WIth support from the California Arts Council, JaZzLine INSTITUTE, a small arts organization, will present ‘Blues Explosion,’ a week-long, intergenerational celebration of the Black cultural tradition of the blues, including four blues concerts featuring a 7-piece ensemble of Black vocalists and instrumentalists, a live radio broadcast, two free blues masterclasses, a free jam session, and an awards program honoring Black musical pioneers and emerging talent in our community. ‘Blues Explosion’ is collaboratively developed with community members and addresses a community need to uplift the Black cultural tradition of the blues in the Bay Area, create opportunities for accessible intergenerational learning, and center under-resourced Black Bay Area communities whose culture is threatened by gentrification.
JaZzLine INSTITUTE is dedicated to the preservation, celebration, and education of the historical and cultural significance of music out of the African-American diaspora through performance and educational programs. We produce masterclasses and workshops with visiting artists, educational programming in public schools, music scholarship fundraisers for local youth, memorial programs for departed local musicians, radio programming including live in-studio concert broadcasts, jam sessions for youth, educational events in local juvenile detention centers, and concert programming celebrating Black History and centering women in music. We recognize musical pioneers in our community, both living and departed, through our BAJABA awards. JaZzLine INSTITUTE celebrates diverse forms of music from the African-American diaspora including Negro spirituals, jazz, blues, R&B, soul, gospel, and hip-hop.

