Jazz: The Second Century - John Hollenbeck, Drew Gress, and Chris Speed // Earshot Jazz Festival October 28, 2006

JAZZ: The Second Century
Free

Jazz has been called "America's greatest gift to world culture." Jazz is complex, and, at it's best, always in some discernible motion. Inherent in its imperative for re-invention is the tension between artistic integrity, and some kind of acceptance, even within its own mainstream. That tension has fueled contention within the field over a variety of issues, including: exact definitions of jazz, the historical context versus the future of jazz, racial issues in jazz, and considerations of jazz education.

Within the 22 years of Earshot's work in the King County area, the art form, and the realities of supporting it, have changed. In order to more effectively serve our constituents, and the art form in general, we plan to address some of the issues in coming months and share wisdom we've gained with the field. Through a grant from 4Culture, King County's arts and culture agency, Earshot Jazz has initiated a series of focus groups, panel discussions, lectures, and workshops called Jazz: The Second Century.

The Earshot Jazz Festival offers an opportunity to engage visiting artists and a larger audience in the discussions. We invite you to participate. Here is a schedule of free, open panels and interviews to be held during the upcoming festival. We hope you can join us.

Official Website: http://earshot.org/fest/artistinfo/jazzsecondcentury.html