Wynton Educates On the Web

Let’s say you’re young. Young and you like jazz. And suddenly a thought strikes you: “I wish there was a Web site that would help me learn about jazz, but not jazz for old people. I want it to be a Web site dedicated to educating exclusively young people in jazz—jazz for young people.

Suddenly Wynton Marsalis jumps out of your closet and says, “I shall make it so. As Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, I demand there be a Web site dedicated to jazz for young people. It shall be named www.jazzforyoungpeople.org.”

On Monday, Sept. 22, at the National Press Club, Marsalis (pictured) announced the launch of the interactive educational Web site as a companion to his Jazz for Young People Curriculum, a series of CDs, book and videos available to teachers interested in learnin’ their students some jazz history—a good thing indeed.

The Web site will connect users to 17-plus lessons, each developed to enhance the curriculum with more audio, video, photos, biographies, and educational activities. The site was developed for students of jazz performance, but the aspiring jazz aficionado can also use the site as a tool for learning about jazz music and history.

The first three lessons on jazzforyoungpeople.org will focus on Louis Armstrong (natch), improvisation and Latin jazz respectively. More lessons will be added sporadically throughout the rest of the year. Each lesson draws from the Curriculum lessons, exploring a vast array of musical concepts, styles and jazz practitioners.

To view Marsalis’ entire hour long speech (how much time do you have on your hands?) visit http://www.connectlive.com/npc. To learn more about Jazz at Lincoln Center, check out www.jazzatlincolncenter.org.