[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 137 (Monday, September 12, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING JAZZMOBILE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 12, 2016

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, Jazzmobile, the world's first not-for-
profit organization solely devoted to jazz, will be honored this year 
by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), at the Jazz Issue 
Forum and Concert that will take place during the 46th Annual 
Legislative Conference (ALC). The Jazzmobile All-Stars will perform at 
the concert, which will take place on Thursday, September 15th, 2016, 
at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, in Washington, DC. Robin 
Bell-Stevens, Director of Jazzmobile, and Kim Taylor-Thompson, daughter 
of Jazzmobile founder, Dr. Billy Taylor, will accept the 2016 CBCF ALC 
Jazz Legacy Award on behalf of the organization, for their five decades 
of contributions to Jazz and world culture.
  Jazzmobile began in 1964, when Harlem was besieged by racial unrest. 
It was in that turbulent time that the great jazz pianist and educator, 
Dr. William ``Billy'' Taylor, had an idea to use Jazz as a culturally 
enriching antidote to the urban blight that inner-city children were 
exposed to. Drawing on the New Orleans street parade tradition, Dr. 
Taylor--along with arts patron Daphne Arnstein, founder of the Harlem 
Cultural Council--turned an unused float into a floating Jazz stage, 
and took Jazz directly to the youth, who, because they could not afford 
to hear the music in clubs, were not exposed to it in school, and did 
not hear it on the radio, were now able to hear the music for free in 
their neighborhoods.
  Designated as a major cultural institution by the New York State 
Council on the Arts in 1977, and a recipient of the Emergency School 
Aid Act, Jazzmobile applied the principles of jazz improvisation and 
the arts to underserved children so they can have positive means of 
self-expression and cultural pride. To date, Jazzmobile has presented 
Jazz to all of New York's five boroughs, with over four million people 
attending their free concerts. They also provide lecture 
demonstrations, clinics, symposiums, workshops, a vocal competition, 
and their Summerfest mini-festival. Throughout their five decades, some 
of the greatest musicians in jazz performed, worked and studied with 
Jazzmobile including, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, 
Horace Silver, Jimmy Owens and Wynton Marsalis, to name a select few.
  Jazzmobile has received a number of awards including, the National 
Jazz Museum in Harlem & Great Harlem Chamber of Commerce's Award for 
Excellence, The Conspicuous Service Award from the New York State 
Council on the Arts, The New York City Arts and Business Council's 
Encore Awards, Citibank's Community Service Award, the New York City 
Service Award, and several citations from Mayors Edward Koch, David 
Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg.
  But Jazzmobile's greatest achievement is that it serves as the model 
for thousands of jazz-based organizations, from Pittsburgh's Manchester 
Craftsman's Guild, San Francisco's SF JAZZ Center, to Jazz at Lincoln 
Center in New York City. Mr. Speaker, Jazzmobile is a living jazz 
treasure and I urge all members to join me in commending this 
organization for their magnificent contribution to American and world 
culture.

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