What is J&D?
The Jazz & Democracy Project® (J&D) is a music integrated curriculum linking the arts (music, particularly jazz) and the humanities (U.S. history, government, civics and culture). In order to better understand what J&D is, it can be helpful to contrast it with what J&D is not:
| J&D is.. | J&D is not... |
|---|---|
| Part jazz appreciation. | Jazz band or instrumental music class—though it is suitable in these and other classes. |
| Part U.S. History, Government and Civics. | A history of jazz in America. |
| Based on the theory that the jazz process has much to tell us about the intention and execution of American democratic ideals. | Jazz theory, as in music theory (e.g., scales, chords, sight-reading, etc.) |
| Interactive lessons that routinely engage students in higher order thinking skills. | Play time. |
| Designed to bring musicians and non-musicians, "jazz heads" and those who know nothing of jazz, deeper inside the jazz process in unique and creative ways. | Designed solely for music students or musicians. |
| A music-integrated curriculum that utilizes the jazz process and aesthetic as a lens through which participants think critically about American democracy past and present. | A chronology of jazz music that you can play in class when studying various periods of U.S. history. |
| An apolitical and nuanced analysis of both jazz and democracy, exploring where the jazz-as-democracy metaphor fits, where it does not, and the complexities of both. | A naïve or partisan view of jazz or democracy that posits jazz or democracy as simple or necessarily ideal. |