HarlemLIVE

Jazz has been called America's only true art form, and for good reason. Along with the blues, its forefather, it is one of the first truly indigenous genres of music to develop in America. In the beginning it was just dance music performed by swinging big bands. Soon, the dance elements faded into the background and improvisation became the key element of the music.

As the genre evolved so did the artists and the sound helping to define the music. Artists like Duke Eliington and Count Basie helped to define the sound of jazz, Singers like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald helped to bring every note to life with their smooth voices, Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis helped create a new kind of jazz sound that revived the art form. From Big Band, Bop, Cool, Avant Garde, Smooth , Jazz has helped to define a culture and create a mood of suave and sophisticated innovation.

Now Jazz is being taken to the next level right here in Harlem. Thanks to Peter Andrews(Executive Director), Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, and Private Donors come Harlem has it's very own National Jazz Museum. The Museum serves as a mecca of jazz history, multimedia, cultural preservation.

The Museum showcases the historic and cultural impact that jazz has had on both American culture and African-American culture, It will exhibits some of the oldest and most comptemparary jazz artists and styles. It will also serves as a directory for music venues, concerts halls, schools, colleges that showcase anything to do with Jazz.