In this July 4th edition of Don't Call it Jazz we check out recordings that explore the United States of America for our nation’s Independence Day from a jazz musician’s point of view.
Notes from our host, Jon Armstrong-
Tonight is July 4th, and I want to wish all of you listening out there a happy Independence Day.
For tonight’s show we’ll be checking out recordings that explore the United States of America for our nation’s Independence Day from a jazz musician’s point of view.
Jazz is a uniquely American art form, but it is more accurate to say that it is a uniquely African-American art form, having been invented and innovated by Black artists through the years.
The word independence also takes on new meanings and significance when seen from a Black person’s perspective, as African Americans, one-fifth of our population at the time, were not free and endured in unfathomable bondage in this country on July 4th 1776. It took over 100 years of brave activism, sacrifice, heroic actions, and a brutal bloody war that led to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, moving our country towards truly becoming the beacon of freedom that we hope to be.
So for this year’s Independence Day, I can think of no more patriotic act as a citizen than to soberly investigate this nation's past, listen to artists testify to their lived experience, especially if it differs from that of our own, and, as our founding fathers implored us to, actively work towards making this a more perfect union.
