Jazz and Flight: An All-American Duet

STREAMING PROGRAM INFORMATION

• This program is part of our Smithsonian Associates Streaming series.
• Platform: Zoom
• Online registration is required.
• If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.

Jazz and powered flight are American cousins, born and raised at the same time in surprising, almost eerie parallel paths. The great innovators were exact contemporaries: the Wright brothers and Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong and Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Yeager and Charlie Parker, and many more.

Milestones in the history of the music and the history of flight sometimes occurred within days of one another. A mastery of technique connects both disciplines: A pilot, like a soloist, makes a thousand decisions every second, secure in their skill but sensitive to the changing moments around them. They are each dependent on air: instruments moving it to create sound, airplanes moving through it to create lift.

In a program richly illustrated with film and music, aviation writer and filmmaker Paul Glenshaw takes off on a journey infused with truly American style and innovation. He examines how the combined stories of jazz and flight reveal the arc of 20th-century history, from the profound contributions of courageous individuals to the mutual influence of the machines and the music that underscored dramatically changing times.

Glenshaw is a regular contributor to the Smithsonian's Air & Space magazine, co-writer and producer of the PBS documentary Barnstorming, and co-writer and director of the documentary The Lafayette Escadrille. During the pandemic, he has co-created The Seven Tones Project, pairing musicians and filmmakers to create short films based on the music of Duke Ellington.

Patron Information

• Unless otherwise noted, registration for streaming programs typically closes two hours prior to the start time on the date of the program.
• Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
• Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
• View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.