the CHARLESTON JAZZ INITIATIVE

Welcome to The CHARLESTON JAZZ INITIATIVE

The Charleston Jazz Initiative (CJI) is a multi-year research

project that documents the African American jazz

tradition in Charleston, the South Carolina Lowcountry,

and its diasporic movement throughout the United States

and Europe from the late 19th century through today.

CJI records oral histories and gathers other primary source

material; collects recordings, letters, programs, photographs

and other documentary material; presents public programs

that examine the influence of social, political, and economic

forces on the lives of musicians; commissions and produces

original work; and produces documentary stories for

public television, print publication, and onsite

and online exhibitions.

Look carefully at the careers of the boys and girls who were raised in the Old Marine Hospital on Franklin Street, Charleston [Jenkins Orphanage]. I am convinced you will be surprised... there is a Charleston contribution to the arts of America that traditional views on jazz, and other music, have overlooked.

Jeffrey Green, British historian; author of Edmund Thornton Jenkins:

The Life and Times of An American Black Composer, 1894-1926

SAVE THE DATES...

June 4-6, 2010

The College of Charleston's Friends of the Library presents "Fabric + Thread = JAZZ!

as part of its Fall 2009 series, "Hard Luck, Good Times." Renowned Charleston fiber artist, educator, and jazz advocate Dr. Marlene Linton O'Bryant-Seabrook will present the colorful and expertly-crafted quilts that are visual tributes to South Carolina bandleaders and ensemble musicians who became well-known during the jazz heyday of the 1930s. The evening will also feature Charleston Jazz Initiative Co-Founder/Principal Dr. Karen Chandler, Associate Professor of Arts Management at the College of Charleston. She will share stunning photographs and video clips, as well as musical excerpts of musicians featured in Dr. O'Bryant-Seabrook's quilts.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - 6:00 pm

Avery Research Center, 125 Bull Street

College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

Free and Open to the Public

For more information: (843) 953-5530 or (843) 953-7609

Many of the quilts for Fabric + Thread = JAZZ! are featured in JAZZ! Art Quilts in Performance, a documentary catalog by the Charleston Jazz Initiative of a 2009 exhibition of Dr. O'Bryant-Seabrook's quilts at the Avery Research Center. The catalog may be purchased during the event or at the Avery Research Center Gift Shop. www.cofc.edu/avery