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Family Choice
KLRU has great programs for kids and great programs for adults,
but it’s not easy to find programs that all family members
can enjoy together. Each month, KLRU identifies a Family Choice
program from our schedule that will interest and engage family
members, ages 7 and up. Keep updated on the Family Choice
program-of-the-month and ways your family can build and extend
the program through discussion and activities.
Jazz for Young People: What Is New Orleans Jazz?
Sunday, August 30, 4 p.m.
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Hosted by New Orleans
native and Jazz at Lincoln Center director Wynton Marsalis,
this lively and entertaining concert at the Ernest G.
Morial Convention Center in New Orleans explains the
history of New Orleans jazz through a combination of
conversation and performance by Marsalis and his band.
The children stomp their feet, clap along and sing as
they learn about second-lining, improvisation, riffs
and how a rhythm section works.
The Jazz for Young People series was created in 1992
and is part of an extensive outreach program to help
educate American children about their music. Highlights
of the concert include performances of “Audubon
Zoo” (“They All Asked for You”), “My
Bucket's Got a Hole in It” and “St. Louis
Blues.”
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Suggested Family Discussion
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Suggested Family Activities
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Suggested Books and Other Media
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Before watching the program, ask family members what they
know about jazz. After the program, ask the same question.
If your family was going to create a jazz band, what instrument
would each family member choose to play and why? What
name would the family select for the band?
Wynton Marsalis and his band played several examples of
jazz improvisation. Marsalis says improvisation means
you have to work things out; you have to speak and listen
to one another. Compare improvisation with regular conversation
and then experiment with improvisation by singing a familiar
melody.
It is said that in jazz, it's more about the way a song
is played, rather than what song is played. What does
this mean? Do you agree or disagree, and why?
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Listen to several styles of jazz. What mood does each
establish? What instruments are heard? How would you describe
your favorite style? Children may enjoy capturing the
mood in paintings as they listen to jazz.
Children and teens can interview older family members
about the role jazz has played in their lives. Who did
they listen to? What do they remember about events in
their lives where they heard jazz being played?
Kids can play the role of bandleader by choosing instruments
for the band, putting them onstage, and playing a tune.
Click here.
Teens can listen to examples of jazz, rap and hip-hop
music, discuss the similarities and difference of each
type of music, and create their own lyrics for a jazz,
hip-hop or rap piece. |
These and other
related books can be found at your public library.
Its playful rhythm and conversational tone make the book
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa by
Andrea Davis Pinkney a great jazz biography for kids.
Teens will find Jazz: My Music, My People to be
the personal reflections of author Morgan Monceaux on
well-known blues, swing, bebop, and modern jazz artists,
presented with passion and respect.
The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz &
Blues by Howard Mandel covers selected eras and performers
representing the breadth of styles and stories that make
up jazz and blues.
The PBS series by Ken Burns, Jazz: The Story of American
Music, explores the history of the major American
musical form and how the music reflected the political
and social issues of the African American community over
the course of the form's history.
Websites - Jazz
Kids and Smithsonian
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