110. The legacy of Jazz and Philanthropy

Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja and I’m your host. On this podcast the topic is what we can do about that feeling of disconnect that we might feel within ourselves when we vote one way and our politics and beliefs are one way, but we realize that our money is working in the opposite direction. You’re recycling, you’re driving a fuel efficient or hybrid or electric car, but you’re invested in companies that are leading the destruction of our earth. You are an ally at your job, in your community, you are fighting for racial and gender equity, but your bank is financing politicians who are actively working against those goals. That disconnected feeling is what we’re tackling on this show. With short episodes that are practical and offer gentle suggestions. Our problems weren’t built in a day and our efforts to fix them won’t take a day either.

So today’s topic is Jazz and Philanthropy. I came across a paper put together by Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, which is, according to their website, the nation's only full-service Black-Owned fundraising firm. They are based in New York City. They have a whole series of Iconic Impact papers and this paper in particular really caught my attention and after I read it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so here we are. It’s called Jazz and Philanthropy and got me thinking about art and social change. So a lot of what you hear today will be from that paper as well as some other resources that I will link in the show notes if you want to do your own deep dive.

Jazz is one of the most interesting American creations, and specifically it is an art form that was created by African American artists. Jazz is an incredibly innovative genre of music that borrowed from African rhythms and was influenced by musical trends in the US and eventually was turned into something new and beautiful. When Jazz started to spread in America this country was neck deep in laws that kept Americans segregated. There were laws against black Americans being allowed to stay in the same hotels as everyone else, the same train cars, attend concerts together, etc. And that presented a real problem as jazz became more and more popular. Although this art form had originated in the black community, other Americans wanted to enjoy it too. And so this is where you start to see some activism on the part of these jazz musicians that I’ll share today.

While I researched this episode I listened to an album created by the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis called The Democracy! Suite. It was recorded during the covid pandemic lock downs and was released in January of 2021. Tracks on that album are called Ballot Box Bounce, Out Amongst the People, and Sloganize, Patronize, Realize, Revolutionize (Black Lives Matters). I really liked a track called Deeper than Dreams. It’s not the first time that Wynton Marsalis has created activist art. The Pulitzer Prize that he won was for “Blood on the Fields” which was a jazz composition reckoning with slavery and that was the first time non-classical music won, that was in 1997. It had almost happened for Duke Ellington in the 1960s, but racism. You can read more about that if you’re interested, but this Wynton Marsalis album Democracy! Suite is just one example of a jazz musician using their art as a form of activism.

So I’ll leave the link to this paper called Jazz and Philanthropy in the show notes. I’ll also include a link to the album. But in the paper, there are lots of examples of jazz musicians using their art to bring attention to certain causes and to power and fuel the people in the trenches fighting for that change and examples of jazz musicians using their art to move money towards those causes.

Here’s an example of a jazz musician doing all three of those. Let’s talk about America’s sweetheart Jon Batiste. He has led marches for social change. Including a musical march through Manhattan as part of the protests against the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. He also fueled and re-energized protestors in Brooklyn leading them through hymns and songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “Down by the Riverside.”  I’m going to link an interview with Jon Batiste in Forbes Magazine where he describes, so beautifully, the way that music can be a connection to a greater power and a connection between people who are enjoying the music. Jon Batiste has done a lot of work to raise money for various groups such as the Equal Justice Initiative, I am a big fan of this organization and public interest attorney Bryan Stevenson. In terms of where Jon Batiste donates his cold hard cash, I am still researching this. He’s young and he is fully booked, so I look forward to him fleshing that out and seeing what he does when he has the capacity.

Looking back to some of the most famous jazz musicians, we could look at the example of jazz singer Lou Rawls. You know what, I’m going to include a link to some of his music as well. Between that voice like butter and that baby fro, whew! Anyway he was an example of a jazz musician whose philanthropy really was front and center. He supported a lot of causes like the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

But he was probably most known for his epic fundraisers for the United Negro College Fund. He raised hundreds of literal millions of dollars for this group and got the help of others like Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, and Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra. If you ever had the pleasure of cranking the TV and adjusting the antennas to watch Lou Rawls Parade of Stars you know how awesome those fundraisers were. It was a certain time in history, right? By the time Lou Rawls passed away in 2006 his fundraisers had raised $200 million dollars.

Ella Fitzgerald was another jazz musician that used her platform as a tool. She donated money towards the causes that she was passionate about including education especially when it comes to providing music education opportunities for young people, and then food, shelter and medical research with an emphasis on diabetes and heart disease both of which she dealt with during her life. I also have so much respect for Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz musicians of her day that were vocal about the substandard treatment that they experienced. If you’re not of a minoritized identity, I don’t think I can convey how difficult it can be, as a working professional, to not only be great at your work but to also be a spokesperson against your own poor treatment. It’s asking a lot of a person and there are examples of Ella Fitzgerald speaking up and describing instances where she was harassed by the police, etc.

Art and activism go together like Christmas and Cake… and jazz especially is ripe for social activism and for working to shape the type of world we’d like to live in.

So to recap, here’s what we covered today:

• Jazz started out as an American innovation based on a foundation of African rhythms and it’s African American creators were often outspoken social change makers.
• Some jazz musicians lent their voices and platforms, some donated their own money, some jazz musicians fueled the activists that have always been in the trenches getting the work done.
• Let’s celebrate these contributions during black history month and all year long.

If you have a few more minutes, I want to suggest another episode that you might enjoy and that is Episode 66 Supporting the Arts. In that episode you will hear some suggestions on how to support the arts in big and small ways if that is something you’re interested in. In that episode, there are ideas about supporting local artists, and increasing access to enjoy the arts, lots of good stuff in there. I hope you enjoy it.

Let’s end with a quote. This one comes from the paper that inspired and informed today’s episode. This was from an interview that Wynton Marsalis did with the Financial Times in 2020. The interviewer asks him “what is the sound of democracy” and Wynton Marsalis says

“Jazz. You’ve got your individual rights—that’s improvisation. You’ve got your responsibility to the group—that’s swing. And you have your optimism and belief that your will and reasoning and choices can make a difference—that’s the blues.”

I think that’s our sign to go out there and make some jazz! Let’s talk again soon!

Jazz and Philanthropy | Bridge Philanthropic Consulting

https://bridgephilanthropicconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Iconic-Impact-__-Jazz-and-Philanthropy_v10-Final-1.pdf 

Wynton Marsalis: how music makes a difference

https://www.ft.com/content/1d5dbcb2-2724-4638-a2b3-3307ecda2aac 

2019 Interview with Jon Batiste

https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiegoldsmith/2019/09/09/john-batiste-so-much-more-than-steven-colberts-music-director/?sh=141fbd553b77 

Democracy! Suite Album from Wynton Marsalis

https://wyntonmarsalis.org/discography/title/the-democracy-suite

Lou Rawls song complication

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zSWIdQKTYQ