Welcome To Your Charlottesville Jazz Portal
Jazz is one of the most exciting music genres alive today. The Charlottesville Jazz Society web site is dedicated to enriching your experience of jazz within the Charlottesville community and beyond.
Sonny Rollins was asked whether jazz is still relevant. He replied…
“I think that the relevance of jazz depends on what you think jazz is. For instance, if you think that jazz is a piano trio playing in a small nightclub — they’re good musicians, maybe have a girl singer — and you come in and there are people smoking and sitting at tables … if that is your conception of jazz then of course jazz is not relevant, because that refers to a time and place.
Jazz is something which is much bigger. Jazz has to do with freedom of expression. So is jazz still relevant? Of course, because there are always people trying to express themselves in music. I think of jazz as having the big umbrella, so that a lot of styles of music that have merged over the years all fall under the umbrella of jazz.
The act of trying to create something musically and spontaneously is something that is a part of life. It’s like the weather — it’s always there. Jazz as something that fits into a narrow little remembrance, no, that kind of jazz is not relevant. But jazz is as relevant today as the yearning for people to be free. That’s how relevant jazz is.”
PRESERVING THE MUSIC — SERVING THE COMMUNITY
“Jazz is the heartbeat of the world.” Jimmy Owens
Contact Us: (434) 249-6191
Charlottesville Jazz Society
1004 Grove St
Charlottesville, VA 22903