Happy International Jazz Day!

Today is the 2nd Annual International Jazz Day. This day, which was originally established by the international community at the 2011 UNESCO General Conference, was established to help celebrate the virtues of jazz "as an education tool, as a vehicle for peace, unity, dialogue, and for enhanced cooperation between peoples," as declared by UNESCO. Building on the success of last year’s inaugural event which included concerts at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, New Orleans’ Congo Square, and the UN General Assembly Hall in New York, UNESCO in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz(TMIJ) is hosting the 2nd Annual International Jazz Day Concert in Istanbul, Turkey. Similar to last year's celebratory events, this year's concert features an amazing lineup full of iconic jazz musicians led by UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock, as well as Wayne Shorter, Zakir Hussain, Esperanza Spalding, Robert Glasper, Branford Marsalis, Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim and many more! If you've missed any of this year's performances, the video footage will be archived and available to watch in it's entirety at jazzday.com. In all, UNESCO, TMIJ, Herbie Hancock, and all the many participants have captured the magic of last year's inaugural concerts and once again done a brilliant job in successfully creating an international spotlight on jazz music and the influence it's had around the world. Cheers to International Jazz Day!

To learn more or to watch this year's concert celebration visit jazzday.com.