International Jazz Day

No Language Barrier

Speak to us

in notes and beats.

Fingers on keys or

hands holding sticks.

We tap our toes,

bob our heads,

snap our fingers

to let you know

we understand
what's being said.

This Thursday, April 30 is International Jazz Day. Paris, France is this year's Global Host City. You can watch the webcast of the All-Star Global Concert on the International Jazz Day website. Don't forget to support your local jazz scene on this day and every day! If you are in the Kansas city area, check out the American Jazz Museum.

Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.

International Jazz Day

Tomorrow, April 30th, is the 3rd Annual International Jazz Day. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz collaborate to organize the worldwide celebration of the value of jazz and its ability to bring people together.

Click here to read an interview with Herbie Hancock regarding this special day.

Each year, a host city is designated. This year that city is Osaka, Japan. The city has played an important role in the development of jazz in Japan, from the 1920's to the present day. The city will be the site of an all-star concert tomorrow. The concert will be live streamed beginning at 6 a.m. Eastern time.

Tap into the concert if at all possible. I did last year and did not want it to end. See if there is a celebration in your city or go to a local jazz club. Listen to some jazz via your favorite way of listening to music.

Don't let the day go by without being part of the celebration.

Follow me on Twitter or click the join this site link to follow this blog.

Jazz Appreciation Month

Jazzers

Move to their 

own beat, but

keep the melody.

Improvise, and

work in harmony.

Sing the blues, yet

make it through.

Jump sometimes,

Bop in long lines, or

merge in fusion.

Never stop swingin’.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month. This initiative has been spear-headed by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Go to www.smithsonianjazz.org for a history of the initiative and information regarding this year's celebration.

In perusing the Smithsonian's site, I realized that there are three L's that can help us participate in this month-Learn, Listen and Local.

1. Learn more about the art form. This includes the history and contemporary jazz. Read a book or do research online.  The Smithsonian Jazz Site has oral histories of NEA Jazz Masters. You may listen or read a transcript. The site also has the "Today in Jazz History" calendar, which gives you a day-by-day accounting of some of the music's most important events.
2. Listen to the music. After all, that is really what the art form is about. Settle in with some old favorites or use your research to explore some new artists. 
3. Support your local musicians, clubs and radio stations. If there is a museum or musicians birthplace in your area support that, too. Art inspires other art so there may be jazz poets or visual artists who incorporate jazz influences in their work. Give them a look or listen, too.

Most importantly, continue to enjoy and celebrate the music all year long.

Related links

Jazz: NPR 

International Jazz Day

Jazz April 2014

American Jazz Museum

Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.

International Jazz Day

Tuesday, April 30 is International Jazz Day. It is organized by UNESCO in partnership with the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz. Here is an interesting bit of history quoted from the UNESCO site:

Istanbul will be the official host city for 2013. Turkey has an age-old tradition of jazz.  Munir Ertegun, Turkish Republic’s first ambassador to Washington in the 1930s, opened his embassy’s parlors to African American jazz musicians, who gathered there to play freely in a socio-historical context which was deeply divided by racial segregation at the time. Inspired by this legacy, the ambassador’s sons, Ahmet and Nesuhi, went on to establish the United States’ first jazz and gospel label in 1947 - Atlantic Records - which was seminal in spreading the beauty of jazz music around the world.

The International Jazz Day Global Concert will be webcast worldwide. Check the link for details about who will be performing and when the webcast will be available in your time zone.

Here is a message from Irina Borkova, UNESCO's director general:

 

 

So take a little time on April 30 to listen to some jazz and think about who might be listening to the same music.

 

Follow me on Twitter or click the Join this Site link to follow this blog.