Jazz 201
Day & Time: Fridays, 10:00 - 12:00 pmStart Date: February 20, 2026
Instructor(s): Ben Young
Location: Vermont Jazz Center
Part I: Jazz 201
Jazz 201 is an intermediate Jazz history overview. Across eight weekly sessions, we survey the history of the music at an intermediate level. The course is tailored for folks who have a basic familiarity with the mechanisms of how Jazz works, and an outline of its first century. 201 builds on the foundational precepts of Jazz 101, but you don’t have to have taken that course to enjoy or benefit from it. We’ll hear a lot of great music, introduce some standout figures, and examine the intriguing ways that Jazz has progressed.
If you’re thinking of staying away because you don’t know enough, may we suggest you register for the course and try out week one on February 20? Or get an opinion from one of your neighbors who took Jazz 101 last fall.
Class meets from 10 am to noon on Fridays, on this structure
February 20: New Orleans via the Blues, Sidney Bechet, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings
February 27: The Jazz Age via Duke Ellington and James P. Johnson
March 6: The Swing Era via Count Basie and Fats Waller
March 13: Bebop via Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell
March 20: Economic Factors in Jazz History
March 27: SPRING BREAK [no class meeting]
April 3: The Fertile 50s via Booker Little and Scotty LaFaro
April 10: Jazz fusions—the deepest roots
April 17: Case studies A and B (to be chosen by popular vote)
A: either Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington or Jelly Roll Morton
B: either Baby Dodds, Jo Jones, or Max Roach