Welcome blues and jazz enthusiast!

This book club began as a small group of people from various places around the United States interested in learning more about the music and dances they loved to listen to and perform. Our founders—Sara Cherny, Damon Stone, Devona Cartier, Brenda Russell, and Kelly Porter (who is no longer a participating member)—envisioned a group that could get together and learn the history of blues and jazz, enriching the groups around the nation they spent time in. It has evolved into an international group of people connected by a love of blues, jazz, and black vernacular dance; we come together because we want to learn more of the history and culture of something we have chosen to make a part of our lives.

Our current book club administrator, Chelsea Adams, took over book club operations in 2016. Since then, the book club has expanded to include new, accessible scholarship, online live book club lectures, formal yearly reading schedules, a Facebook Page, official logo, and more. In April 2018, she announced the organization’s goal to provide two yearly scholarships: one for blues and jazz events to bring out a scholar, musician, or practitioner to teach about blues or jazz culture and history, and one for an individual with financial need to attend an event with a blues or jazz history and culture focus. To provide these scholarships, the book club will rely on community donations and swag purchases.

We invite you to join us in our pursuit of greater knowledge and appreciation of the music and dances we love through this online book club. Here you will find reading lists, useful information from a variety of sources, opportunities to engage with other book club members and enthusiasts, and the resources you need to sign up as a leader of a local chapter of book club.

Welcome, and we hope you become a regular book club participant!