UNIVERSITY OF PARIS AMERICAN STUDIES STUDENTS AND CENTER FOR JAZZ ARTS EXPLORE CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN EARLY HOLLYWOOD May 15, 2006 Los Angeles --- As part of its continued commitment to working with students, educators, scholars, and creative leaders from around the world in establishing new channels of understanding for the rich history of diversity, tolerance, and shared cultural heritage embodied throughout jazz-influenced visual arts, Center for Jazz Arts president Guy DeFazio joined with University of Paris students and faculty to explore the collection of rare and previously unpublished photographs currently featured in the CJA’s online exhibition “Television’s New Voice.” “We were extremely pleased and honored to receive an invitation to address the American Studies Program at the University of Paris,” explained DeFazio. “The images featured in the selected presentation represent unparalleled documents from the early, Hollywood television and film community, and the remarkable insights they provide were even further brought-to-light through the distinguished scholarship and interests of everyone in the Paris group.” Drawn from the personal collection of Los Angeles musical artist William “Buddy” Collette, each image documents his incredible journey as an African-American artist whose creative and technical abilities would eventually enable him to break through countless, social barriers existing during the formative years of the Hollywood studio system. With the Paris presentation taking place during the same week of the ‘2006 Academy Awards Show telecast from Los Angeles, the group’s in-depth discussion of Collette’s own experience as one of the first African-American musicians ever hired to perform in an Academy Awards Show broadcast (1964) was particularly timely, and brought even greater emphasis both to his groundbreaking role in the integration of early Hollywood and to the ongoing leadership of the CJA in promoting greater understanding for the role of cultural diversity throughout the world of popular media and entertainment. The discussion generated an insightful look at issues surrounding the development of Collette’s career during the height of the so-called McCarthy Era, as well as at questions surrounding the intersection of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Hollywood; the role of the GI Bill in enabling the Los Angeles African-American community to expand beyond its historic concentration in and around the Central Avenue area of the city; the impact of the civil rights movement and the end of segregation on the Los Angeles jazz community; the integration of the previously all-white and all-black musicians unions of Los Angeles (1953); and numerous, other, revealing topics. The year-round work of the University of Paris American Studies Program in the field of visual arts, and the visual representation of social and cultural issues, includes innovative research across areas such as the rise of art and images in American society; the emergence of American cultural institutions; artistic currents of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; American photography as a model for developing a more general history of images; the role of cinema in the history of American images; and art vs. mass culture. About the CJA: Established in 2004, the Center for Jazz Arts is an international institution devoted to the study and advancement of American jazz culture throughout the visual, literary, and classical arts, around the world. Through its primary operations in Los Angeles, it is building a prominent new platform of engagement for students, artists, educators, and the broader public, from every generation. To contact the CJA: Public Relations Center for Jazz Arts (866) 950-5200 info@centerforjazzarts.com [ back to top ]