Smithsonian Kicks Off 10th Annual Jazz Appreciation Month

Smithsonian Kicks Off 10th Annual Jazz Appreciation Month

Welcomes Surviving Members of the First Integrated Female Big Band

WHAT: The National Museum of American History celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month 2011 with special programming examining the legacies of women in jazz with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 29

10:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: National Museum of American History

14th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W.

WHO: Brent D. Glass, director, National Museum of American History

Original members, International Sweethearts of Rhythm

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will mark the 10th annual Jazz Appreciation Month in April with a month-long celebration of jazz featuring performances, talks, tours and family-oriented events. This year's 10th anniversary programming will examine the legacies of women in jazz and will kick off with a special donation ceremony related to the nation's first, integrated, female big band, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, founded in 1937 at the Piney Woods School in Mississippi.

JAM is an annual event that pays tribute to jazz both as a historic and living American art form. It was launched in 2001 and has grown to include celebrations in all 50 states and some 40 countries. Throughout the month of April, the Smithsonian will present numerous events, including performances, talks and family activities in venues across Washington, D.C. The National Museum of American History is home to the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, more than 130 jazz oral histories, 100,000 pages of Duke Ellington's unpublished music, Ella Fitzgerald's famous red dress and more. For more information, visit http://smithsonianjazz.org and http://americanhistory.si.edu.

Media website:http://newsdesk.si.edu

Contact: Laura Duff, (202) 633-3129; Melinda Machado, (202) 633-3129

/PRNewswire-USNewswire-- March 28, 2011/

SOURCE Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Web Site: http://americanhistory.si.edu

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