economic importance of ‘heritage culture’ and the creation of associated post-modern, ‘hyper-real’ tourist environments or for those interested in the complex relationships between the cultural, political, economic and social structures which help and hinder the development of musical mythologies.