Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month
April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Back in 1980, Jazz Awareness Month was created by the Louisiana Jazz Federation in an effort to recognize the heritage and history of jazz - especially in New Orleans. In 2001, John Edward Hasse, a curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History created National Jazz Appreciation Month. It was initially funded by the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. Commonly referred by the acronym JAM, National Jazz Appreciation Month supports the jazz musicians and clubs and encourages the appreciation of jazz music for all ages. The month of April was chosen for JAM because so many famous jazz performers were born during this month, including beloved musicians such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Herbie Hancock.
The following is a list of online resources that can help you and your students celebrate JAM. I hope you find them useful!
Smithsonian Jazz Appreciation Month Site - https://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz/jazz-appreciation-month
A Passion For Jazz JAM Resources - https://www.apassion4jazz.net/jam.html
NAfME JAM Resources - https://nafme.org/my-classroom/jazz-appreciation-month/
International Jazz Day - https://jazzday.com/
JAM Spotify Playlist by Jazz @ Lincoln Center - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/67AO7JCN5EDL8awtzzhdfE
GRAMMY Museum JAM Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyfwsPdmFS8
National Endowment for the Humanities - Women in Jazz - https://edsitement.neh.gov/closer-readings/jazz-appreciation-month-2017-ella-fitzgerald-and-women-jazz
Mrs. Stouffer’s Music Room JAM Resources - https://mrsstouffersmusicroom.com/3-engaging-jazz-appreciation-month-books-for-kids/
National Today JAM Resources - https://nationaltoday.com/jazz-appreciation-month/
Charlottesville Jazz Society’s Jazz-4-Kids Resources - https://cvillejazz.org/education/jazz-4-kids/
If you are a MusicFirst Classroom subscriber, don’t forget that there are LOTS of resources for teaching jazz in the MusicFirst Content Library under the General Music category. Just add this to your musicfirstclassroom.com URL to check them out: library/general-music?page=1&topics=&types=&gradeLevels=&sorting=featured&perPage=20&keywords=jazz
If you’re not a MusicFirst Classroom subscriber and would like to check out our jazz resources as well as all of our other offerings, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial.
