8th Annual Jazz Appreciation Month at the Smithsonian Celebrates Chuck Mangione & Benny Goldman

WASHINGTON, April 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and Chuck Mangione launched the eighth annual Jazz Appreciation Month today with a special
ceremony in the museum’s Carmichael Auditorium marking the 100th
anniversary of Benny Goodman’s birth. The ceremony
starts a month-long celebration of jazz that features performances,
talks, tours and family-oriented events. A full schedule of events is
available at smithsonianjazz.org.

Mangione, an American jazz musician and composer and a voice actor
on the animated TV comedy “King of the Hill,” donated his signature
brown felt hat and the score of his Grammy-winning single “Feels So
Good,” as well as albums, songbooks and other ephemera from his long
and illustrious career to the museum’s music collections. The donation
followed a tribute to Mangione’s work by national jazz keyboardist and
CEO of Three Keys Music, Marcus Johnson.

“Jazz is a truly American style of music that has played an important role in our heritage,” said Brent D. Glass,
museum director. “Through the Smithsonian’s Jazz Appreciation Month
activities, we will highlight jazz and its significant history, while
exposing audiences to this magnificent contribution to American
culture.”

Mangione (b. 1940) started his career as a bebop jazz musician
heavily inspired by Dizzy Gillespie but is best known for his upbeat
melodic pop tunes. Since 1960, he has released 30 albums including
three since 2000. “Feels So Good” is the number-one played song of all
time on most smooth-jazz radio stations and has been called the most
recognized melody since “Michelle” by the Beatles. Mangione still tours
occasionally.

The eighth annual JAM also marks the centennial of Goodman’s birth
with a variety of public discussions, tools and music-oriented programs
to highlight the life, times and cultural diplomacy of Goodman and jazz
artists who performed with him. Goodman is featured on this year’s JAM
poster.

Goodman (1909-1986) picked up his first clarinet at age 10. He led
one of the most popular musical groups in America in the mid-1930s and
was known, along with other nicknames, as the “King of Swing.”
Throughout his career he played with some of the biggest names in jazz,
including Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986 after dying of a heart attack.

This year’s JAM will commemorate the impending release of the new
Smithsonian Folkways’ 110-track boxed set “Jazz: The Smithsonian
Anthology.” The six-disc anthology and accompanying 150-page book cover
the history of jazz from its birth to its current place in global
music. The anthology was produced in association with the National
Museum of American History and with assistance from the National Museum
of African American History and Culture.

The museum launched JAM in 2001 as an annual event that pays tribute
to jazz both as a historic and living American art form. It has grown
to include celebrations in all 50 states and 40 other countries in
2008. In celebrating JAM, the museum joins with a diverse group of
organizations, institutions, corporations, associations and federal
agencies that have provided financial and in-kind support, and
organized programs and outreach of their own.

The Smithsonian operates the world’s most comprehensive set of jazz
programs and the National Museum of American History is home to jazz
collections that include 100,000 pages of Duke Ellington’s unpublished music and such objects as Ella Fitzgerald’s famous red dress, Dizzy Gillespie’s angled trumpet, John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” manuscript and Goodman’s clarinet.

The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and
displays American heritage in the areas of social, political, cultural,
scientific and military history. After a two-year renovation and a
dramatic transformation, the museum shines new light on American
history, both in Washington and online. To learn more about the museum, check http://americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000, (202) 633-5285 (TTY).