Bring Music to the Streets: Seattle JazzED's Second Line Project

Ready to bring the funk to the streets of Seattle this summer? This is your invitation to join JazzED’s Second Line Project and march loud and proud with us at the Alaska Airlines Seafair Torchlight Parade!  

What is a Second Line? 

Second lines are deeply rooted in Black American culture, specifically within the African American communities in New Orleans. A traditional second line has two parts. The first line is made up of a grand marshal or parade leader, the band, and whoever is being honored. The second line are the people who fall behind them, dancing and playing with joyful abandon. 

Second line parades originally started as funeral processions to burial sites to honor the dead among the African American community. 

Over time, second lines became full-blown community celebrations. They are organized to celebrate different kinds of events such as weddings, memorials, and birthdays. At its core, these gatherings are about connection and community. 

This tradition represents the soul of jazz by honoring the past, celebrating the present, and being a space where everyone is invited to participate.  

Why This Matters for Seattle JazzED 

The second line is a vibrant expression of jazz. Its music is improvisational, collaborative, and rooted in community participation. 

Photo by Jocelyn RC (Lightnotes.photography)

Our Second Line Project brings this rich cultural tradition to Seattle with our own unique twist. It’s a chance for students to bring music into the streets. But more than that, it’s an opportunity to be part of something powerful and fun!  

And unlike traditional marching bands, we welcome all instruments. Even those not typically found in jazz. 

Play cello? We’ll rig it with a strap.  

Play piano? You can march with a melodica.  

We’re here to help students be part of something bigger.

Join our Second Line Project!

Bring a friend, your energy, and your whole self to this fast-paced, riff-based, loud and proud camp! You’ll rehearse with professional teaching artists and perform at the Alaska Airlines Seafair Torchlight Parade – one of Seattle’s biggest summer events!  

Teacher Jerome Smith leading JazzED Second Line at Lake Union. Photo by Jocelyn RC (Lightnotes.photography)

CAMP DATES

Monday, July 21 - Friday, July 25
9 AM - 1 PM, Daily
Seattle JazzED, 380 Boren Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

Alaska Airlines Seafair Torchlight Parade
Saturday, July 26
Time and Address TBA

Why We're Pausing This Summer

Seattle JazzED is built on resilience—on the power of community, creativity, and music to carry us through change. We’re sharing an important update about our summer programs, and the intentional steps we’re taking to strengthen our future. 

After careful consideration and deep reflection, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause our summer programming this year—apart from our Second Line Camp, which will continue as planned. 

We’re taking this pause now so that we can move forward stronger—building programs that are sustainable, rooted in community, and built to last. 

Over the past two years, Seattle JazzED has gone through significant internal changes. We’ve welcomed new leadership, adjusted how our team works together, and restructured to better align with our financial reality and the direction we’re headed. 

At the same time, we’ve been navigating the same headwinds affecting many nonprofits: increased demand for financial assistance, shifting philanthropic priorities from donors, and the continued impact of inflation and economic uncertainty on families and organizations alike.  

Even through all this change, one thing has remained steady: our commitment to our teaching artists, students, families, and supporters. 

But the numbers tell a hard truth. We’ve seen a steady decline in tuition revenue. As costs rise and financial assistance requests increase, the gap between revenue and program expenses has become unsustainable. Our fundraising efforts alone can no longer maintain the level of support and quality programming that we strive to provide. 

Rather than risk last-minute disruptions during the school year, we’re choosing to pause during the summer so that we can refocus. Our team will be using this time to strengthen our financial model, refine our program offerings, and expand outreach to increase enrollment this fall.  

At the heart of this decision is our commitment to the long-term health of Seattle JazzED. We are dedicated to ensuring that our programs are not only sustainable but also accessible to all families, no matter their circumstances.  

By taking this step now, we’re making space to do the thoughtful, behind-the-scenes work that will ensure Seattle JazzED remains a thriving home for youth, music, and creativity for years to come. 

For any questions, please reach out to our Executive Director at liz@seattlejazzed.org.

Claiming Space in Jazz: A Personal and Collective Story

By Shelby Archer, Program Registration Manager at Seattle JazzED

My journey in jazz began in 6th grade when I picked up the saxophone. From middle school through college, I was often one of the only girls or femme players in jazz bands, which created an internal pressure to prove my worth in what felt like a boys' club. I developed a tough, competitive edge—always striving to be the best while simultaneously battling the urge to hide or quit. But my love for jazz and playing music kept me going.  

Playing saxophone became my voice and way of carving out space in a male-dominated field, where I ultimately found belonging through music and lifelong friendships with fellow band geeks. 

That experience shaped the way I see my work today. I’ve been at Seattle JazzED for two years now, and even though I was never a Seattle JazzED student myself (said with only slight jealousy and regret), I feel incredibly close to the work we do as a jazz musician and educator. 

I’ve worn many hats before landing in my current role as the Program Registration Manager. I started by working in our after-school Foundations programs, commuting to Seattle Public Schools throughout the week. I was an extra adult in the room with a musical background—helping students tune their instruments, fixing strings on the fly, taking attendance, encouraging participation and focus, and sometimes engaging in impromptu dance battles (when challenged). It was a hands-on role that connected me deeply with students, their families, our teachers, and school administrators.  

Now, in my more behind-the-scenes role, I focus on family communications and student registration, tracking student demographics, and synthesizing reports for our staff and board. As a right-brained musician, I was intimidated by the data-heavy aspect of my role. But I’ve come to view these spreadsheets as stories, or snapshots of our students' journeys at Seattle JazzED. 

For most of JazzED’s history, our student demographics reflected the same gender disparity that has existed in jazz spaces for decades. Despite our commitment to inclusivity and creating a space where all students feel free to express themselves—learning to be brave and not perfect—historical patterns are difficult to break.  

Traditional music programs, particularly those with auditions and competitive placement systems, can be intimidating, especially for young girls. Even though jazz as an art form is rooted in freedom and self-expression, many school-based programs have cultivated environments that unintentionally uphold exclusivity. 

One of my biggest projects in this role has been analyzing our student data over the past five years—tracking shifts in race, ethnicity, gender, and zip codes, as well as financial accessibility through our sliding scale tuition. Seattle JazzED has evolved immensely over the last 15 years, especially in response to the changing needs of the community. The impacts of COVID-19, shifts in enrollment, and even our move from South Seattle to South Lake Union have all influenced who we serve. Through it all, our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity remains the same. 

That’s why fall 2024 marked a historic milestone. The past five years of demographic data showed a consistent predominance of He/Him-identifying students across all our programs—aside from our Femme Ellington Project (our class made up of all-femme identifying players!). But this fall, for the first time, She/Her-identifying students became the most reported gender identity among our students. This shift reflects years of intentional effort to create an inclusive space where all students feel they belong—a milestone worth celebrating. 

Looking at the data is one thing, but seeing it come to life in our classrooms is another. When I see young students stepping into our space, picking up their instruments with confidence, and improvising without fear—being brave, not perfect—I see a version of myself I wish I had unlocked when I was younger. More importantly, I see a future for jazz that is more diverse, more welcoming, and more representative of the voices that have always deserved to be heard.  

Jazz is a Black American art form, born from resilience and resistance against oppression. Because of this, we must play it and teach it in a way that is empowering, reformative, and rooted in inclusivity. Jazz must be a space where all players feel free to express themselves, and that’s exactly what we strive to cultivate at Seattle JazzED.