Mar 24 New Orleans school board looks to undo little-known 1922 rule banning jazz music By Associated Press During Carnival season, flocks of marching bands parade through the city streets even though jazz music and dancing has been banned in New Orleans public schools for almost a century. Continue reading
Sep 13 George Wein, Newport Jazz Festival co-founder, dies at 95 By Hillel Italie, Associated Press A former jazz club owner and aspiring pianist, Wein launched the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 with a lineup for the heavens — Billie Holliday and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Lester Young — and kept going for more than… Continue reading
Feb 19 Watch 6:23 Wynton Marsalis meets the moment with jazz and a focus on the nation's founding principles By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport Trumpet player, composer and jazz ambassador Wynton Marsalis is one of the country’s leading cultural figures. He is again meeting the moment with music, writing and recording his new composition "The Democracy! Suite" amid the pandemic. Jeffrey Brown has the… Continue watching
Sep 18 Last studio recording of jazz trumpeter Woody Shaw released By Russell Contreras, Associated Press "49th Parallel," a 1987 recording led by Canadian bassist Neil Swainson that features Shaw and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, was made available this month. Continue reading
May 01 Watch 6:48 Trombone Shorty on what happens when New Orleans' musical heartbeat falls silent By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport Jazz Fest, one of the nation’s liveliest annual music celebrations, should have been full-throttle this week in New Orleans. Instead, the city remains locked down, a hot spot in the COVID-19 pandemic with close to 6,500 cases and over 400… Continue watching
Nov 11 Watch 7:11 With emphasis on arts, rural communities challenge national narrative of decline By Jeffrey Brown Americans have been drawn to rural areas in recent years partly due to the appeal of a higher quality of life. These regions have not traditionally been known as art hubs, but some residents say that trend is changing. Jeffrey… Continue watching
Aug 26 Watch 3:32 Painter, printmaker and sculptor Oliver Lee Jackson on the artist who inspires him American painter, printmaker and sculptor Oliver Lee Jackson has a complex and diverse portfolio that expertly incorporates influences from the Renaissance to modernism and African culture to American jazz. A current National Gallery show presents 18 paintings he created in… Continue watching
Jul 22 Art Neville, member of funk band The Meters, dies at 81 By Rebecca Santana, Kevin McGill, Associated Press In 1968, Art, Aaron and Cyril joined four New Orleans musicians to form The Meters, an American funk band often cited by other bands as a musical influence. Continue reading
Dec 14 Watch 2:05 Remembering Nancy Wilson, singer with dazzling style Singer Nancy Wilson has died at the age of 81. Wilson -- who was also a civil rights activist who marched in Selma -- released more than 60 albums in a career spanning five decades, winning three Grammys and scoring… Continue watching
Jul 13 Watch 8:05 Lost recordings uncover John Coltrane's timeless talent By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport The lost recordings of jazz titan John Coltrane have been rediscovered and shared with the world. Jeffrey Brown visits the jazz great’s recording studio where the mystery began to take a listen to "Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album,"… Continue watching