In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jazz at Lincoln Center is making available a robust, curated and weekly program of offerings to reach people all over the world and bring the healing power of jazz music into homes and communities.
The effort, which will grow to include jazz masters from every corner of the globe, will also serve as a “virtual commons” whereby people can find and access live webcasts from musicians and directly support their work and livelihood. Keeping with its efforts to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz, JALC continues to be a resource for cultural nourishment and comfort in these uncertain times.
“Although our hall may temporarily be dark to audiences,” says managing and artistic director Wynton Marsalis. “The light and love in this music will shine brightly.”
The organization will actively, strategically, and aggressively share its rich archive and develop and offer brand-new live programming. This will be shared for free throughout the entirety of the pandemic with JALC’s growing global community of 2 million people, to share in-turn with their friends, family, fans, supporters, companies and constituencies. Through email, social media, the Jazz Live app, and on jazz.org, audiences will be able to watch original stories about jazz and the musicians who play it, listen to podcasts, albums and songs, read essays, learn about the music—and how to play the music, explore playlists, and more.
In addition, over the coming weeks, Wynton Marsalis will host a series of interactive video chats via Zoom, which will be then be shared on Facebook and YouTube.
Every week beginning March 25, the organization will release previously unseen video content from its archival ‘vault’ via the Jazz at Lincoln Center Channel on YouTube.
Jazz at Lincoln Center is also making available its Jazz Academy, a library of more than 1,000 videos covering many different aspects of jazz performance demonstrated by knowledgeable masters of the music, on a dedicated YouTube Channel.
