The Oxford American, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, and Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site are elated to present: “No Tears Suite: Live from New Orleans,” a collaboration with the National Park Service. The two-day affair will be broadcast from Marigny Studios in New Orleans and consist of two virtual events.

The first is a panel discussion, “Civil Rights in Jazz: Then and Now,” on Thursday, November 5 at 7 p.m. CDT, that will focus on the deeply rooted, sometimes subtle ways in which the jazz genre has impacted the Civil Rights movement in America. Moderating the event is journalist and public radio veteran Gwen Thompkins. Thompkins is currently the host of “Music Inside Out” on WWNO and the New Orleans correspondent for NPR’s World Cafe program. Panelists include renowned New Orleans saxophonist, Kidd Jordan—a devotee of free improvisation, but fluent in a wide variety of settings and genres. Jordan has performed and recorded with artists such as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, R.E.M., Ornette Coleman, Ellis Marsalis, Archie Shepp, Fred Anderson, and William Parker among many others. The panel will also feature No Tears Suite composers Christopher Parker and Kelley Hurt, as well as saxophonist Bobby LaVell.

On Friday, November 6, No Tears Suite musicians will engage in local outreach by teaching a virtual jazz masterclass. The event is private and limited to participating schools, but will simultaneously engage high school and university students both in New Orleans and in Little Rock, Arkansas, including band students at Little Rock Central High School, University of New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Little Rock Episcopal Collegiate School.

Both are free and will be accessible to the public! Register for these events here.