It's the BIG BAND JAM! 2008

The 2008 BIG BAND JAM! is running NOW from April 18-27, 2008.

The biggest, baddest, broadest beat ever brought to Washington, D.C. !

The BIG BAND JAM! of 2008 will be hosted at Blues Alley, Voice of America Stage, Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The Sylvan Theater will host many D.C.-area High School ensembles. Features also include the Collegiate Jazz Jam! which will showcase several D.C.-area university ensembles. Additionally, the International Jazz Jam! includes several Ibero-American countries in a uniquely multicultural component of the festival. Also performing are jazz ensembles representing our nation's Air Force, Navy and Army. Multiple Guest Master Classes will accompany feature performances. The 2008 Big Band JAM! will also include a "round table discussion" concerning the legacy of Voice of America broadcast personality Willis Conover, during "Willis Conover Memorial Weekend."
The BIG BAND JAM! was conceived in 2003 and created in 2005 to bring the best in big band jazz to our Nation's Capitol through the presence of youth and jazz education. Drawing upon an immense faculty of musicians both professionally and academically it was developed to educate the students of Washington, D.C. about America's unique jazz heritage. Sensing a significant void in the area of mainstream jazz music we pay tribute annually through our non-profit foundation on America's Mall. Over four days at the Washington Monument's Sylvan Theater we allow children to learn and explore from others.

We will explore this idiom through some of America's musical masters. Through the further cooperation of some of this city's most esteemed cultural organizations we collaborated with museums, memorials and municipal agencies to build the foundation around this historic event. Area high schools, colleges, universities and military ensembles have all come together to share in this mutual music commonality as we attempt to bridge age, education, ethnicity and income. We honor these creators, these conservators and these contemporaries in the BIG BAND JAM!