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

Don't miss the South Carolina Hit Parade featuring the

Charlton Singleton Orchestra on Saturday, March 22, 2008

from 7:00-9:00 pm at the Charleston Music Hall. For more

information...Read more from CJI Co-Principal Jack McCray...

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

South Carolina Lowcountry Friends and Fans

of Artist Jonathan Green Celebrate His Work

Poetry, Jazz and More...Inspired by Seeking

March 1-8, 2008

Charleston, SC

Schedule of Events at www.jonathangreenweek.com