Jazz Appreciation Month was created in 2001 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. April was selected because a lot of jazz greats were born this month, including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Charles Mingus, and Herbie Hancock.
This year, JAM is a celebration of Ellington, because 2024 marks his 125th birthday. Also in April, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization—often referred as UNESCO—celebrates International Jazz Day on the 30th.
We’re celebrating Ellington here at Black Music Sunday too, both this week and throughout the month. But first I have a question for our readers, prompted by a conversation I had recently with a younger person who told me that they “didn’t like jazz.”
When I asked them about which musicians they did appreciate, two of the top names on their list were jazz musicians—just not in one of the early genres most associated with the name. So let’s explore the broad diversity of subgenres, or styles, that make up jazz is—and hopefully you’ll find your jazz favorites along the way.
”Black Music Sunday” is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over 200 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
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