April is Jazz Appreciation Month


Featured Image: Nils Schirmer on Unsplash

April was designated as Jazz Appreciation Month starting in 2001 by John Edward Hasse, the curator of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. Jazz Appreciation Month is an extension of Jazz Awareness Month, introduced by the Louisiana Jazz Federation in New Orleans in 1980. Schools, libraries, community organizations and other groups currently offer free educational programs and events to promote jazz awareness. Trumpeter Miles Davis is featured on the poster for Jazz Appreciation Month in 2023. He was a versatile musician associated with the bebop, cool jazz, and experimental jazz movements.


Jazz is regarded as the first unique style of music to emerge in America. It began in the late 1890s and early 1900s in the African American communities of New Orleans, though it was also influenced by Caribbean, Latin and European cultures. Ragtime, a popular style of music during that time, the blues, and the marches played by brass bands gave rise to a new type of music. Jazz soon became popular in other cities such as Chicago, New York City, and Kansas City. Radio broadcasts and early recordings allowed the music to reach even more listeners.


Jazz has helped to promote cultural and racial diversity and equality. The popularity of jazz during the 1920s and 1930s brought people of various ethnic backgrounds together, and many jazz musicians became familiar and respected figures in America and overseas. Jazz embodies the American ideals of freedom of expression, creativity, liberation, and diversity. It is associated with the Civil Rights Movement. Jazz has influenced and been influenced by other musical forms, such as rock, hip-hop, blues, and classical music. It has influenced fashion and literary movements as well.


Over the past 100 years, many different styles of jazz have emerged. Traditional, Dixieland, Swing, Big Band, bebop, and cool jazz were part of the first half of the 20th century. During the second half, musicians influenced by rock and rhythm and blues began adding electric piano, organ, guitar and bass guitar to their arrangements. Latin jazz, bossa nova, modal jazz, jazz fusion, avant-garde, modern, and freeform jazz were some of the subgenres to emerge. Jazz continues to evolve, as contemporary musicians compose and play nu jazz, electronica, and acid jazz.


Jazz is popular in many countries. Jazz Appreciation Month culminates with International Jazz Day on April 30. There will be many global live performances to mark the occasion. Jazz fans can check their local news outlets or look online to find events.


There are many ways to observe Jazz Appreciation Month. Revisit your favorite jazz album or jazz standards to evoke mellow moods and treasured memories. Explore new jazz releases or music by artists who seem interesting. Visit Night is Alive’s website for suggestions on new CDs. Read an autobiography by or biography about a famous jazz musician, or watch a movie or documentary about jazz. As the weather gets warmer, consider attending a live concert or jazz festival, or visit a nightclub.


Author: Patricia Martin

Ringing in a Jazzy New Years

Jazz music has a long and storied history, with its roots tracing back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. It has evolved over time, incorporating a wide range of influences and styles, and has had a profound impact on popular culture around the world.

One of the key events in the history of jazz is the emergence of “jazz age” in the 1920s, which saw the rise of popular jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. These musicians helped to popularize jazz and bring it to mainstream audiences, and their influence can still be felt today.

Jazz has also played an important role on New Year’s Eve, with many people turning to jazz music to help ring in the new year. From jazz clubs and dance halls to television and radio broadcasts, jazz has been a staple of New Year’s Eve celebrations for decades.

One of the reasons that jazz has remained so popular on New Year’s Eve is its ability to evoke a sense of excitement and celebration. The fast tempo and improvisational nature of jazz music make it the perfect accompaniment to the festive atmosphere of the holiday.

In addition to its role in New Year’s Eve celebrations, jazz has also had a lasting influence on other genres of music. Many modern artists, from pop and rock to hip hop and electronic, have incorporated elements of jazz into their music, helping to keep the genre alive and relevant for new generations of listeners.

Overall, jazz has a rich and varied history, and its influence can still be felt today, particularly on New Year’s Eve. Whether you’re dancing the night away in a jazz club or enjoying the sounds of a jazz band on the radio, there’s no denying that jazz is an integral part of the celebration of the start of a new year.

You can ring in the new year by listening to Night is Alive’s new album, Call Me Irresponsible, celebrating the Jazz of Jimmy Van Heusen.

Listen to the entire album on YouTube or on any of the major Streaming Services. 

Jazz Songs for Juneteenth

Jazz Songs for Juneteenth

Maybe you’ve seen the Juneteenth flag—the white star atop blue and red—and wondered what this holiday is all about? Well, it is celebrated on June 19th to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. It was first celebrated in Texas, where in 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay and declared that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree.

If you’re a history buff, you may know that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, so why, you may be wondering, did it take two more years to official free all of the enslaved people? Well, that is because the proclamation was not able to be implemented in places still under Confederate control—like the westernmost Confederate state of Texas. Therefore, slavery wasn’t completely abolished until Juneteenth.

As early as June 19, 1866, the formerly enslaved black Texas began celebrating with festivities. But it was not until June 17, 2021, that President Joe Biden signed a bill that made the day—also known as Freedom Day or Jubilee Day—into an official federal holiday.

On Juneteenth, you may also see people flying the red, black, and green Pan-African flag, which was adopted by the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1920 and represents the blood, soil and prosperity of Africa and its people.

Now that you have an introduction to the holiday, why don’t we take a closer look at a few songs that have played a huge role in the fight for civil rights in America.

Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit

Just because slavery was officially abolished in 1865 with the Thirteenth Amendment, doesn’t mean that equality was instantaneous. In fact, far from it. As we all unfortunately know, the struggle for racial equality still persists today.

Following the Thirteenth Amendment, many racists, and racist organizations, like the Ku Klux Klan, retaliated in the form of lynching.

In 1939, a Jewish-American man named Abel Meeropol wrote a poem that protested against lynching, such as those in Indiana during the 1930s. As many photos from that period show, racially motivated violence was far from over.

Meeropol made the poem into lyrics with music and his wife performed it at venues in New York City. Then, legend has it that the founder of the only integrated nightclub in New York City—Café Society—introduced Meeropol’s song to Billie Holiday, who performed it for the first time in 1939.

The song, which compares the Black American victims of lynching to the fruit of trees, was named by Timemagazine in 1999 as the “Best Song of the Century.” And activist and scholar Angela Davis said that this song is “the most influential and profound example of a continuing site of music and radical social consciousness.” It has been thought of us a declaration that began the civil rights movement.

Nina Simone – Mississippi Goddam

“Mississippi Goddam,” released in 1964, encapsulates the Simone’s response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, and the racially motivated murder of the Emmett Till in Mississippi. In case you aren’t familiar with these atrocities—in 1963, a white supremacist bombed a black Church in Birmingham, which killed four people and injured over 14. And in 1955, a group of white men abducted, tortured, and lynched a fourteen-year-old boy named Emmett Till.

They keep on sayin’ ‘go slow,’ Simone sings in the protest song. To do things gradually would bring more tragedy. Why don’t you see it? Why don’t you feel it? I don’t know, I don’t know. You don’t have to live next to me, just give me my equality!