April Designated

JAZZ Appreciation Month

A Decade Ago

It was a decade ago that April was designated nationally as

JAZZ Appreciation Month, but it was certainly many decades before that when the United States embraced JAZZ as its own music. Some people equate JAZZ with the blues and rightly so. The blues let you see into the soul of a person from a sad and thoughtful view, but JAZZ is at times the celebration of the soul as it breaks forth with joy.

JAZZ is one of America’s greatest cultural achievements and it gives a powerful voice to the American experience. It was born of a multi-hued society and unites people across the divides of race, region and national boundaries. It makes a powerful statement about freedom, creativity and American identity at home and abroad. It is this wonderful “free and happy” music called Dixieland that is featured at the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee this May 18 – 20^th in Fox Lake, Wisconsin.

JAZZ is not the result of choosing a tune, but an idea that is created first in the mind, inspired by one’s passion, and willed next in the playing of music. Its unique expression draws from life experiences and human emotion and in that way tells the story and history of a people. D.C. DowDell, Professor of Music at A Passion For Jazz is quoted as saying “JAZZ – it takes passion to make it happen. Musicians and those that follow the music closely can indeed be thought of as an artistic community complete with its leaders, spokesmen, innovators, members, bands, supporters, and fans”.

To help celebrate this JAZZ Appreciation Month the U. S. Postal Service issued a JAZZ Appreciation “Forever” Stamp on March 28, 2011 at post offices across the nation. The stamp pays tribute to JAZZ, America’s musical gift to the world, and to the musicians who play it in studios, clubs or concert halls, and on festival stages. According to a press release by the U. S. Postal Service “JAZZ developed originally as an innovative combination of European, American, and African influences, and produced many internationally acclaimed American artists, such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday.” And the internationally famous Bunny Berigan raised in small town mid-America, Fox Lake, Wisconsin.

The beautiful stamp was created by Paul Rogers and it is the first single stamp to pay tribute to America’s original art form JAZZ. Paul Rogers states “It is always an honor to design a postage stamp, and because I love JAZZ and have great respect for the history of the music, this one was very special to me. I started by thinking of all the artists I admire from the past who have created visual art with connections to jazz. I knew I needed to rise to the occasion and deliver a design that would sit well in my mind with those images, or I knew I’d feel bad about it for a long time.” Well, Paul Rogers does not need to feel bad about his JAZZ Forever stamp because it is just beautiful. Done in tones of orange, yellow, green, black and white, the stamp is larger than normal and simply puts life onto the letter in hand. That may be the reason why the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee waited until the stamp could be purchased to mail out the flyers for this year’s event. The JAZZ stamp is on sale now at all local post offices and like the music itself will last FOREVER.