One Neighborhood’s Impact on Music that Made History (1900–1950)

Co-presented by Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Curated by Loren Schoenberg, Senior Scholar at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem

Jazz thrived over generations in San Juan Hill, a historic Manhattan neighborhood home to many iconic musicians and performance venues in the first half of the twentieth century. Jazz musicians who lived and performed there fueled a vibrant creative community and evolved the genre through the stride piano, swing, and bebop eras. James Reese Europe, James P. Johnson, Benny Carter, Thelonious Monk, and countless others who lived and worked in the neighborhood broke new ground musically and shaped an art form that has captivated listeners worldwide.

Learn more about a compelling era in jazz history through this conversation with leading musicians and scholars, interspersed with live musical selections.

PARTICIPANTS

Loren Schoenberg (Founding Director and Senior Scholar, National Jazz Museum in Harlem)
Fredara Hadley (Professor of Ethnomusicology, The Juilliard School)
Marc Cary (Jazz pianist and composer; Professor of Jazz Improvisation, The Juilliard School)

Part of Legacies of San Juan Hill, an ongoing project that aims to uplift the history, communities, and cultural legacy of the Manhattan neighborhoods that existed in and around the area where Lincoln Center was built. To learn more, visit: LincolnCenter.org/SanJuanHill

This conversation was filmed at Lincoln Center on October 24, 2023.