Fit As A Fiddle: How The Violin Helped Shape Jazz, Part 1

Part Oneand#151;That was then… Considering jazz is an art form that mostly makes it up as it goes along, it’s ironically appropriate that printed recordsand#151;i.e., data —from the days of its birth are decidedly sparse. We know, at least, that during the 18th and 19th Centuries in New Orleans white plantation owners, one afternoon a week, allowed their African slaves time off to play their music and dance together… [ read more ]