July 28, 2020

Jazz Parties All Week for Kids, Adults, and Adult Kids, Powered by the Newport Jazz Festival

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One of the longest-running and most mythologized (and best) music festivals in the world had its plug pulled by the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s adapted creatively: Tonight’s Newport livestream on Instagram features bassist Christian McBride and violinist Regina Carter, whose full range of tones, textures, and time signatures is consistently energizing. Carter evokes so many sounds—joyful, mournful, contemplative, vigorous—and makes it swing. Beyond the bebop and virtuosic blues she’s known for, try “N’teri,” which is endlessly replayable.

Tonight’s party starts at 7 p.m. ET, and Friday at 8 p.m. ET is kids’ night with McBride, singer Melissa Walker, and organist Joey DeFrancesco. Friday’s set is probably locked in, but Christian, can you and Joey consider a spin of “A Change Is Gonna Come,” called to mind by Jack McDuff’s timeless rendition of Sam Cooke’s original? The national movements for change, and new listeners of all ages, could use the historic refresher, and who can say no to McDuff?

Sneak peek here.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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