The college experience offers lots of cultural opportunities, and IU East has a great deal to offer beyond the classroom experience.  Live bands, comedians, clubs – even zombie events.  It’s a rich time to grow and enjoy the arts at the same time.  This Friday, there is one such opportunity – The Warren Vaché Sextette will be performing a jazz concert in Vivian auditorium, sponsored by Mindful Explorations and the Starr-Gennett Foundation.  It’s at 7:00 pm, and tickets are free for all IU East students, faculty, and staff (available in Campus Life).

Jazz is a uniquely American music style, and a big part of Richmond’s history due to the Starr-Gennett company.  It’s a great subject, either for casual listening or for scholarly research.  And if you’re interested in the latter, the library has a ton of great resources for you.

We have books, including titles like What Is This Thing Called Jazz? by Eric Porter, Why Jazz?: A Concise Guide by Kevin Whitehead, Jazz Tradition by Martin T. Williams, Jazz in Search of Itself by Larry Kart, and many others.  We have videos, including Ken Burns’ documentary (ML3506 .J395 2000).  And we have databases, including the International Index to Music Periodicals, the International Index to Performing Arts-Journals, and Oxford Music Online.  The latter includes the Dictionary of Jazz, among other great reference sources.

But our most prominent music database is the Naxos Music Library.  This database includes streaming access to more than 80,000 CDs with more than a million tracks.  Both contemporary jazz and the jazz legends like Duke Ellington are included, and you can create playlists of your favorites, both to research and enjoy.

We have a wealth of information about jazz for you to learn from and enjoy.  And if you have any questions, contact us at iueref@iue.edu!