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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
21-33
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
April 14, 2015
To acknowledge and honor the Blues Alley Jazz Society and its nonprofit mission to promote youth, jazz, and education here in our nation’s capital on its 30th anniversary, and to declare April 10, 2015, as “Blues Alley Jazz Society Day” in the District of Columbia.
WHEREAS, the Blues Alley Jazz Society was founded in 1985 and named after its legendary nightclub namesake located in the northwest Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Georgetown;
WHEREAS, over the past 3 decades the nonprofit organization has been a pioneer in progressive jazz music programming for children;
WHEREAS, the organization’s first president emeritus was famed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, who encouraged its mission by promoting jazz to future artists and audiences alike;
WHEREAS, its programming includes the award-winning Blues Alley Youth Orchestra, the annual Blues Alley summer camp for children, and the annual BIG BAND JAM! youth jazz festival on the National Mall every April during “Jazz Appreciation Month”;
WHEREAS, the Blues Alley Jazz Society has forged significant alliances with internationally noted cultural leaders, including the Smithsonian Institution, the Voice of America, the National Park Service, and the DC Federation of Musicians;
WHEREAS, the Blues Alley Jazz Society also enjoys special partnerships with Washington Performing Arts, Military District of Washington, District of Columbia Public Schools, and Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown;
WHEREAS, over the past 30 years the Blues Alley Jazz Society has graduated students through its programs from every major music conservatory in America; and
WHEREAS, April is the Smithsonian Institution’s 12th annual “Jazz Appreciation Month”, making it most fitting to collectively honor the Blues Alley Jazz Society’s cultural contribution to the District of Columbia community at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that the Council acknowledges and recognizes the 30th anniversary of the Blues Alley Jazz Society, and declares April 10, 2015, as “Blues Alley Jazz Society Day” in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 2. This resolution may be cited as the “Blues Alley Jazz Society Day Recognition Resolution of 2015”.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.
