A 6.5 hour audio documentary that connects D'Angelo's music to West and Central West African musicking, the American gospel, blues and funk traditions, Prince alumni based in Oakland, California, gospel legends The Hawkins Family, and the 2025 Ryan Coogler film "Sinners".
Dr. Wes Watkins from the University of Sydney has devised a way to explain democracy using jazz music. He tells Suzanne Hill how democracy and this music we called jazz are both a process demanding good leadership and action.
*Musical selections here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB233HMOBuyh7rgUNVVV8YP_YIzN-Imxu
In honour of International Jazz Day, we’re releasing a special episode of the USSC Briefing Room with the Founder and Director of The Jazz and Democracy Project® (J&D), Dr Wesley Watkins. His program integrates jazz into the study of US history, government, civics and culture, specifically, but also into the humanities more broadly, making J&D a captivating way for students to engage democratic and egalitarian ideals through a range of themes and subject areas. It has been widely popular both across the US and around the world. You may have heard Wes interviewed on ABC radio or mentioned on NPR.
What can jazz help us understand about democracy that other musical examples cannot? How do current politics relate to this metaphor? What traits of a good jazz musician should we also look for in a president?
There's no doubt there are cracks in democracy in the United States and around the world, and our trust in politics is at a record low.
But education about how democracy actually works and what being a citizen is all about has never been more important.
Dr Wesley Watkins is now based in Australia, but first started The Jazz & Democracy Project® in Oakland, California, in 2009, using jazz to teach students of all ages about democracy.
Sarah Macdonald spoke with Dr Wes about the connections we can draw between the art of jazz and a functioning democracy.
Wesley J. Watkins, IV, Ph.D. (a.k.a. "Dr. Wes"), Founder of The Jazz & Democracy Project®, explains how jazz masters are practitioners of American democratic ideals, as he advocates for live jazz and jazz education for every child.
