Jazz is America’s music. Jazz was born in the United States.

Jazz is really the best music to represent America because:

It is partly planned and partly spontaneous; that is, as the musicians perform a pre-determined tune, they have the opportunity to create their own interpretations within that tune in response to the other musicians’ performances and whatever else may occur “in the moment” — this is called improvisation and is the defining element of jazz. In everything from regular conversation, to basketball, to everyday life, Americans are constantly improvising.

Improvisation is the key element of jazz. There is no better example of democracy than a jazz ensemble: individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. In other words, individual musicians have the freedom to express themselves on their instrument as long as they maintain their responsibility to the other musicians by adhering to the overall framework and structure of the tune.