Teacher Resources include multi-media for classroom use and a discussion guide with learning outcomes.
Jazz Appreciation Month was established to encourage musicians, schools, colleges, libraries, concert halls, museums, radio and television stations, and other organizations to develop programs to explore, perpetuate, and honor jazz as a national and world treasure.
2019 Featured Jazz Musician: Nat King Cole
Audio | Listen to selected Jazz compositions
Films | Watch short videos featuring the power of jazz music
How is Jazz different from traditional music? How do jazz musicians create the unique collaborations that become their compositions?
What is it about the improvisational nature of jazz composition that allows the listener to have a truly individual experience?
Why do you think jazz has endured for nearly a century? What is its power...and its beauty?
Do you compose music? Do you make art? Have you ever choreographed a dance? Can you relate to the different jazz musicians and their individual creativity and the mastery of their chosen instruments?
Students can listen to the unique nature of jazz music in order to understand the role improvisation and creativity plays in composing a piece of jazz music.
Watching jazz performances in short films allows the viewer to see the unparalleled mastery of their art form that a musician has to have in order to undertake a jazz composition
Reading stories about the lives of these talented unique musicians reveals the personalities behind this significant category of modern music. In addition, the stories reveal the power of music and the heroic qualities necessary to compose these unique compositions
Looking at visual artists' interpretations of jazz music and the performers gives us an additional window into the soul of jazz.
Stories | Discover the personalities behind the music that has shaped our times
From My Hero: Extraordinary People on the Heroes Who Inspire Them: Pulitzer Prize-winning musician Wynton Marsalis writes about his hero, Duke Ellington
Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong was one of the most successful and influential jazz musicians in history. According to Wynton Marsalis, "You can't play a note on the horn that Louis hasn't already played…"
Benjamin (Benny) David Goodman, the King of Swing, played the clarinet and helped launch the careers of many major names in jazz while breaking racial barriers.
Javajazz Festival was born from a dream. A dream to bring jazz musicians from all around the world into one single spot - the Jakarta Convention Center
Learn more about musicians and the Civil Rights Movement in this report by an intern from Chapman University, Justin Bender
Art | Jazz as Expressed by Visual Artists
An homage to Louis Armstrong
Aka First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella
The poet Langston Hughes listened to jazz at nightclubs, collaborated with musicians, and even wrote a children’s book called The First Book of Jazz
 |
This lesson plan was curated by MY HERO Arts Education and Gallery director Victoria Murphy. Choose multi-media from this lesson plan to use in your classroom. Students will have a deeper appreciation of jazz's cultural importance after viewing the media and considering the questions in the discussion guide. |
Related Links
Organizer created on 3/21/2019 2:16:15 PM by MY HERO Staff
Last edited 3/23/2020 12:43:08 PM by Xenia Shin
