May 12, 2020

A Jazz Solidarity Concert With Danny Glover, Bruce Willis, Wayne Shorter, and Dozens More

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Club closures and festival shutdowns mean financial freefall for the many underpaid musicians living gig to gig, but the Jazz Foundation of America is taking creative, heroic action: an emergency fund and massive concert this Thursday with a big-name lineup in and beyond jazz—Wayne Shorter, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Danny Glover, Bruce Willis (blues harmonica; give him a chance), Rosie Perez, Jon Batiste, and many others, hosted by Keegan-Michael Key. Yes, a number of nonjazz celebs powering the party, but the full lineup is here, and the solidarity and support across genres keep the funds flowing and resilience up.

This isn’t jazz’s first emergency. It was born in one. From the field hollers and work songs to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” Archie Shepp’s Fire Music, Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” and the Jazz and People’s Movement led by Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Lee Morgan, jazz is a sound of stamina. Of swing, survival, overcoming obstacles, resistance, celebration, and more. However you hear the full range of jazz, catch it Thursday and let me know what you think of the concert, and how online festivals can defy social distancing, at recharge@motherjones.com. (And bookmark our new Recharge blog for surprises this week.)

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

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