JazzForKids: sing. clap. wiggle. shake!
Children will dance, sing and create “new jazz standards” from popular nursery rhymes in the 45-minute presentations. A different jazz musician/style and book will be featured in each session, and though the activities are designed for kids 5-10 years old, younger children are permitted with direct parental supervision.
Karen Gordon, director of Garden City Jazz, developed Jazz For Kids: sing.clap.wiggle.shake! from her experiences teaching music during summer arts camps and the desire to create a fun musical activity for parents of young children. Between 2002 and 2008, Gordon developed several educational programs (Black Music is American Music, gotBLUES?, gotJAZZ?), but decided to focus on young children with the birth of her son, Scooter, in 2009.
JazzforKids: sing, clap, wiggle, shake! was presented at the 2011 South Carolina Jazz Festival in Cheraw, SC. Initially, the program was available only during the month of April, when The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History provides nationwide promotional support for Jazz Appreciation Month. In 2012, Gordon incorporated a jazz-themed children’s book into each event, and support from Bill Karp Jazz makes the program available year-round.
"We had been working to connect with community centers and after-school programs in order to reach a broader base of young people and introduce them to this art form, but the libraries are an ideal fit for the new children’s book feature. We are increasingly receiving requests to develop content for teens and adults, so we’re confident that the program is meaningful,” said Gordon.
Garden City Jazz presents several programs annually in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), providing performance opportunities for area musicians and music students, while promoting awareness of the historical and cultural significance of jazz music.
2013 Schedule
Dance, sing and create "new jazz standards” from popular nursery rhymes in this 45-minute interactive presentation. A different jazz-themed book is featured each week. Activities designed for kids 5-10 years old – younger children allowed with direct parental supervision. Please RSVP as seating is limited. Contact Garden City Jazz to host a program at your venue.
February 28 - Friedman Branch Library
1447 Jackson Rd
Augusta GA 30904 US
Featured Book:
When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat (Muriel Harris Weinstein)
10am
RSVP/Info: Jennie Feinberg 706.736.6758
April 16 - Friedman Branch Library
1447 Jackson Rd
Augusta GA 30904 US
Featured Book:
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (Chris Raschka)
10am
RSVP/Info: Jennie Feinberg 706.736.6758
April 17 - Diamond Lakes Library **Jazz4All**
101 Diamond Lakes Way
Hephzibah GA 30815
Featured Book:
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane (Carole Boston Weatherford, Sean Qualls)
6:30pm
RSVP/Info: Rod Lee (706) 772-2432
May 29 - Euchee Creek Library
5907 Euchee Creek Drive
Grovetown, GA 30813 US
Featured Book:
This Jazz Man (Karen Ehrhardt, R.G. Roth)
2:30p
RSVP/Info: (706) 556-0594
June 5 - Columbia County Library
7022 Evans Town Center Blvd
Evans GA 30809 US
Featured Book:
The Sound That Jazz Makes (Carole Boston Weatherford, Eric Velasquez)
2:00p
RSVP/Info: Natalie Pulley (706) 863-1946
June 19 - Diamond Lakes Library **Jazz4Teens**
101 Diamond Lakes Way
Hephzibah GA 30815
Featured Book:
The Jazz of Our Street (Fatima Shaik)
6:30pm
RSVP/Info: Rod Lee (706) 772-2432
July 16 - Friedman Branch Library
1447 Jackson Rd
Augusta GA 30904 US
Featured Book:
Mysterious Thelonious (Chris Raschka)
10am
RSVP/Info: Jennie Feinberg 706.736.6758
July 17 - Appleby Library
2260 Walton Way
Augusta GA 30904 US
Featured Book:
This Jazz Man (Karen Ehrhardt, R.G. Roth)
10:30am
RSVP/Info: (706) 736-6244