Join the museum’s Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble on February 11 for an evening celebrating early forms of communication in jazz, one hundred years since the first jazz recording was made.
The early evolution jazz as a music form developed around the same time as sound recording technology, fortuitously ensuring the music would be documented for the majority of its lifetime and providing future musicians with evidence of the styles and nuance of early jazz. This is particularly interesting for us at the centennial of the first jazz recording by the “Original Dixieland Jass Band,” as jazz was unique in those early years from other music styles because it relied heavily on the creativity and improvisation of all its performers as well as their ability to listen to each other.
On February 11 in the museum’s newest concert space, the Hall of Music, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble will explore these early forms of democratic conversation and freedom of expression in music through the Jazz Age.
Ticket information:
• $30 – All seats
Concert information:
• The museum’s Constitution Ave doors open at 6:45 p.m.
• The concert is in the Hall of Music on the third floor
• The LeRoy Neiman Jazz Cafe will be open and serving light fare and drinks on the first and third floors.
• Only drinks are permitted in the Hall of Music; food must be consumed in the mezzanine area outside the Hall.
