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Jazz

Admas. From left, clockwise: Abegasu Shiota, Henock Temesgen, Tewodros Aklilu, and Yousef Tesfaye.

Smithsonian Voices

Why the Newly Released 1980s Album ‘Sons of Ethiopia,’ by the Ethiopian D.C. Band Admas, Is Going Viral

Admas draws from and rearranges “golden era” Ethiopian music with then-fairly-new synthesizer and drum-machine rhythms.

Ma Rainey poses with her band for a studio group shot c. 1924-25.

‘The Great Gatsby,’ Songs by Ma Rainey and Other Classic Works Are Now in the Public Domain

Canonical books, songs and films became free to use in 2021

From L to R: Ellis Marsalis Jr., Bucky Pizzarelli and Wallace Roney

Covid-19

COVID-19 Claims the Lives of Three Jazz Greats

Pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis Jr., trumpeter Wallace Roney, and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli succumbed to complications caused by the novel coronavirus

American jazz musicians Charlie Parker, on alto sax, and Thelonious Monk, on piano, perform at the Open Door Cafe, in New York City on September 14, 1953.

The Long Journey of Charlie Parker’s Saxophone

The newly acquired instrument, played by the father of bebop, is on view at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins (1849-1908), born blind and enslaved, was a musical prodigy who began performing as early as 6 years old.

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

The Tragic Story of America’s First Black Music Star

Thomas Wiggins, an African-American musician marketed as ‘Blind Tom’, had a lucrative career—but saw none of the profits himself

The artist says he paints to music, improvising his brushstrokes in the manner of a jazz soloist.

How Peter Wayne Lewis Infuses His Artwork With the Spirit of Jazz

A new exhibit explores bebop and the Buddha

Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina

Nina Simone’s Childhood Home Is Under Threat. This Campaign Aims to Save It

The National Trust is hoping to preserve the North Carolina house where Simone first learned to play piano

Norma Miller photographed in 2015

Norma Miller, the ‘Queen of Swing,’ Has Died at 99

An electric performer of the Lindy Hop, Miller dazzled audiences on stage and screen

152 Nassau

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

The Site of Country Music’s First Recorded Hit Is Set to Be Demolished

152 Nassau Street in Atlanta was home to the first country music recording hit made before the genre even had a name

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Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

A Smithsonian Year of Music

A special report pulling together our coverage of music within the Smithsonian collections and around the world

Marina Amaral can often find clues to inform her colorization in the shades of gray in the original image

No Color Photos of Jazz Singer Mildred Bailey Existed… Until Now

An artist shows us that the past was not black-and-white

Cool Finds

“Lost” John Coltrane Album to Be Released

Both Directions At Once was recorded in 1963 by the classic quartet and reveals Coltrane’s journey from melodic standards to avant-garde jazz

Brown’s portable instrument, 40 inches high by 50 inches wide, had a signature flourish: silver trim.

The Electric Organ That Gave James Brown His Unstoppable Energy

What was it about the Hammond organ that made the ‘Godfather of Soul’ say please, please, please?

AP file photo of musician Coco Schumann taken on August 16, 1997.

Coco Schumann, the Holocaust Survivor who Played Jazz at Auschwitz, Dies at 93

The Berlin native returned to the city after the war and became renowned for playing the electric guitar

The creative output of Fats Domino, who died October 25, 2017 at the age of 89, was consistently compelling, and fans were delighted to eat it all up.

Fats Domino’s Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion

This Rock ’n’ Roll maverick was a true New Orleans original

New Research

In a First, Archival-Quality Performances Are Preserved in DNA

Songs by Miles Davis and Deep Purple at the Montreux Jazz Festival will live on in the ultra-compact, long-lasting format

His teeming canvases were like a “browser window with lots of different tabs open,” says Nairne.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Artwork Is Appreciated Now More Than Ever

Decades later, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s complex works are increasingly prescient—and valuable

Les choses de Paul Poiret (Paul Poiret's Things), 1911

Esperanza Spalding: Jazz Musician, Grammy Award Winner and Now Museum Curator

The title of her latest album “D + Evolution” is also the theme of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt

Sidney Bechet, one of the early jazz greats, made his name on the clarinet, not the cornet or trumpet.

Listen to This First 1920s Recording By One of the Kings of Jazz

Sidney Bechet was one of the first big jazz soloists, and brought the soprano saxophone into the jazz fold

Muse with Violin Screen (detail), 1930. Rose Iron Works, Inc. (American, Cleveland, est. 1904). Paul Fehér (Hungarian, 1898–1990), designer. Wrought iron, brass; silver and gold plating

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Jazz, Flappers, European Émigrés, Booze and Cigarettes Transformed Design

A new Cooper-Hewitt exhibition explores the Jazz Age as a catalyst in popular style

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