The National Jazz Museum provides opportunities to explore and experience the dynamic evolution of Jazz. Captured in the mission statement are the three key aspects of the NJM – exploration, experience, and the evolution of Jazz.
- The Experience of Jazz: Jazz, the subject of the National Jazz Museum, is not a physical artifact, and cannot be put behind glass and observed to be appreciated – it must be experienced. The NJM’s programs, exhibitions, media, and extended presence outside the museum will provide visitors with unique and compelling jazz experiences through interaction, personal engagement, and live performance
- The Exploration of Jazz: Visitors will be exposed to new information, personal appearances, unique recordings, and artifacts that will enhance an existing understanding of Jazz, or form the basis of new interests.
- The Evolution of Jazz: Jazz was born out of a uniquely American musical melting pot, combining African cultural roots and European instruments. The NJM will illuminate the musical, racial, cultural, economic and historic factors that created, affected or were affected by the evolution of Jazz.
Jazz in Chicago
There is a clear and immediate need for an institution that takes an activist role in bringing new audiences to Jazz and foster an expanded understanding of Jazz for those with only casual awareness. The potential for ALL music listeners to discover the connections that exist with more popular forms of music and the artform of jazz is immense. The NJM will provide opportunities for discoveries of Jazz, for new audiences as well as for devoted and passionate Jazz fans.
The NJM will embark on a coordinated effort to assemble and disseminate information about Jazz, to enhance the knowledge of the art, and to bring new audiences to it.
Chicago has been home to great musicians of all eras, from pioneers like Louis Armstrong through mainstream successes like Benny Goodman to bebop masters like Johnny Griffin and avant-garde inventors like Muhal Richard Abrams.
Chicago is the logical home for the National Jazz Museum. But there is at present no central coordinating facility to articulate Chicago’s Jazz culture to the general public, nor one that builds associations and programs on the existing foundation of Chicago jazz activities.
The National Jazz Museum, therefore, seeks to:
- Build on Chicago’s rich Jazz heritage to establish credibility as the home of the NJM. Dedicated to the world of Jazz, the NJM will spotlight Chicago’s specific contributions to the music. It will also form a hub for Chicago’s Jazz community by connecting to the diverse Jazz related associations and programs located in Chicago.
- Exhibit Jazz as a uniquely American art form.
- Create an immersive environment that captures the interactive, improvisational aspect of Jazz in both exhibit content and exhibit design.
- Attract, educate, and entertain a broad audience – from novice to Music Lover to Jazz aficionado.
- Be fresh and alive with improvisation and change.
NJM will program both permanent and temporary exhibitions. Interactive by design, exhibits will focus on the evolution of jazz with a goal of shaping the public’s understanding of jazz and its significance and historical impact in this country and around the globe. Temporary exhibitions will also explore the relationship of jazz to other art disciplines, notably dance, visual arts, and literature.
Performance:
The museum will be filled with the sounds of jazz and blues throughout the day: lunchtime performances, afternoon jam sessions, evening programs, and special events. A versatile cabaret, designed to present live jazz seven days a week, will feature legendary, established and developing musicians. Museum programming will also include community outreach to schools.
Collections:
The Museum’s collections will include diverse and one-of-a-kind artifacts and materials related to jazz’s national and international history. Collections will include musical instruments, recording equipment, films, photographs, sheet music, posters, liner notes and personal memorabilia, including travel diaries and clothing. Emphasis will be given to collecting evidence of early jazz activities circa 1900-1940 as well as more contemporary movements.
The audio-visual library will include sound recording of all formats (tape, vinyl, CD’s, etc.), documentary video and oral histories. This reference library and film/tape archives will be valuable in assisting researchers and interested jazz enthusiasts. Most of the collections will be assembled from purchases and gifts from local and national museums, individuals and jazz scholars.
National Jazz Museum and Education
Our educational programs are designed to reach as broad an audience as possible reflecting the full range of jazz in the context of being an American musical art form. Educational exhibits target school children, jazz enthusiasts, tourists, music students, educators, professional jazz musicians, and the general public.
Themes will focus on:
- Creating the Music: The composers.
- Making jazz: Exploring music production, tracking behind-the-scenes in music.
- Cultural Connections: The cultural and racial influences of the jazz form.
- Performing jazz: Including an emphasis on improvisation.
Take Five. This special permanent exhibition is an interactive learning laboratory for children ages 8-14. It enables musical exploration through a variety of instruments, musical sounds and riffs, and a computerized soundboard. Special programs for children will also be featured in this gallery, including A Child’s Introduction to Jazz, jazz movement for kids and an annual homemade instrument concert featuring instruments made and performed by children.
Other programs will include in-gallery activities such as Meet the Musician, in-school classroom visits and student concerts, teacher workshops, masterclasses for touring jazz artists, student musicians, and local jazz ensembles and much more. Programs for the general public will include gallery tours, gallery talks, lectures, demonstrations, and, of course, a regular program of jazz performance, presented in concert and cabaret formats.
The museum intends to advance research on jazz and its history and will develop key programs to achieve that end. Publications will include an annual journal of major research, a quarterly newsletter featuring popular articles on jazz including reviews of recent jazz CDs and video releases, and occasional monographs, published results of museum-sponsored symposia.
An annual symposium will invite major national and international scholars to Chicago for a celebration of jazz’s history. The symposium will be held in concert with Chicago annual jazz festival giving greater visibility to Chicago as a center for jazz. Artist residencies will support practicing artists and jazz scholars, bringing them to the museum for 2-12 week periods to compose, teach and study with local masters.
The Jazz Studio, a state-of-the-art recording and broadcasting facility, is a special feature of the museum. It will be used to document performance and lecture activities of the museum, to provide training for recording techniques and special program support like In Their Own Words: Oral History of Jazz.