This past January, over two thousand students, musicians, educators, writers, broadcasters, publishers, musical instrument manufacturers and other assorted jazz enthusiasts gathered in New Orleans for the second annual Jazz Education Network Conference. The last community gathering of this nature took place at the IAJE swan song in January, 2008, in Toronto, and the world has changed a bit since then. The New Orleans happening was joyous and a reminder of the importance of the jazz education movement.
I did some interviews, shot a few performances, and tried to capture some of the excitement in this video.
The third annual JEN Conference takes place in Louisville, Kentucky next January 4-7, 2012. Hope to see you there.