Curated OER
Romare Bearden
Students examine and discuss a collage by the artist Romare Bearden. They analyze the impact of jazz on art, listen to jazz, and create an original collage.
Curated OER
Baltimore's Jazz Legacy
Explore Marylanders, Eubie Blake, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, and Chick Webb.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Learning the Blues
This lesson plan introduces students to the blues. The origin and development of the blues is explored as well as its distinctive structure.
Other
Down Beat: Albert Ayler
A detailed article containing the following sections: biography, discography, photos, and news articles about Albert Ayler.
Other
Down Beat: Cecil Taylor
A detailed site containing information in the following sections: photos, biography, and archived news articles about avant-garde pianist/composer Cecil Taylor.
PBS
Pbs: Biography of Dizzy Gillespie
This PBS biography about trumpeter and jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie includes photos, multiple audio features, and links within the text to other famous musicians.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Smithsonian Jazz
Smithsonian Jazz is home to several online exhibits, an interactive "Duke Ellington class," recordings, publications, oral histories, and similar resources.
Other
International Association for Jazz Education: Homepage
Perhaps the country's foremost organization dedicated to jazz education. The site is quite user friendly and has huge, well organized list of weblinks.
Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame: Scott Joplin
This resource provides information about Scott Joplin.
Other
Joy2 Learn: Jazz With Wynton Marsalis
Take a tour about jazz with jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. Through video segments, you'll learn about the trumpet, the history of jazz and key famous jazz legends.
PBS
Pbs: Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison was a musician who later became a writer. His book Invisible Man is written like a jazz composition. In this lesson, students will interpret key themes and concepts in Invisible Man that are also found in jazz music.
PBS
Pbs: The Story of Jazz
A supplement to a ten-part film series on jazz, this resource describes the growth and development of jazz music from the gritty streets of New Orleans to the Lincoln Gardens on Chicago's south side, where Louis Armstrong first won fame,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Jazz and Ww Ii: A Rally to Resistance, a Catalyst for Victory
Lesson plan that teaches the roles that jazz music and jazz musicians played in the war effort and that demonstrates the effect that the war had on jazz in America.
Rutgers University
Rutgers University: Fats Waller Forever
This digital exhibit provides a basic overview of Fats Waller and his music. Divided into sections that cover Life and Times, Ed Kirkeby Collection, the music, recordings, European and US tours, notes, and more.
Scott Alexander
Red Hot Jazz: Louis Armstrong Orchestra
Includes brief history of Louis Armstrong and his orchestra, a photo, and a complete discography list.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Billy Eckstine
Learn of the historical contributions of jazz musician, band leader, and Pennsylvania native, Billy Eckstine in this succinct biography.
Other
Old Time Jazz Online
Choose and listen to jazz music from the 1800s to today. Listen to artists such as Buck Johnson, Kid Ory, Woody Herman, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more.
Other
Visual Jazz Publications
This company produces educational materials to help you succeed in jazz improvisation and sight reading. Of note on their site is "The Art of Improvisation," a free download that guides you through the improvisational process.
Other
Nat King Cole Society: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee
This site provides information about Nat King Cole, as well as a timeline of his life. Nat King Cole was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
New York Times
New York Times: Listening to Jazz C Ds With Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins, legendary tenor saxophonist, invites us to listen to selections from four of his favorite jazz performances. Hear snipets of these jazz classics from the 1930s and 1940s: "Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (Fats...
National Geographic
National Geographic: Geostories: The Geography of Jazz
Explore this Geostory as it traces the roots of jazz from its humble beginnings in the southern United States to becoming one of the most widely recognized musical styles in the world.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzie Gillespie helped create a new form of modern jazz called be-bop. It was the predecessor of hip-hop that is so popular today.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: A Brief History of Jazz!
A lesson plan that helps students explore the roots of jazz music and some of the important jazz musicians in history.
University of Wisconsin
Welcome to the World of Jazz Improvisation
This site was developed by a college jazz educator based on one of her improvisation classes. Material suitable educators or the student who is serious about learning jazz improvisation.