Rapp on Jazz

If jazz has a heartbeat, Afro-Cuban jazz has a pulse—and it’s called the clave.

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Before New Orleans became the center of jazz, Charleston, South Carolina, had already planted deep musical roots—thanks in large part to the Jenkins Orphanage Band.

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Charleston, South Carolina, holds a rich yet often overlooked place in jazz history. The Charleston Jazz Initiative, co-founded by Dr. Karen Chandler and the late Jack McCray, is dedicated to uncovering and celebrating this legacy.

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Dr. Karen Chandler is a classically trained pianist, scholar, and cultural visionary.  Now Associate Professor Emerita at the College of Charleston, she has shaped the landscape of arts management and jazz history for over two decades. 

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The guitar wasn’t always front and center in jazz, but when it found its voice, it never looked back.

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You can’t talk about the blues—or jazz’s emotional core—without saying the name B.B. King.

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Born from the spirituals, work songs, and deep sorrow of African American life in the South, the blues gave jazz its backbone—and its soul. 

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Few radio shows in jazz history have done more for the music than Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz. 

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Marian McPartland was born in England, but jazz was her chosen language, and America became her stage.

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The future of jazz in South Carolina is alive in the hands of our youth, and the state is investing in the next generation of great musicians.

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