FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2007
Media Contact: Michael Corby 904.632.3310

First Coast Community Music School offering Landon Walker’s American history lesson with a jazz beat: “Jazz and the American Life”

First Coast Community Music School will offer a jazz history course taught by local jazz expert and bassist Landon Walker, beginning January 10, 2008. “Jazz and the American Life,” a history of jazz and the American experience, will be taught at FCCMS on the South Campus of Florida Community College.

Walker’s course, which he has taught at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts since his departure from public radio, highlights the achievements of jazz artists to illuminate American history, growth and spirit. The course provides a wide range of recordings and live performances of the distinctly American art form, from earliest African and African-American roots to current international incarnations.

The course is offered in two nine-week sessions. Session I (beginning Jan. 10) covers the beginnings of jazz through the “Big Band” era; Session II (beginning April 10) covers 1940s-50s bebop and underground influences through the present. “Jazz and the American Life” meets every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $125 per nine-week session. Registration is on a first-come, first-paid basis. Preregistration for both sessions is specially priced at $200 with payment received by Jan. 10. Classes meet in South Campus Bldg. N, Room 123 at 11901 Beach Blvd. For more information on the course or for registration information call 904.646.2004.

First Coast Community Music School is a non-profit, community minded organization dedicated to providing highest quality music instruction for children, adults and families, regardless of background or experience. The school has a wide selection of programs. Lessons are available for after-school, evenings and Saturdays. The instructors are distinguished music professionals who provide quality individual instrumental and vocal instruction. FCCMS is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and has modeled the program on the standards set by this prestigious organization.