In the following articles we would like to present a selected group of lazz museums and other lazz institutions around the world to you. These institutions are mostly seated in the USA obviously, but still we will show you a few other interesting lighthouses of Jazz spread all over the globe. You will see that each museum has its own chann. We would like to encourage the growing interest in Jazz introducing landmarlns to you, which you shouldn’t miss when you are around. We have chosen the following institutions for a close-up view:
THE NATIONAL JAZZ MUSEUM IN HARLEM is at 104, E 126th Street, a few steps from the bridge that
carries the Metro North trains to and from Connecticut from the 125th Street station.
Situated on the second floor, the museum is primarily a suite of offices with a large front area
that presents photographs, video documentaries and books on jazz to the public.
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has been ensconced in its Harlem offices for six years now.
The Museum is hosting a series of educational and community events.
Outside of its native New Orleans, no community has nurtured jazz more than Harlem.
Duke Ellington, Benny Carter, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Count Basie,
John Coltrane, Billie Holiday - all of their unique sounds reverberated throughout these fabled streets. Their legacy continues as the jazz musicians of today have also found a home in this community
for their own contemporary sounds. The National Jazz Museum in Harlem is dedicated to
fostering this spirit -the music as a living, breathing entity that looks as far into the
future as it does into the past.
Under the leadership of Executive Director Loren Schoenberg, and Co-Director Christian McBride,
the Jazz Museum in Harlem has gone from an idea to a significant contributor to the education
and cultural experience of jazz in Harlem, and without the benefit of a permanent home,
has functioned, as a “virtual museum” by launching a variety of innovative programs, such as:
• Harlem speaks: This is a free biweekly series to honor persons
keeping the flame of jazz alive in Harlem.
• Saturday Panels: A new series of monthly get togethers,
comprising panel discussions, films and live music.
• Jazz for curious readers
• Jazz for curious listeners
• Harmony in Harlem for young musicians: The Museum, in partnership with
The Children’s Aid Society, has created a youth jazz band for students grades 7 to 12
• Harlem speaks education initiative: This program introduces high school students
to the vibrancy of jazz and the achievements of its practitioners.
• Jazz is: Now!: This program consists of open panel discussions on jazz culture
and its relevance in today's society, with special musical guest performances. The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has over the course of several years evolved
into a major cultural presence in New York City.
The Museum hopes to move to a new development across from The Apollo Theater on 125th Street, possibly in 2012. Instead of the current suite of offices, this site would be 10,000 square
feet in size, providing space for interactive presentations including a listening library and a
theater for performances. The Museum also sponsors a number of jazz events
at other venues in New York City.
The Jazz Institute of Chicago is a non-profit arts presenting organization
that produces concerts and runs educational programs.
It was founded in 1969 by a small band of jazz fans, writers, club owners and
musicians who came together to preserve the historical roots of the Chicago's
music and to ensure that opportunities for the music to be heard would not be lost in a time when rock was subsuming cultural economics.
Among the founding members were trad pianist Art Hodes, Muhal Richard Abrams,
who a few years earlier had also co-founded the Association for the Advancement
of Creative Musicians (AACM), Harriett Choice, then music writer for the Chicago Tribune, Joe Segal, whose Jazz Showcase has kept the flame for bebop lit for 50 years,
Bob Koester, owner of Delmark Records, Don DeMicheal, drummer and editor of
Downbeat magazine, jazz promoter and supporter Penny Tyler and several
other devoted souls.
The operating principle was, and continues to be based on the recognition that all
forms of the music should be equally represented in whatever we do.
From the Annual Jazz Fair in 1979 to the Chicago Jazz Festival in 1979, to the
hundreds of concerts and programs presented all over the city, the Institute
has sought to open peoples' ears to new music by standing the familiar and the
unfamiliar side by side. In the 80's it brought a jazz curriculum into the Chicago
Public High Schools that became a template for similar programs all over the country.
In 1997 the Institute began a partnership with the Chicago Park District.
The citywide JazzCity concert series brings Chicago's stellar talent right into the
neighborhoods, for free. In 1999 the American Composers Forum joined in initiating
the Chicago Composers Project, to commission composers to create collaborative
compositions with residents of the city's communities. The Institute began by
celebrating the storied history of Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood --home to
Louis Armstrong and numerous other important jazz innovators. Then to Humboldt
Park where Afro-Caribbean music found it's way into the city's heartbeat. In 2001
the diversity of Asian communities in Chicago was explored and in 2002
our large Polish population contributed to the effort.
THE INSTITUTE'S JAZZ LINKS EDUCATION PROGRAM: The Institute’s Jazz Links education programs are a partnership with music teachers
working in Chicago public schools. It jumped off in 2003 with musician residencies in public high schools, the regeneration of the All City High School Jazz Band Competition and monthly Jazz Links Student Jam Sessions. It has since developed dynamic
professional development workshops and a summer camp for jazz band teachers and a Student Council whose members perform around the city.
The Jazz Institute of Chicago nurtures young artists, bringing them up through Jazz
Links and introducing them to audiences at JazzCity and Millennium Park and the
Chicago Jazz Festival. It provides a real-life training ground for students to learn skills
required to become professional musicians, offer internships at the Jazz Institute and continue to support their careers as they become working musicians and full members
of the community. It also provides professional development for music teachers who want to incorporate more jazz into their schools music curriculum.
The Institution undertakes these endeavors because it wants to ensure that new
audiences continue to be developed for the music, and that Chicago's place in its
history be recognized and presented. It is committed to ensuring that the
great jazz legacy of Chicago will continue to enrich and inspire the lives for
many generations to come.
Jazz at Lincoln Center is dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz.
With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a comprehensive
array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued
development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance,
education and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include
concerts, national and international tours, residencies, a jazz hall of fame and concert series, weekly national radio programs, television broadcasts, recordings, publications,
an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy,
jazz appreciation curriculum for students, music publishing, children’s concerts and classes, lectures, adult education courses, student and educator workshops and interactive websites. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Chairman Lisa Schiff and
Executive Director, Adrian Ellis, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce thousands of events
each season in its home in New York City, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and around the world.
Jazz at Lincoln Center relies on the generosity of its friends and supporters to fulfill
its mission. Ticket sales and other earned income, while essential, cannot completely
underwrite Jazz at Lincoln Center’s many initiatives. Only private funds can make
these programs possible:
• presenting nearly 2,000 jazz performances in our home, Frederick P. Rose Hall, each season
• more than 20 jazz education programs that directly serve 60,000
audience members of all ages—from toddlers to retirees
• reaching 1 million students, families and educators each year through
publications and online curriculums
• supporting the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s national and international tours and residencies—bringing jazz music throughout the country and around the world
• bringingJazz at Lincoln Center's Peabody Award–winning radio series, Jazz at Lincoln Center Radio with Wynton Marsalis, to a listenership of approximately 100,000 per week.
The Louis Armstrong House Museum, a National Historic Landmark and a New York City
landmark, is a member of the American Association of Museums, the Association
of African American Museums and is a constituent of the Kupferberg Center
for the Arts at Queens College.
The House property is owned by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
and administered by Queens College through a long-term license agreement.
The Louis Armstrong House Museum has enjoyed a marvelous evolution:
What was once Louis and Lucille’s private home is now a National Historic
Landmark visited by people from all over the world.
The mission of the Louis Armstrong House Museum is: 1) To operate the Louis Armstrong House, a national historic landmark and a New York City landmark, as a historic house museum
2) To arrange, preserve, catalog, and make available to the public the materials held in its collections
3) To collect, arrange, preserve, catalog, and make available to the public additional materials relating to the life and career of Louis Armstrong
4) To serve as a reference source for information about Louis Armstrong
5) To present public programs, such as concerts and lectures, that preserve and promote the cultural legacy of Louis Armstrong
The 40-minute tour takes you through the small, impeccably preserved home and
explains the significance of each room to both Louis and Lucille. Yet in 1943, he and
his wife settled in a modest house in Corona, Queens, where they lived for the remainder
of their lives. No one has lived in the house since the Armstrongs, and the house and
its furnishings remain very much as they were during Louis and Lucille’s lifetime.
Today, the Louis Armstrong House Museum is open to the public, offering guided tours of Louis’s longtime home. On the tour, audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings are
played, and visitors hear Louis practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal, or talking with his friends. Visitors also get to enjoy an exhibit on Louis’s life and legacy,
and the Armstrongs’ beautiful Japanese-inspired garden.
Louis Armstrong - the world's most famous jazz musician - was an international celebrity who could have lived anywhere. Yet in 1943, he and his wife Lucille settled in a modest house in Queens, New York City, and lived there for the rest of their lives. Today, people from all over the world come to visit the house. It remains as it was when Louis and Lucille lived in it, and every item inside belonged to them. On tour, visitors hear Louis enjoying a meal with Lucille, joking with friends, and practicing the trumpet. Louis Armstrong House Museum 34-56 107th Street Corona, Queens, NY 11368 (718) 478-8274 www.louisarmstronghouse.org
The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906 and
still headquartered there, is a complex of National Historical Landmarks
housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy
of historic events and cultural diversity.
New Orleans' most prominent heritage attraction is the Louisiana State Museum,
a complex of national landmarks housing thousands of artifacts and works of
art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic events and cultural diversity.
The LSM is part of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism,
which as of 2008 is overseen by Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu.
For centuries, the gracious structures of New Orleans' French Quarter have served
as the backdrop for grand celebrations. Presidents, popes and kings have been
greeted and treated to the city's own brand of southern hospitality amidst the
architectural artistry of the Vieux Carre. Today, the Louisiana State Museum continues the festive tradition by inviting rental of four of New Orleans' most historic properties: the Cabildo, the Presbytere, the Old U.S. Mint, and Madame John's Legacy.
All four museum buildings are registered national landmarks - the actual sites
on which the city was born - filled with beautifully displayed artifacts from
Louisiana's rich history and culture. Among the largest spaces available in
the French Quarter, each State Museum property offers its own
distinctive atmosphere for events of all kinds.
THE LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM JAZZ COLLECTION: The New Orleans Jazz Club was founded in 1948 on Mardi Gras by a group of local jazz enthusiasts and musicians, and has been going strong to this day. Almost immediately after it was founded the members began dreaming of opening a Jazz Museum, as many of them were collectors of jazz memorabilia and felt these should be made available to the public. The New Orleans Jazz Museum finally opened its doors in 1961 at 1017 Dumaine Street, and was a success from the start, so much so that it almost immediately began to outgrow the premises. Generous donations began to flood in, and within a few years it became apparent that the cottage on Dumaine Street would not have sufficient space to keep up with the growth of the collection.
At about this time, the Royal Sonesta Hotel opened on Bourbon Street,
managed by a jazz enthusiast who offered display space on the balcony surrounding Economy Hall, the Hotel's nightclub that featured performances of jazz nightly.
The Jazz Museum relocated there in 1969. When the manager, James Nassikas,
was transferred to another Sonesta Hotel, the new Management had different plans
for that space, and in 1973 the Museum was forced to move to its third location at 833 Conti Street. Despite heroic efforts by the board and membership of the New Orleans Jazz Club, it eventually became financially impossible to keep the Museum open,
and the collection was put in storage. The collection with its exhibit potential was as strong as ever, but lacked a building to house it. At about this time, the LSM was
completing renovation of the Old U.S. Mint at the foot of Esplanade Avenue, which
it had acquired from the federal government in a rather decrepit state. When repairs were complete, LSM had a grand old building, but lacked a star attraction exhibit to
put in it. So on September 15, 1977, the two organizations solved each others’
problems when the entire collection of the New Orleans Jazz Museum was donated
to the people of Louisiana, and became The New Orleans Jazz Club Collections
of the Louisiana State Museum.
The Louisiana State Museum has the largest collection in the world of instruments
owned and played by important figures in jazz, possessing multiple examples of all
the commonly used instruments: trumpet, cornet, trombone, clarinet, saxophone.
Some late 19th-century instruments date from the early days of jazz, others
were used by local musicians who either never left New Orleans or came back.
The Louisiana State Museum has the largest collection in the world of instruments
owned and played by important figures in jazz, possessing multiple examples of all
the commonly used instruments: trumpet, cornet, trombone, clarinet, saxophone.
Some late 19th-century instruments date from the early days of jazz, others
were used by local musicians who either never left New Orleans or came back.
The Swiss Jazz archive calls itself SwissJazzOrama. Founded 1989 in Rheinfelden as
"Pro Jazz Switzerland", it has been located in Uster near Zurich since 1998.
The SwissJazzOrama society has members from all over Switzerland.
SwissJazzOrama collects and archives all kind of sound carriers, pictures, literature and other
testimonies from the Jazz universe. It registers these documents in databases that are
continuously updated and provide quick access.
SwissJazzOrama develops concepts for theme-centered exhibitions, which are publicly shown at the Jazz Gallery in the Uster "Music Container" and on several events (e.g. Jazz festivals).
People can obtain access to SwissJazzOrama's archives with their rare items of sound, pictures,
music notes, books, magazines and press articles on the subject of Jazz.
For scientific purposes, SJO specialists may support search, compilation
and evaluation of relevant data.
SwissJazzOrama maintains tight relations to the Swiss Jazz schools and
can provide contact to related institutions in Switzerland and abroad.
Membership is open to all persons interested in culture. Often, a membership starts off with a visit to the "Music Container" in Uster on purpose of a concert or a trip to the archive.
Enthusiasm for Jazz and for voluntary teamwork are the best prerequisites for an active cooperation with the SwissJazzOrama - an intelligent hobby contributing to a lively culture. The archive stores more than:
•6000 Shellac records
•18000 LPs
•7000 CDs
•600 Videos
•3000 Magazines
•1300 Books
•2000 photos
•2400 posters
THE VICTORIAN JAZZ ARCHIVE: On Sunday 23rd June 1996, the National Jazz Coordinator, Eric Myers, convened a meeting in Sydney, with the late Graham Evans, Manager, Collections Development - National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), being the principal speaker. It was decided at that meeting to explore avenues for the formation of an Australian Jazz Archive, but as no interstate representatives were present, a further meeting in Melbourne was proposed. The Melbourne meeting was convened on Sunday 18th August, 1996, with 56 people present and another 27 apologies. A lively two-hour debate took place. The principal sentiment voiced by those present was that they wished Victorian material to be readily
accessible within the State.
It was agreed by a group at the meeting that an Archive would be established. This group also agreed to work to achieve this end. Leading figures in this resolve finally became committee members of the Victorian Jazz Archive. The Victorian Jazz Archive Inc. specifically to preserve all forms
of Australian jazz music and associated memorabilia.
VJA is recognized by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) as being part of the
national distributed collection of audio-visual material, and is also a member of the
Australian Jazz Archive National Council (AJANC).
Part of the Archive's Charter is to provide access to its material to the general public, music students and researchers. This is achieved mostly by the digitization of sound resources and the photographic collection wherever possible - depending on the condition of the material.
The prime focus of the Archive is to identify, collect, document, and exhibit all types of Australian
Jazz recordings, musical instruments, videos, photographs, publications, and historical memorabilia.
Details of the Collection are being constantly added to a central Data Base accessible from the selection tab at the top of this screen. In addition, the charter of the VJA allows for the collection of
overseas material for use and study in the Archive's reference library.
Out of all this the Victorian Jazz Archive Inc. was established with a Committee of Management and
a governing constitution. The Victorian Jazz Archive Inc. became an incorporated 'not-for-profit'
association on 15th October 1996.
This not-for-profit Incorporated Association was established to:
Collect, exhibit, preserve and store on a permanent basis all material and memorabilia of whatever nature pertaining to jazz music, performed and/or composed by Australian musicians,
covering the period from the 1920's through to the present day. The Archive has built a data base of the Collection holdings, done along completely professional lines
- initially using the Inmagic DB/TextWorks software recommended by Museums Australia,
modified for the Archive’s data base use. The work on the data base is extremely labour intensive,
and would not be possible without the dedicated volunteers involved. Details of well over 8000 objects (i.e. 78's, 45's & LP's, Cassettes, CD's, DVD's, Posters, Photographs, etc)
are now listed on a central local-community database. Details of individual items
(i.e. music tracks, song titles, musicians and their instruments, etc) are included in the description of each object.The Archive also has very large holdings of photographs, posters, ephemera, written
material, runs of journals and significant historical musical instruments, some of the latter being in restored condition. The core of the holdings is of course the donated acetates,78’s, EP’s.
LP’s reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes and CD’s.