Video: First Lady Michelle Obama brings jazz to The White House

From The White House Blog:

Today, the First Lady is kicking off the White House’s music series with a Jazz Studio where some of the jazz greats of tomorrow will get to meet some of the jazz greats of today. Over 140 students from around the country, including strong representation from New Orleans, will participate in Jazz education workshops to learn from and interact with some of the country’s best Jazz musicians.

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To get it started, the First Lady will give a few remarks on arts education in America. For teachers and anybody else interested, one pioneering program along those lines is the Jazz in the Schools program from the National Endowment for the Arts and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The web-based curriculum gives teachers the tools to introduce students to the sounds and stories of jazz and to build important connections between the music and our nation’s history, a perfect example of the multi-dimensional value the First Lady will emphasize.

Following the First Lady’s remarks, Jazz greats Paquito D’Rivera, Zach Brown, Kush Abadey, and Elijah Easton will perform along with child protégés Tony Madruga with his ensemble.

This is just the first event in the music series, look for more coming this summer and fall.

Also among those performing were Wynton, Branford and Ellis Marsalis.