The American Jazz Experience
The American Jazz Experience (AJE)is a school assembly for grades K-8, developed and presented by CJO trombonist, Jim Masters. During each interactive performance, Jim and the AJE ensemble play notable examples from each style of jazz, including spirituals, ragtime, blues and bebop, and students learn each style's importance and place in history. Students learn call and response, how to scat sing, and even how to dance the Charleston!
Vocabulary includes famous names in jazz history, such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Scott Joplin, Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington; musical terms such as 12-bar blues, improvisation and scat; and styles of jazz, including blues, Dixieland, big band swing, Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz and more. The American Jazz Experience meets several Academic Content Standards, available for download here.
Visit GCAC to schedule the American Jazz Experience for your school!
We welcome your feedback on the AJE program; please email Judy Shafer, JAG Director of Education.
The American Jazz Experience is presented by Honda of America Manufacturing.