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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Cootie Williams

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the life of Cootie Williams, an African-American trumpeter whose mastery of mutes and expressive effects made him one of the most distinctive jazz musicians.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Dicky Wells

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical sketch of Dicky Wells, leading black American jazz trombonist noted, especially in the big band era, for his melodic creativity and expressive techniques.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Henry Threadgill

For Students 9th - 10th
Summarizes the life and career of Henry Threadgill, an African American improviser, composer, and bandleader, an important figure in free jazz in the late 20th century.
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Website
John F. Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center: Dizzy Gillespie

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the John F. Kennedy Center provides a brief biography on the legacy of jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie is found here.
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Arlington Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery Website: James Reese Europe

For Students 9th - 10th
This unofficial site about those interred in Arlington National Cemetery offers a brief biography of James Reese Europe, African American jazz musician who was the leader of the military band attached to the 369th Infantry Regiment, the...
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: Low Brow and Middle Brow Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
A good overview of the popular culture in the Jazz Age. Read about the kinds of entertainment and literature enjoyed by the middle class in the 1920s.
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Other

Henry James Allen, Jr...."red"

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the biography of one of the youngest and most influential people in the jazz business in New Orleans in the 1930s.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: Josephine Baker: Image and Icon

For Students 9th - 10th
A slideshow of more than a dozen photographic, drawn, and printed portraits of Josephine Baker, set to the music of Duke Ellington. An evocative encapsulation of Jazz Age celebrity.
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Graphic
Smithsonian Institution

National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Nat "King" Cole

For Students 9th - 10th
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1994 to commemorate acclaimed jazz pianist Nat King Cole. With a short biographical passage.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Masters: Charlie Parker

For Students 9th - 10th
Take a brief look at the life of jazz legend Charlie Parker. This site highlights his career and major works.
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Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: George Gershwin

For Students 3rd - 8th
Interested in popular and serious music, Gershwin (1898-1937) played a big part in bringing jazz to a more important place in American music. He helped mix it with classical music in his compositions. Read more about his work, including...
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Harlem Renaissance

For Students 5th - 8th
The Harlem Renaissance influenced not only African American culture in the Jazz Age, but all of American culture. Read about some of the shining stars of African American literature and music of the age.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Famous Flappers

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides a summary and list of interesting facts about the famous flappers of the Roaring Twenties and the Jazz Age.
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Art Tatum

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Art Tatum, a blind, self-taught American pianist, considered one of the greatest technical virtuosos in jazz.
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Bennie Moten

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bennie Moten, a U.S. pianist, one of the earliest known organizers of bands in the Midwest in the emergent years of jazz.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Ben Webster

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Ben Webster, an American jazz musician, considered one of the most distinctive of his generation, noted for the beauty of his tenor saxophone tone and for his melodic inventiveness.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Billy Eckstine

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Billy Eckstine, an American singer and bandleader who achieved great personal success while fostering the careers of a number of younger jazz musicians.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Bud Powell

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Bud Powell, an American jazz pianist who emerged in the mid-1940s as one of the first pianists to play lines originally conceived by bebop horn players.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Fats Waller

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Fats Waller, an American pianist and composer who was one of the few outstanding jazz musicians to win wide commercial fame, though this was achieved at a cost of obscuring his purely...
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Hank Jones

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Hank Jones, an American jazz musician born July/Aug. 31, 1918, Vicksburg, Miss. .
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Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Horace Silver

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Horace Silver, an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, exemplary performer of what came to be called the hard bop style of the 1950s and '60s. The style was an extension of...
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Kenny Clarke

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Kenny Clarke, an American drummer who was a major exponent of the modern jazz movement of the 1940s.
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Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Lionel Hampton

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Lionel Hampton, an American jazz musician and bandleader, known for the rhythmic vitality of his playing and his showmanship as a performer. Best known for his work on the vibraphone,...
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Website
University of Illinois

University of Illinois: Modern American Poetry: Yusef Komunyakaa

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a link to two interviews of Komunyakaa: on poetry and on the heritage of jazz for African American poets. There is a commentary on "Tu Do Street". There are several links to other Komunyakaa sites.

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