The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has designated April as Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) .UNESCO, in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, has declared April 30 to be International Jazz Day (IJD). The U.S. Conference of Mayors is urging its members to support local efforts to celebrate both JAM and IJD in 2013.
The Jazz Journalists Association’s JazzApril campaign supports both JAM and Jazz Day. The term “JazzApril”to refer to both and to stress that all of “April is Jazz Month.”
Throughout the U.S. and around the world, jazz musicians and supporters are planning special April concerts and events. The month’s activities will reach a crescendo on April 30, when Herbie Hancock and other jazz luminaries perform in a day-long series of Jazz Day concerts live streamed from Istanbul, Turkey.
Through the Jazz April campaign, the Jazz Journalists Association is supporting these efforts by:
- encouraging and helping media makers, musicians, venues, businesses and organizations, as well as individual fans and listeners, to use traditional, online and social media as well as other means to spread the word that “April is Jazz Month.”
- working with local jazz organizations to raise the profile of jazz in their communities by designating and celebrating local “Jazz Heroes” and gaining official local government recognition for Jazz Month activities.
You can find more information on JazzApril at www.jazzapril.com.