Join us to celebrate the launch of Brassroots Democracy: Maroon Ecologies and the Jazz Commons. This book recasts the birth of jazz, and unearths vibrant narratives of New Orleans musicians to reveal how early jazz was inextricably tied to the mass mobilization of freedpeople during Reconstruction and the decades that followed. Black brass bands rehearsed participatory democracy through collective performance, and their militant spirit embodied the democratic ethos of Black Reconstruction–“Brassroots Democracy.” Benjamin Barson presents a transnational “music history from below,” tracing how the families of prominent early jazz traversed New Orleans, Mexico, and Haiti, as they built communes, performed at Civil Rights rallies, and participated in general strikes. Books will be available for sale.

Friday, September 20, 2024   5:30pm

Prentis Hall, Rm 101

632 West 125th Street

New York, NY 10027

This event is free and open to everyone but registration is required. For more information about the Center for Jazz Studies activities, please visit jazz.columbia.edu