KPLU School of Jazz

Web Sites

Smithsonian Jazz   
The goals of this program from the Smithsonian Institution include "preserving and perpetuating jazz as an American national treasure -- through collections, exhibitions, performances, recordings, publications, oral histories, and educational programs."

KPLU-FM
The Puget Sound’s biggest radio station for jazz.

Jazz Online   
Provides an introduction to various styles of jazz, reviews of recent releases, interviews, and more.

A Jazz Improvisation Primer   
"Find information on almost any topic relating to jazz improvisation, from jazz history to music theory to practical advice on playing in a group." Includes an annotated bibliography and discography.

Jazz Research Portal
Briefly annotated collection of links to jazz metasites, history, artists, online journals, and academic programs and archives. From the University of North Texas Music Libraries.

America's Jazz Heritage   
From the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibits Service, this site offers a look at jazz through audio clips, photos, publications, descriptions of exhibits, and links to other sites.

Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns   
A history of this distinctly American form of music. Jazz in Time "places jazz against the backdrop of American history." Included are audio clips of many jazz performers (RealPlayer), and extensive Biographies from the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz . There are also children's testimonies, an interactive timeline, and an opportunity to learn about rhythms. There are related links as well as lesson plans and activities for educators. The transcripts are available and require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Created to tie in with the ten-part PBS series.

All About Jazz   
Jazz lovers of any persuasion — straight ahead jazz, big band, fusion, acid, or Latin — will find release announcements, reviews, concert information, interviews, articles, biographies, a free e-mail newsletter, discussion groups, nicknames of the jazz greats, how to "speak jazz," and more. Features a free daily jazz tune to download.

William P. Gottlieb Photographs From the Golden Age of Jazz   
"The William P. Gottlieb Collection, comprising over sixteen hundred photographs of celebrated jazz artists, documents the jazz scene from 1938 to 1948, primarily in New York City and Washington, D.C." Search by keyword or browse by name, subject, or venue. Site includes digitized images of Down Beat magazine articles, an essay on Gottlieb's life and work, audio clips of his commentaries on selected photographs, and more. From the American Memory Project, Library of Congress.

The Real Mingus Web   
"The official site of the Mingus Web, devoted to the work of jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus." Part of the purpose of this site is to promote the integrity of the man's recorded heritage against bootlegging, and there are lists of authorized and unauthorized recordings.

DownBeat.com
Online version of the jazz magazine Down Beat . Here you can find news, DB Radio , international festival information, message boards, and an Education section with historical information and transcriptions of jazz recordings. This site also includes a Jazz Hall of Fame and database of Artists (many profiles feature biography, photos, articles from DownBeat magazine, discography, and message board). Searchable.

BigBands Database   
This large database of big band and other popular music includes information on current bands as well as historical material. The Tunesmiths section contains short biographical information on hundreds of popular music composers and lyricists. Other resources include a glossary, Hit Parade winners 1935-1955, swing, western swing, Latin, jazz, society, and studio bands, and more. Searchable by band name, musician, song title, or other keyword and browsable by region (American, Canadian, British, European).

Penguin Guide To Jazz©: "Five Star" Recordings
One of the most authoritative and comprehensive compilations of reviewed jazz recordings from around the world. The Penguin Guides use a "star rating" in assessing the relative merits of a particular recording. In a very few cases, the editors have issued a crown, or "Five Stars", which in their own words (". . .denote(s) records we feel a special admiration or affection for: a purely personal choice, which we hope our readers will deem as such.")

Earshot Jazz
Earshot Jazz is a Seattle based nonprofit music, arts and service organization formed in 1984 to support jazz and increase awareness in the community.  Earshot Jazz publishes a monthly newsletter, presents creative music and educational programs, assists jazz artists, increases listenership, complements existing services and programs, and networks with the national and international jazz community.

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Last Updated: May 7, 2008