buzzz worthy. . .
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today the White House celebrated the 5th Annual International Jazz Day ahead of the official observance on April 30. It s also the birthday of DC native Duke Ellington, who would have turned 117. That means the sound of jazz will be thicker in the air than usual locally and around the world. On the local front, the White House celebrated with Herbert Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terrance Blanchard and students from the UCLA Thelonius Monk Institute in a workshop for students today. Before their performances FLOTUS explained how she was raised on jazz and shares a love of the uniquely American form of music with President Obama. FLOTUS shared an intimate story about her grandfather's adoration for the musical genre. Rather fittingly his nickname was "Southside," she said.
"... my grandfather would wake up every single morning and he would turn on jazz. And he would blast it at the highest possible volume that he could get away with. So I really grew up with jazz as kind of the backdrop to my childhood. We’d all gather at his house -- and whether we were unwrapping Christmas presents, it was Miles Davis playing. If it was a birthday celebration, it was Charlie Parker. I just came to grow up loving jazz. My father was a jazz lover, and of course, I married a man who was a jazz lover, too, the President of the United States, who is looking forward to tonight."
Tonight on the White House South Lawn Mr. and Mrs. Obama will host a star studded jazz concert featuring Hancock, Pat Matheny, Buddy Guy, Sting,Chick Corea Aretha Franklin and Diana Krall and others. The concert will be taped tonight and will air on ABC at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.
International Jazz Day started in New Orleans in 2012 and made its way back to the U.S. this year.
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| (L-R) Terrance Blanchard, Bobby Watson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Herbie Hancock performed in a student jazz workshop in recognition of International Jazz Day at the White House on April 29, 2016. International Jazz Day is April 30. |
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today the White House celebrated the 5th Annual International Jazz Day ahead of the official observance on April 30. It s also the birthday of DC native Duke Ellington, who would have turned 117. That means the sound of jazz will be thicker in the air than usual locally and around the world. On the local front, the White House celebrated with Herbert Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terrance Blanchard and students from the UCLA Thelonius Monk Institute in a workshop for students today. Before their performances FLOTUS explained how she was raised on jazz and shares a love of the uniquely American form of music with President Obama. FLOTUS shared an intimate story about her grandfather's adoration for the musical genre. Rather fittingly his nickname was "Southside," she said.
"... my grandfather would wake up every single morning and he would turn on jazz. And he would blast it at the highest possible volume that he could get away with. So I really grew up with jazz as kind of the backdrop to my childhood. We’d all gather at his house -- and whether we were unwrapping Christmas presents, it was Miles Davis playing. If it was a birthday celebration, it was Charlie Parker. I just came to grow up loving jazz. My father was a jazz lover, and of course, I married a man who was a jazz lover, too, the President of the United States, who is looking forward to tonight."
Tonight on the White House South Lawn Mr. and Mrs. Obama will host a star studded jazz concert featuring Hancock, Pat Matheny, Buddy Guy, Sting,Chick Corea Aretha Franklin and Diana Krall and others. The concert will be taped tonight and will air on ABC at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 30.
International Jazz Day started in New Orleans in 2012 and made its way back to the U.S. this year.