South African Jazz : Connecting the Traditions

Jazz Appreciation Month (fondly known as “JAM”) is held in April every year to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz.

JAM is intended to stimulate and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz – to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and more.

Initiated as an annual event by the Smithsonian Institute in the US, Jazz Appreciation Month has now become global event. The Centre for Creative Arts is proud to present South African Jazz : Connecting the Traditions for the first time together with its partners and looks forward to establish this event as an annual part of the Centre’s programme.

Due to Covid-19 and other restrictions, the 15^th SAJE Jazz Conference in August 2021 has been reconfigured into a series of smaller events over the course of the year featuring collaborations and digital events. The broad conference theme, DOES JAZZ MATTER?, is particularly pertinent during the pandemic. This first collaboration came about as a result of one idea and one zoom meeting – cultural activists and administrators getting things done! And so we are now able to present SOUTH AFRICAN JAZZ: CONNECTING THE TRADITION– a one day online celebration of South African Jazz Education during Jazz Appreciation Month, April 2021. This free event is presented by the Centre for Creative Arts in collaboration with the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music at UKZN, the South African Association for Jazz Education and UJ Arts & Culture.