Jazz Arts of the Mountainwest

Jazz Arts of the Mountainwest

Music

Website: http://www.jamnational.org

 (801) 649-6551

 515 East 4500 South, #6100, Salt Lake City, UT 84107

You don’t have to be a jazz enthusiast, an historian, a great patriot, or have an interest in America’s youth to find an interest in Jazz Arts of the Mountainwest (JAM). The JAM supporter is simply someone who simply enjoys all types of live contemporary music, mainstream jazz, pop, or rock, an aficionado who acknowledges jazz (and related music) as one of the only original American art forms, an historian who enjoys tracing the fascinating history of American music to its roots in Africa and Europe, or one who recognizes the importance of preserving our heritage by supporting continued music programs for our youth in the schools.

The past twenty years have seen live music and live stage performance vanish from the entertainment landscape. Economic pressures, the development of synthesizers and “high tech” recorded music have joined forces to replace live musicians. Performance musicians are out of work and television pre-empts opportunities for our youth to see and hear live entertainment. Simultaneously school music programs are shrinking. Incredible as it may seem, high schools and colleges around the country are seriously contemplating the decision to eliminate music programs altogether. If the music programs disappear thereby producing fewer musicians for the future, who is going to record the music? More importantly, will the beauty and excitement of this extraordinary music become lost to our children and the generations to come?