As we have mentioned in our blog many times over the years, Jazz and the blues are two of the most influential music genres the world has even known. They influenced the creation of most modern musical forms including R&B, Rock, Country, Funk, Hip Hop and more, as these genres are also born in America.

With modern technology and the media, these styles ‘went viral” with the advent of radio and records nearly a century ago.It’s sonorities and rhythmic elements have reverberated all over the world since the beginning of the 20th century.

“Classical” composers such as Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Gershwin, were all drawn to Jazz and its influence is evident in their music. Some became huge fans of Jazz, especially after hearing it on their visits to America.More than ever, America needs to recognize and embrace Jazz as a major component of its cultural identity. Much like European countries have embraced Classical music as one of their major contributions to world culture.

While Jazz has a huge following here at home, there’s still room for more Americans to accept Jazz as part of their musical heritage.  Today, Jazz has established itself as a major musical art form in Europe, Central and South America, and Asia. Countries with a fervent Jazz scene include France, Spain, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, and of course the U.S.

There are more than three thousand Jazz clubs worldwide in more than 100 countries and 38 American states.International Jazz Day is a yearly event on April 30, organized by UNESCO to celebrate “the virtues of Jazz as an educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people.”

Many musicians have said that there seems to be more support, acceptance and appreciation for Jazz outside the U.S. Major Jazz recording artists have consistently found more gigs in other countries than in America when on tour. While Jazz has a huge following here at home, there’s still room for more Americans to accept Jazz as part of their musical heritage.

Over the years, these attitudes led to many artists becoming expatriates and moving to countries where there was more support for the music. This includes well known artists such as civil rights activist, actress, singer, Josephine Baker, who became a huge star in France in the 1920’s and beyond. Also, saxophonist Dexter Gordon, who left the United States in the 1960s to live in, primarily Paris and Copenhagen. There, he played with fellow expatriates and continued to record for Blue Note. He experienced better treatment in Europe, as a Jazz player, than he had in the United States.

Nina Simone

The great Jazz singer/songwriter and pianist Nina Simone, lived in Liberia, Switzerland, England and Barbados before eventually settling down in the South of France.

This is still happening today as American artists continue to find more financial support for their music in other countries who quite often pay artists a stipend to support their efforts to maintain a higher quality of life in their communities.

Dexter Gordon spent years living and performing in Paris, France. In 1986, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the French film, Round Midnight and was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. Last year was the 50th anniversary of his celebrated album “Our Man in Paris” . The album’s title refers to where the recording was made, Gordon (who had moved to Copenhagen a year earlier) teaming up with fellow expatriates Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke, both Parisian residents, and native Parisian Pierre Michelot.