When is International Jazz Day?
International Jazz Day is April 30th.
What is International Jazz Day?
Trombones and saxophones, trumpets and scat—when the jazz gets playing, even the woodwork comes out of the woodwork to dance. Jazz meshes cultures and styles, constantly creating something new. International Jazz Day celebrates this musical style that bends notes and relishes improvisation.
Born in New Orleans, jazz is all over the globe now. It has roots deep in African music and culture because it rose out of the American slave experience. The free expression and improvisation in jazz symbolize freedom, and advocates for human rights and cultural diversity use jazz to develop cultural exchange around the world.
American jazz composer and pianist Herbie Hancock proposed International Jazz Day to UNESCO in 2011. Now, more than 200 countries participate each year.
Fun facts about International Jazz Day!
The jazz era produced a lot of words we still use today. Cool, razz, and funky are only a few examples.
Miles Davis was a tough one for interviews. His mysterious manners earned him the name The Prince of Darkness among the media.
The details are fuzzy, but it’s possible that the name ‘jazz’ originally referred to sex, and somehow it got applied to what we now know as a musical style.
Someone asked Louis Armstrong to define jazz. His response: “If you’ve got to ask, then you’ll never know.”
How to celebrate International Jazz Day:
Attend a jazz concert. None to be seen? Start a jazz festival, or throw a jazz party.
Enjoy some jazz. If you’ve never listened, start with Thelonious Monk, or Miles Davis, or Duke Ellington. Take time to develop your ear for it, and do some research into the structure and themes in jazz music.
What’s the hashtag for International Jazz Day?
Show your love for jazz with #JazzDay on social media.