What Is Jazz

Student Matinee

Discover the story of America’s music! What Is Jazz? takes students on a journey through history, showing how jazz grew out of African American communities in early 20th-century New Orleans and blended musical traditions from Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. 

Students will hear timeless classics from jazz legends like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bessie Smith. With its roots in the blues, jazz shows us how music can transform struggle into optimism, express individuality through improvisation, and build unity through rhythm and collaboration. What Is Jazz? by Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents brings history to life and celebrates the values that continue to make jazz a universal language.  

Curriculum Connections: Music, Social Studies, History, Social Emotional Learning 

Reservations for this show are for schools only. 

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