Each April, Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) shines the spotlight on the extraordinary history of jazz and its importance in American culture. Through concerts, lectures, films, and other programs, JAM encourages people of all ages to attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, study the music, and support institutional jazz programs.

Launched at the National Museum of American History in April 2002, JAM added to the Smithsonian Institution’s 30-year record of leadership in jazz. The Smithsonian operates the world’s most comprehensive set of jazz programs—including exhibitions, publications and recordings, concerts, workshops, master classes, lectures, symposia, and fellowships for research in jazz. The Museum collects jazz artifacts, documents, recordings, and oral histories, and sponsors the Institution’s own big band, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) 2010 will explore how jazz has influenced social justice and freedom of expression in the U.S. and globally.

Check out America.gov later this month for related features, interviews and articles.