The decision reached in the Breonna Taylor case is one in a long line of cases where justice has eluded Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in the US. The Louisville Jazz Society (LJS) recognizes these injustices, aches in pain and dismay that needless deaths like Ms. Taylor’s continue to occur, and stand committed to supporting and fighting for true justice and equity for all. No matter how often our judicial, economic, and health systems fail our BIPOC sisters and brothers, the LJS is committed to doing our part in actively promoting truth, justice, and healing for all. We stand with our BIPOC brothers and sisters in proclaiming, “Black Lives Matter”!!
Since its inception, Jazz has served as a sounding board for the expression of the African American experience, the relaying of injustices, a declaration of humanity and as a tonic for healing of the human soul. Charlie Parker stated, “Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.” Let us strive to hear the experiences, thoughts, and wisdom of jazz and commit to erasing the boundary lines of injustice that currently exist in our collective humanity. In that spirit, we humbly offer this playlist—which is by no means exhaustive—but may be used as a starting point to learn about injustices experienced by BIPOC, seek context of those injustices, and receive the healing that is so central in our great music, Jazz.