Led by Cassidy Moses, Docent, Museum of Black American

History and Culture

America has spawned two unique music genres: Broadway music/tunes and Jazz/Blues. This program will touch on the origins of Jazz as represented by three great artists: Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Sara Vaughn.

Jazz has its roots in African drumbeats and Caribbean rhythms that were carried along by the slave trade and preserved in New Orleans.  New Orleans, it turns out, was the only area that allowed the enslaved people to own drums. And drums, in their own way, gave the slaves a sense of freedom and an opportunity for creativity.

Holiday, Armstrong, and Vaughn all enriched the new music genre of Jazz. In this program we will hear the sounds and stories of these artists and their impact on the growth of the genre and the empowerment of the people it represented.

To join, RSVP to park21217@aol.com for Zoom meeting information.