Center for Jazz Arts Announces Initiative Promoting Jazz Appreciation Month in Britain

In an initiative inspired by the rich history of jazz culture throughout the British music, media, and arts communities, the Center for Jazz Arts has begun the promotion of a dedicated, national, Jazz Appreciation Month celebration intended to annually engage hundreds of local schools, universities, museums, libraries, performing arts centers, broadcasters, and community groups throughout the U.K. .

Modeled after a similar celebration taking place in the United States during the month of April, the current initiative in the U.K. is engaging numerous, leading, British institutions in a new dialog focusing on the creation of an exclusive, annual celebration of British jazz-heritage that, if enacted, would take place during whichever month is most appropriate and of most interest to the British people. The proposed celebration is intended as a means of raising broader public awareness for this important facet of British history; increasing community involvement throughout the U.K.; and supporting new forms of music, arts, and educational programming uniquely rooted in British cultural heritage.

In reference to the ongoing struggles confronting today's global community, and the importance of celebrating the shared values of diversity and pluralism originating from nations around the world, Center for Jazz Arts chairman and president Guy DeFazio stated, "At a time when issues of diversity, tolerance, and shared national heritage remain crucial to the development of freedom and democracy around the world, the unparalleled embrace of jazz music and culture throughout Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, China, Africa, Brazil, and numerous other countries, provides a common ground for all of us to gain invaluable insights into the other's unique societies and values. In the U.K., in particular, the tradition of multi-culturalism and diversity embodied by the British people continues to serve as a model for nations from every corner of the globe."

Evolving in parallel with the earliest emergence of jazz music in 1920's America, the U.K.'s embrace of this innovative and liberating, new art form brought about countless influences on the British lifestyle and society of the time, creating a thriving culture of rhythm clubs, publications, premiere performances, broadcasts, specialty fashions, critics, and scholars, as well as made possible extraordinary advances in the music itself, for decades to follow. As just one example of the work of the Center for Jazz Arts to bring greater international focus to this important facet of British cultural heritage, the online exhibition "Royal Albert Hall," currently featured on its website, makes available to the public a collection of historical documents embodying numerous, rare photos, illustrations, and textual accounts uncovered for the first time in nearly a generation.

When providing his thoughts on "The Origin of the Charleston," in 1926, British choreographer Max Rivers explained, "This dance has been credited to nearly every part of the world except to that from which it really sprang. I believe the British Sailor, of some four hundred years ago, was its originator, for it is obvious to anyone with a knowledge of the Charleston to see that all its principal steps and ninety percent of the minor movements are nothing more than adaptations from the Sailor's Hornpipe."

As the principal voice for promoting the continued growth and development of the jazz community in Britain today, and made possible through the ongoing support of the Arts Council England, Jazz Services Limited is the national organization providing an extensive array of information, publishing, education, touring, communications, and marketing services for jazz in the U.K., and around the world. As part of their important work, Jazz Services further contributes to the advancement of such U.K.-based organizations as Music for Youth, Asian Music Circuit, African and Caribbean Music Circuit, Association of British Jazz Musicians, European Jazz Network, Jazz U.K., National Jazz Archive, National Music Council, Serious Music, and many more.

For further information on how your institution can become actively involved in the development of a new, national celebration of jazz heritage in the U.K., or for members of the general public interested in providing their additional direction and support, please contact Guy DeFazio, President, Center for Jazz Arts [ gdefazio@centerforjazzarts.org ].

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