JAZZ 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Jazz is a free four-week Thursday night virtual class on October 29, November 5, 12 and 19, 2020 at 7 pm CST on Zoom. Acquire an ear for the intricacies that make the music endlessly fascinating while guided through the history and development of the styles. Instructor and Swing University curator Seton Hawkins will provide an introduction to jazz; no musical knowledge is required. Classes are one hour of content with 15 minutes for questions.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s higher-education program, Swing University, will help attendees become a better listener. Its talented faculty will introduce sounds new and classic, illuminating the music’s history and placing it within a modern context. 

Seton Hawkins serves as Director of Public Programs and Education Resources at Jazz at Lincoln Center. At JALC, Seton oversaw the creation and expansion of the Jazz Academy media library, creating the largest free video library in the world dedicated to jazz pedagogy. He leads the organization’s Swing University teaching initiative, while also hosting all Listening Parties and public programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center and giving free pre-concert lectures before major shows in Rose Theater and in the Appel Room. In addition, Seton has worked as a producer, manager, publicist, radio DJ, and advocate in Jazz for more than a decade. As a freelance agent, he served legendary artists including Buster Williams, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Sathima Bea Benjamin, and Michele Rosewoman, and produced a wide range of concerts and recordings. He has written extensively for Hot House Jazz and for AllAboutJazz.com, with a particular emphasis on the Jazz scene of South Africa. Seton received his MBA from Babson College and his BA in Music from Columbia University. He is also the host of a weekly South African Jazz show on SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel.

Register for Jazz 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Jazz FREE at texasperformingarts.org.

 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis: The Sounds of Democracy

 The Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Orchestra Septet's performance of The Sounds of Democracy is a virtual concert with post-concert Q&A on Friday, October 30 at 7 pm CST which aims to entertain, inspire, and uplift audiences with the full vigor, vision, and depth of America’s music. Led by trumpeter/composer Wynton Marsalis and featuring seven of jazz's finest soloists, the concert's unique repertoire celebrates jazz's embodiment of freedom and democracy.

The evening will feature the premiere of The Democracy Suite, a new Marsalis composition written during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis as a response to the political, social, and economic struggles facing the nation. The Democracy Suite is a swinging and stimulating instrumental rumination on the issues that have recently dominated our lives as well as the beauty that could emerge from a collective effort to create a better future.

The post-concert Q&A with Wynton Marsalis will be moderated by Jeffrey L. Hellmer, UT Austin Director of Jazz Studies. 

Tickets are $15 per household for the general public and free for UT Austin students at  texasperformingarts.org.  The concert  will be livestreamed via YouTube Live by Texas Performing Arts and ticketholders will have viewing access to the concert and discussion recording for 72 hours following the broadcast.