Leonard Bernstein was a musician, composer, conductor and a world ambassador for quality music and understood Jazz music. He understood it's inner workings and respected Jazz players as much as his fellow classical players. In this recording that was done in 1956, Bernstein explains what Jazz is and what it isn't. He plays examples himself and uses many great players such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Miles Davis and many many others.Bernstein explains many of the technical terms of Jazz and music in simple layman-like terms. This was his forte. Maestro Bernstein is educational and entertaining, There is too the odd unintentional humerous moment when Bernstein states something that is of the time because don't forget, this recording was done in 1956. It is of course still a very relevant document and hopefully will enlighten you to some of the mysteries of Jazz and music in general.This is Part 2 of our "back to school" series in The Jazz Show. Leonard Bernstein and "What Is Jazz".

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