Jazz as a Visual Medium

Tonight on the Front Porch, we're looking at jazz. That's right – we're LOOKING at it. Our guest says the visual aspects of jazz are just as important as the music itself. Whether you're talking about the way Satchmo grinned, the way Thelonious danced, or the way Miles held his horn, there's a lot to learn by keeping our eyes as open as our ears.

Our guest is Krin Gabbard. He's the author and editor of several books about jazz, including Jammin' at the Margins: Jazz and the American Cinema. He teaches Comparative Lit and English at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Krin is a consultant for a national jazz series that's coming to New Hampshire. Looking At Jazz, America's Art Form is a six-part series examining the social and cultural history of the music in the U.S. The local programs are being presented by the University of New Hampshire's Library of Traditional Jazz. The first program is scheduled for March 25th at the McConnell Center in Dover.

Some films and performances of jazz players we found on YouTube:

Louis Armstrong: A Rhapsody in Black and Blue

Duke Ellington: Symphony in Black

Miles Davis and John Coltrane "So What"

Ornette Coleman on Saturday Night Live, 1979