Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World

JAM SESSION: "America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace The World"

Memphis & Shelby County Music Commission Worldwide Jazz Exhibit in Memphis

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Avenue
July 26, 2010 - September 14, 2010

A Jazz exhibit that has traveled the globe is making a special stop in Memphis this summer. The Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission, Congressman Steve Cohen and the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in association with Meridian International Center in Washington, DC are bringing JAM SESSION: "America’s Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World” to the Central Library located at 3030 Poplar Avenue Monday, July 26th through Tuesday, September 14th.

JAM SESSION is a 100 piece photographical exhibit, which chronicles the international tours of legendary Jazz musicians selected by the U.S. State Department to serve as roving cultural ambassadors. Jam Session portrays the journeys of musical greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Benny Carter and Sarah Vaughan. These incredible musicians used the arts to further cultural understanding between the 50s, 60s, 70s and during the Cold War.

The Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission will use JAM SESSION to educate and inform Memphis youth as well as adults about the importance of the Jazz culture in today’s music marketplace.

The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library will join the ranks of prestigious organizations in presenting JAM SESSION to Jazz lovers and novices alike. It represents Jazz programs reaching 35 countries across four continents. It has been shown at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Russell Senate Office Building Rotunda in Washington, DC, the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans along with international stops in France, Israel, Taiwan, Poland, Hungary and Namibia. After Memphis, the next stop will be Africa.

For more information visit memphismusic.org and to schedule an exhibit tour, please contact Pamela Kelly at (901) 576-6857 or Email: Pamela.Kelly@memphistn.gov.