The Origins Of Jazz: A Lifelong Learning Lecture Series Offered In November In Bel Air

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — The Origins of Jazz: A Lifelong Learning Lecture Series will offer three sessions in November. Admission is free but advance reservations are required. Each session will be held from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Bel Air Armory.

1) Session 1 -- New Orleans (Monday, Nov. 7)

Learn about the origins of jazz in the cultural melting pot of New Orleans at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Discover mythical early figures including Buddy Bolden, cornetist Joe "King" Oliver, creole clarinetist Sidney Bechet and piano pioneer Jelly Roll Morton.

2) Session 2 -- Chicago (Monday, Nov. 14)

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, the epicenter of American jazz shifted northward, up the Mississippi river, and ended up in Chicago. Learn about (and listen to) some of the more significant recordings of this time period, including some made by Louis Armstrong.

3) Session 3 -- New York (Monday, Nov. 21)

By the dawn of the 1930s, the capital of American jazz changed once more, landing in New York, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. Learn about the great Harlem stride pianists, such as James P. Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, and Fats Waller, as well as the unsung architect of the big band swing sound, Fletcher Henderson.

Register Online, call 440-638-4506, or email jpotler@belairmd.org with the total attendance/name for the reservation.