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Smithsonian Jazz

Smithsonian Jazz Welcome to Smithsonian Jazz at the National Museum of American History. Exhibits, Concerts, Programs, and the home of Jazz Appreciation Month!

At the National Museum of American History, we explore America's fundamental ideas and ideals to help people understand the past in order to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future. By learning more about the history of jazz in America, and the values inherent in jazz such as risk-taking, collaboration, individuality, and freedom, we can better understand the roles we play as musi

cians, students, teachers, audience members, supporters, and leaders. Through the museum's world-class collections, scholarship, concerts by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Jazz Appreciation Month, exhibitions, programs, and more, Smithsonian Jazz at the National Museum of American History is committed to exploring and celebrating the American experience through the transformative power of jazz. Please feel free to share thoughts about our posts, ask us questions, or tell us about your experience. We hope you’ll contribute to this interactive forum and to our ongoing conversation about the work we do to further the Smithsonian's mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. While on-topic discussion is encouraged, we ask that you express yourself in a civil manner and treat other users with respect. The Smithsonian also monitors and may remove posts consistent with its terms of use, as described at http://si.edu/Termsofuse#user-gen. For our Privacy Policy: http://www.si.edu/Privacy

Operating as usual

12/03/2021

This week on the MCG Jazz Spotlight Show we pay tribute to Jazz Master Slide Hampton. Host Marty Ashby is joined by Slide’s fellow trombonists and friends to tell stories, play music, and remember the life of this legend and innovator.

The MCG Jazz Spotlight show airs on Friday and Sunday at 6:00pm and Saturday at 1:00pm on The Pittsburgh Jazz Channel & WZUM.

With Jeff Bush, Etta Cox & Al Dowe Band, Nelson E. Harrison, Ken Kimery, Smithsonian Jazz, Jay Ashby

08/25/2021

For the safety of our guests, staff and the traveling musicians, we have decided to postpone this year's performances by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. This was a mutual decision between MOAS and the taking into account the current rise in infections in Florida and the recently revised Covid protocols announced by the Smithsonian Institution, and while we are all disappointed that we cannot hold our annual September concerts, both the museum and the SJMO remain committed to returning to perform in Daytona Beach once it is practical to do so.

08/05/2021

Ken Kimery, Executive Producer of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Washington D.C., joins the program alongside Marty Ashby for this weekend's MCG Jazz Spotlight Show. Tune into 101.1 FM () to hear Ken’s selections including Al Jarreau, Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Keith Jarrett, Duke Ellington and even some Weather Report. Jazz is everywhere in Pittsburgh!

04/28/2021
The Soulful Shirley Horn

The Soulful Shirley Horne
April 29 at 7:00 PM (EDT)
Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month’s Year of the Woman with a look into the life of one of jazz’s greatest vocalists, Shirley Horn. Join Howard University Assistant Professor Jessica Boykin-Settles as she elaborates on Horn’s unique, almost serendipitous, route to fame.

https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/251138?utm_source=SI-Trumba-Calendar&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=2021FY-Trumba-SA-ev&utm_content=SA-Trumba-event&tmssource=254086

Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month’s Year of the Woman with a look into the creative life of one of the style’s greatest singers, D.C.’s own Shirley Horn. Join Jessica Boykin-Settles, a voice faculty member at Howard University, as she looks at Horn’s route to fame, her jazz-w...

Keeping the Rhythm: An Exploration of Women DrummersFriday, April 23, 20217 p.m. EDTAs part of Smithsonian Jazz’s celebr...
04/23/2021
Keeping the Rhythm: An Exploration of Women Drummers

Keeping the Rhythm: An Exploration of Women Drummers

Friday, April 23, 2021
7 p.m. EDT

As part of Smithsonian Jazz’s celebration of Women in Jazz during this year’s Jazz Appreciation Month, the museum is thrilled to present Keeping the Rhythm: An Exploration of Women Drummers. This livestreamed program will be hosted by Dr. Sherrie Maricle, drummer, educator and music director of The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, FIVE PLAY and co-leader the 3D Jazz Trio. Maricle will share the important and often overlooked contributions of American women drummers throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. She will also be joined by award-winning writer, producer, and director Judy Chaikin, whose groundbreaking documentary The Girls in the Band featured stories of women jazz musicians. This program will be live streamed on the museum’s YouTube page.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/keeping-the-rhythm-an-exploration-of-women-drummers-tickets-149572410105?aff=ebdssbeac

A part of Smithsonian Jazz’s celebration of Women in Jazz during this year’s Jazz Appreciation Month.

On Thursday, April 22 at 8PM ET (5PM PT), the National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, will host a...
04/21/2021

On Thursday, April 22 at 8PM ET (5PM PT), the National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, will host a special online-only concert in honor of the 2021 NEA Jazz Masters—Terri Lyne Carrington, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Henry Threadgill and Phil Schaap.

Day two (April 9) of this incredible virtual symposium and concert presented by Columbia University Center for Jazz and ...
04/06/2021

Day two (April 9) of this incredible virtual symposium and concert presented by Columbia University Center for Jazz and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

Check out this fantastic April 8 symposium and concert presented by Columbia University Center for Jazz Studies and the ...
04/06/2021

Check out this fantastic April 8 symposium and concert presented by Columbia University Center for Jazz Studies and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

04/05/2021

This year, Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) turns 20! We're celebrating with a month full of activities—and a brand-new JAM poster. 🥳

Our 20th anniversary poster celebrates pianist, vocalist, civil rights activist, and "High Priestess of Soul" Nina Simone. Simone's career spanned over four decades and crossed even more musical genres, including jazz, blues, gospel, folk and classical music. This year's poster featuring Simone was created by Naa Anyele Sowah-De Jesus, a sophomore visual arts student at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Jazz Appreciation Month. Established by our museum in 2001, JAM recognizes the extraordinary history and impact that jazz has had throughout the world and still does today. Throughout April, we encourage you to experience jazz music and its history by attending an online performance, listening to music, watching a film or documentary, reading a book, or sharing with a friend or loved one a favorite song, artist, or newly discovered jazz moment.

How will you celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month this year? Follow the link in our bio today to browse through ideas from our team—and download your own copy of this year's JAM poster: http://s.si.edu/CelebrateJAM

Support of jazz programming is made possible by the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation; The Argus Fund; Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, founding donor of the Smithsonian Jazz Endowment; David C. Frederick & Sophia Lynn; Goldman Sachs; and the John Hammond Performance Series Endowment Fund.

04/05/2021

How do you like the official JAM poster for 2021? We LOVE it!

Learn more about Jazz Appreciation Month by following today’s link.

Ella’s Foundation is grateful to Ken Kimery of Smithsonian Jazz.

www.smithsonianjazz.org

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of Jazz Appreciation Month.
04/01/2021

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of Jazz Appreciation Month.

03/19/2021

One week from today (Mar. 26), we will be premiering the Smithsonian Jazz Sextet “Tribute to the Poll Winners” performance, recorded from a concert June 2, 2018. Tune in on premiere night for a post-concert live chat with Smithsonian Jazz executive producer and drummer, Ken Kimery. Register for your link at www.mcgjazz.org
Marty Ashby, Chuck Redd

Great article on the SJMO's recent "Bernstein Reimagined" release.
02/04/2021

Great article on the SJMO's recent "Bernstein Reimagined" release.

Lesser-known Leonard Bernstein works spotlit by Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra: j.mp/3tu6ha0

Today is the official release date for the SJMO’s Bernstein Reimagined recording.
01/29/2021
MCG Jazz's 'Bernstein Reimagined' is a rhythmic tonic

Today is the official release date for the SJMO’s Bernstein Reimagined recording.

MCG Jazz and local arrangers played key roles in playing on and producing a new recording by Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra

Hot off the press!
01/25/2021

Hot off the press!

The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra celebrates the legacy of Leonard Bernstein on stunning, revelatory new album.

Bernstein Reimagined, due out January 29, 2021, via MCG Jazz, explores lesser-known Bernstein pieces through the transformative lens of five gifted jazz arrangers: Jay Ashby, Darryl Brenzel, Scott Silbert, Mike Tomaro and Steve Williams.

Listed in Jazziz Magazine's January issue as one of the "10 Albums You Need to Know," Bernstein Reimagined was commissioned as part of the worldwide celebration of Bernstein’s centennial and is being released on record for the first time.

More info: http://bit.ly/36alHX1

Pre-order: http://www.mcgjazz.org/

01/25/2021

The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra celebrates the legacy of Leonard Bernstein on stunning, revelatory new album.

Bernstein Reimagined, due out January 29, 2021, via MCG Jazz, explores lesser-known Bernstein pieces through the transformative lens of five gifted jazz arrangers: Jay Ashby, Darryl Brenzel, Scott Silbert, Mike Tomaro and Steve Williams.

Listed in Jazziz Magazine's January issue as one of the "10 Albums You Need to Know," Bernstein Reimagined was commissioned as part of the worldwide celebration of Bernstein’s centennial and is being released on record for the first time.

More info: http://bit.ly/36alHX1

Pre-order: http://www.mcgjazz.org/

Check out the SJMO's November 2019 Tokyo concert with guest artist Kurt Elling.
01/05/2021

Check out the SJMO's November 2019 Tokyo concert with guest artist Kurt Elling.

09/30/2020

On March 21, 2013, Marty Ashby of MCG Jazz and Ken Kimery of the Smithsonian sat with newly inducted Pittsburgh Jazz Legend Joe Negri to document a discussion about his life, career, and contributions to Pittsburgh’s jazz legacy. To conclude September’s Learning About the Legends series, we are releasing an excerpt of the transcription of Joe Negri’s Oral History for you to read.

If you are interested in the full transcript, please contact MCG Jazz Education & Archives Manager Mark Jackovic.

Be sure to check out our page every Tuesday in October to learn about our next legend, James Guerra!

http://mcgjazz.org/_wp/wp-content/uploads/Joe-Negri-partial-Oral-History.pdf

Looking forward to our upcoming “Jazz from Broadway to Hollywood” performances at the Museum of Arts and Sciences on Sep...
08/23/2019

Looking forward to our upcoming “Jazz from Broadway to Hollywood” performances at the Museum of Arts and Sciences on September 28.

Join the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in the Root Family Museum at MOAS for a delightful jazz concert - inspired by Broadway and Hollywood. 📽️

Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra Matinee Concert
🎟Sat. 09/28 – Matinee Performance [3:00-5:00PM]
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra Evening Concert
🎟Sat. 09/28 - Evening Performance [7:00-9:00PM]

🎼🎵🎶 🎼🎵🎶 🎼🎵🎶 🎼🎵🎶 🎼🎵🎶 🎼🎵🎶
$20 for members, $35 for future members.
For Tickets: 386-255-0285, in person at , or online at http://bit.ly/SJMO2019. 🎷🎹🥁🎻🎺✨

03/11/2019

As a special thank you to our Facebook followers, a limited number of FREE tickets are now available to see the 19-piece Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra with internationally renowned flutist Hubert Laws. Woven within this bespoke concert experience is a historical narrative of Chicago’s influences on the evolution of jazz including the music of Fred Fisher, Django Reinhardt, Leonard Bernstein and more!

Request free tickets here: https://s.si.edu/ChicagoSJMO

🎷 Happy Friday, jazz fans! A few photos from our "The Evolving Jazz Culture" concert last week. For those of you who wer...
10/26/2018

🎷 Happy Friday, jazz fans! A few photos from our "The Evolving Jazz Culture" concert last week. For those of you who were there, thanks for joining us! 🎺

Don't miss future concerts like this one. Sign up for our newsletter: https://s.si.edu/newsletter

Here at National Museum of American History, we're so excited to be part of the just-announced Smithsonian Year of Music...
10/22/2018
Smithsonian Music

Here at National Museum of American History, we're so excited to be part of the just-announced Smithsonian Year of Music. The Institution-wide initiative will celebrate our vast musical collections and include at least one musical event—a performance, lecture, music release, or workshop—every day for 365 days in 2019.

Fun fact: The Smithsonian's combined musical resources would make us the world's largest museum of music.

Explore: http://music.si.edu

Whether it's turtle-shell rattles at the American Indian Museum, ancient Chinese bells at the Freer and Sackler Galleries, or the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra at the American History Museum, the opportunities to engage with music at the Smithsonian are practically endless.

What's on our playlist today? "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie. The music manuscript is among the National Museum...
10/21/2018

What's on our playlist today? "A Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie. The music manuscript is among the National Museum of American History's Dizzy Gillespie Records in our Archives Center. Today would have been Dizzy's birthday. What's up with his trumpet? Its uniquely shaped upturned bell was Dizzy's trademark.

Here's our set list for our Friday, October 19 jazz concert. See any favorites? Join us for Evolving Jazz Culture at Nat...
09/19/2018

Here's our set list for our Friday, October 19 jazz concert. See any favorites? Join us for Evolving Jazz Culture at National Museum of American History: https://s.si.edu/jazz1019

Today in 1917:  Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport News, Virginia. Known as the “First Lady of Song,” Ella was an iconic...
04/25/2018
A-tisket, a-tasket, a hit song in her basket: Ella's rise to fame

Today in 1917: Ella Fitzgerald is born in Newport News, Virginia.

Known as the “First Lady of Song,” Ella was an iconic vocalist who won 13 Grammys and sold over 40 million albums. Take a break today and mark her 101st birthday with this dive into the recording that helped launch her career: http://s.si.edu/atisket

"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" is arguably one of the catchiest tunes in jazz. This piece of music recorded on May 2, 1938, single-handedly launched Ella Fitzgerald, "The First Lady of Song," into fame and traveled with her throughout an extremely successful career.

It’s the last week of Jazz Appreciation Month! End your month on a high note—join us here at the National Museum of Amer...
04/23/2018
Smithsonian Jazz – Events

It’s the last week of Jazz Appreciation Month! End your month on a high note—join us here at the National Museum of American History for a jazz-filled weekend.

Curious what we're planning? Start your jazz weekend on Thursday with free performances by our own Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble. Then stop in on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for powerful free performances in partnership with the Blues Alley Jazz Society:

➡️ Big Band JAM! presents free adjudicated performances every hour by college and high school jazz bands outside on the museum’s terrace.

➡️ The 2018 Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition finalists join us for their final performance, judged by guitarist John Pizzarelli and free to attend.

2,475 followers

What are you doing for Jazz Appreciation Month? Still looking for ideas and inspiration? We’ve heard the musicians featu...
04/12/2018

What are you doing for Jazz Appreciation Month? Still looking for ideas and inspiration? We’ve heard the musicians featured on the Jazz Appreciation Month poster are always a great place to start—and this year there are six!

Throw a jam session, go to concert, or host a conversation about Charles Mingus, Benny Goodman, Gerry Mulligan, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, or John Coltrane.

This year's poster is from the middle section of LeRoy Neiman’s “Big Band” painting, considered to be one of his greatest works. You can learn more about the painting and all the musicians here: http://s.si.edu/jazztitans2

(P.S.: Free copies of the poster are available first come, first served until supplies run out . . . and we're down to our last 100 posters: http://s.si.edu/JAMposter)

Norman Granz was chosen as this year’s featured Jazz Appreciation Month artist for his contributions to jazz: his innova...
04/11/2018
In other words: Norman Granz, by the musicians who knew him

Norman Granz was chosen as this year’s featured Jazz Appreciation Month artist for his contributions to jazz: his innovative work as a producer, tireless promotion of musicians, and uncompromising stance on civil rights.

Let the musicians who worked with him tell you more about Norman in their own words.

During this year’s Jazz Appreciation Month, we are exploring the relationship between jazz and justice by looking at the dynamic ways jazz has played a transformative role in social justice, musicians’ rights, and equality since its birth in America. For the first time in Jazz Appreciation Month...

Today is a great day for birthdays in ! Join us as we salute vocalist Billie Holiday (born in 1915 in Philadelphia, PA),...
04/07/2018

Today is a great day for birthdays in !

Join us as we salute vocalist Billie Holiday (born in 1915 in Philadelphia, PA), conga player and bandleader Mongo Santamaria (born in 1922 in Havana, Cuba), and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (born in 1938 in Indianapolis, IN) on their shared birthday! What songs are you listening to in celebration?

📷: National Museum of American History and Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Today in 1927: Saxophonist and composer Gerry Mulligan is born in New York, NY. Gerry is one of musicians featured in th...
04/06/2018

Today in 1927: Saxophonist and composer Gerry Mulligan is born in New York, NY.

Gerry is one of musicians featured in this year's Jazz Appreciation Month poster and posing in this striking black-and-white portrait by Bob Willoughby, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Learn more about the poster's musicians this year and request your own free copy of the poster: http://s.si.edu/JAMposter

Our featured  artist, Norman Granz, was one of the most influential people in the 20th century jazz scene. He helped pro...
04/03/2018
Norman Granz: Revolutionizing jazz for social justice

Our featured artist, Norman Granz, was one of the most influential people in the 20th century jazz scene. He helped propel musicians like Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson to greatness, created the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series, and changed how audiences listen to jazz.

Most importantly, Granz was also a devoted civil rights advocate who used his work in the industry to push for equality and justice. His work is our source of inspiration for this year's Jazz Appreciation Month theme: Jazz & Justice.

A civil rights protest often invokes the vivid images of sit-ins, boycotts, and marches, but the fight for racial equality took many different forms. One of them was jazz. Norman Granz, a renowned impresario—producer, artist manager, and promoter—recognized the value of jazz, and music, as a too...

It's officially Jazz Appreciation Month! This year we're celebrating a theme of Jazz & Justice, exploring how jazz has p...
04/02/2018

It's officially Jazz Appreciation Month! This year we're celebrating a theme of Jazz & Justice, exploring how jazz has played a transformative role in social justice, musicians' rights, and equality throughout history.

Here's some quick ways to join in and kick your month off:

1⃣ Meet our featured artist, Norman Granz. Our first nonmusician to be featured for JAM, Granz was an innovative producer, manager, and civil rights activist. We'll be sharing stories about Granz all month, but you can learn more about him right here too: https://s.si.edu/2pJsmCb

2⃣ Check out the 2018 JAM Poster featuring Charles Mingus, Benny Goodman, Gerry Mulligan, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane! Request a free copy before supplies run out: http://s.si.edu/JAMposter

3⃣ Plan your own JAM celebration with our handy guide! Jazz Appreciation Month is fundamentally about enjoying, playing, listening to, and talking about jazz with others. It's easy: https://s.si.edu/CelebrateJAM

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Please feel free to share thoughts about our posts, ask us questions, or tell us about your experience. We hope you’ll contribute to this interactive forum and to our ongoing conversation about the work we do to further the Smithsonian's mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. While on-topic discussion is encouraged, we ask that you express yourself in a civil manner and treat other users with respect. The Smithsonian also monitors and may remove posts consistent with its terms of use, as described at http://si.edu/Termsofuse#user-gen. For our Privacy Policy: http://www.si.edu/Privacy

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Today is another addition in our series, Jazz On Screen!, where we highlight the best jazz soundtracks in film. Follow along weekly from now until Oscars night!

This week’s entry: “West Side Story”. With a score composed by Leonard Bernstein, the 2021 adaptation is up for Best Picture, among other categories, at this year’s Oscars. It’s no secret that Bernstein’s music was influenced by jazz, with him calling the genre “the ultimate common denominator of the American music style”. Some of Bernstein’s lesser-known symphonic works, spiritual music, operas and even his movie score from On The Waterfront come together in a dazzling album by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra called “Bernstein Reimagined”. Find the album on our website at mcgjazz.org.

Here's my tribute to Duke Ellington's classic "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" from The Wall Street Journal. Check out the hyperlinked video clips.

Happy birthday today to Ira Gershwin, prince of American lyricists. Here's my appreciation from today's Wall Street Journal:
Check out the linked videos: Ella (twice), Sinatra, Warsaw Opera, etc.

This week on the MCG Jazz Spotlight Show we pay tribute to Jazz Master Slide Hampton. Host Marty Ashby is joined by Slide’s fellow trombonists and friends to tell stories, play music, and remember the life of this legend and innovator.

The MCG Jazz Spotlight show airs on Friday and Sunday at 6:00pm and Saturday at 1:00pm on The Pittsburgh Jazz Channel & WZUM.

With Jeff Bush, Etta Cox & Al Dowe Band, Nelson E. Harrison, Ken Kimery, Smithsonian Jazz, Jay Ashby

My latest Wall Street Journal article celebrates Mahalia Jackson and Ethel Waters, surpassing singers of American song--whether gospel, jazz, blues, or Broadway. Check out the hyperlinks to 8 compelling video clips.

New music from MCG Jazz!

With Anton DeFade , Raymond A. DeFade , Eric DeFade , Jared Sims , Smithsonian Jazz , We Knew What We Had: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told , Deanna Witkowski , Marty Ashby , Gloria Reuben

The legendary David Baker, intrinsically tied to the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, is spotlighted on the award-winning podcast Melanated Moments In Classical Music. This week's episode is titled Creating Classical Conversations in Jazz.

International opera soprano, Ms. Angela Brown, and music sociologist, Joshua Allen, survey Baker's multifaceted life. An iconic composer, educator, performer, and native of Indianapolis, Baker is revered globally for his unique ability to traverse the worlds of jazz and classical music deftly and equally. His works Calypso, A Good Assassination Should be Quiet, and Bolling Suite for cello and jazz piano are featured to demonstrate his signature style that continues to be held as a model for classical and jazz composers. The discussion includes his longtime association with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Check it out:
For the safety of our guests, staff and the traveling musicians, we have decided to postpone this year's performances by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. This was a mutual decision between MOAS and the taking into account the current rise in infections in Florida and the recently revised Covid protocols announced by the Smithsonian Institution, and while we are all disappointed that we cannot hold our annual September concerts, both the museum and the SJMO remain committed to returning to perform in Daytona Beach once it is practical to do so.
Ken Kimery, Executive Producer of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Washington D.C., joins the program alongside Marty Ashby for this weekend's MCG Jazz Spotlight Show. Tune into 101.1 FM () to hear Ken’s selections including Al Jarreau, Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Keith Jarrett, Duke Ellington and even some Weather Report. Jazz is everywhere in Pittsburgh!

Guess who's back for their 10th show! We are honored to have the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra back in Daytona Beach for their 10th concert performance. Stay tuned for more details!
My new Wall Street Journal article on James P. Johnson's 1921 masterpiece "Carolina Shout," which Duke Ellington and Fats Waller learned the hard way--by slowing the player-piano roll way down. Please note the last 2 sentences.
MINOR DISTANCE, MAJOR TALENT! | In January, we put out a call to our fellow musicians to submit videos of themselves playing along to a video recorded by our rhythm section. Master Sgt. Luke Brandon created the arrangement and dubbed it “Minor Distance,” a nod to the circumstances in which we’ve found ourselves during this unique and challenging time in our history. A small handful of the numerous videos we received were merged with ours and we’d like to share the finished product!

While you enjoy Minor Distance, we hope you will also remember those military members who continue to go the major distance, both actually and figuratively, in their efforts to safeguard this amazing nation and the freedoms we hold so dear. The fight against the coronavirus has been faced with no small measure of strength, fortitude, and resilience by those who wear the uniform. Rest assured that, in exactly the same way they stand up to any other challenge, the U.S. Air Force and the entire U.S. military have continued to stand strong and do their parts to bring aid and healing around the globe.

We invite you to share this fun project, tag your friends, and to continue posting recordings of yourself playing along on your own page. Don’t forget to tag us! We’d love to see your interpretation!

National Association for Music Education Jazz Education Network Smithsonian Jazz Smithsonian



Musicians:
Patrick Westin, alto sax - Öbrebro, Sweden
Jonny Faull, alto sax - London, United Kingdom
Sarah Hughes, soprano sax - Pasadena, Maryland
Adam Loudin, trumpet - Buckhannon, West Virginia
Leo Maxey, trumpet - Baltimore, Maryland
Brandon Martell, vocals - St Petersburg, Florida
Cristian Perez, guitar - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sam Barbaro, trombone - Reston, Virginia

Airmen of Note
Technical Sgt. Christopher Ziemba - piano
Technical Sgt. Benjamin Thomas - bass
Master Sgt. David McDonald - drums

CREDITS
Colonel Don Schofield - Executive Producer
Master Sgt. David McDonald - Producer
Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Hoffmann - Videographer
Technical Sgt. Tim Hilgert - Editor
Technical Sgt. Jim Woolf - Audio Engineer
x

Other History Museums in Washington D.C. (show all)

The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center National Museum of American History Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture A People's Journey ARC Smithsonian's Human Origins Program Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Entomology, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum History from all sides Children and the American Revolution Exhibit DAR Museum International Spy Museum Educators page International Spy Museum Smithsonian Civil War 150