Flushing Town Hall is continuing its free online series FTH at Home! with Virtual Jazz Jam: Celebrating the Legacy of Louis Armstrong on July 8.
The institution’s beloved monthly event is led by Astoria resident Carol Sudhalter and the Flushing Town Hall house band, that has brought thousands of artists together online since it first went viral in April.
The upcoming event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Flushing Town Hall’s Facebook page. There is a maximum of 20 jammers — on a first-come first-served basis — from anywhere in the world to participate and contribute to this month’s theme: “Our Roads Change,” acknowledging the current movement for racial justice and equality.
All members of the public are invited to watch the livestream but interested singers and instrumentalists must register to participate.
While the historic venue’s doors are still closed due to COVID-19, online programming is bringing people from all over the world together to enjoy music as one—something that is profoundly embedded in Flushing Town Hall’s mission of bringing global arts to global people.
“While it continues to be difficult, not to be able to greet artists and audiences in person, we are grateful that we can continue to virtually celebrate music with our local community and with jazz lovers across the world,” said Ellen Kodadek, executive & artistic director of Flushing Town Hall. “If you have ever enjoyed a jazz performance at Flushing Town Hall or turned to jazz in times of joy or sadness, we ask you to please consider a tax-deductible gift today.”
Since the first jam in April, Flushing Town Hall’s jazz jam has seen a steady increase in viewers and has become a haven for jazz lovers from around the world—from New York to California, and even across the Pacific from New Zealand, and from across the Atlantic from Italy and Germany.
More than 2,100 viewers tuned in to Facebook live to enjoy the music in June alone, and overall, since the first jam in April, views on Facebook have exceeded 5,800, with more than 1,600 engagements online—numbers that surpassed the participation and capacity of the venue during previous in-person sessions.
Flushing Town Hall will continue to hold virtual jazz jams all the way until at least September — every Wednesday of the month, with more jams on August 12 and September 9.
For this month’s event, interested participants should email education@flushingtownhall.org and identify a three- to four-minute tune they intend to share that is in keeping with the theme. It can be live or pre-recorded (but not a professional, edited recording). Musicians who already played at the April, May or June jam should not apply again, as the venue is rotating in new participants.
While all FTH at Home! programming is presented free of charge, those who are able and moved to do so are encouraged to donate to the Step Up for Flushing Town Hall campaign, which will provide vital funding to supplant the staggering loss of earned revenue.
