November 21, 2006

Berklee, the Boston Public Library, and the Boston Jazz Society continues an annual tradition of giving kids and their families chances to hear, learn about, and play jazz together at area BPL branches through the Jazz on Wheels program. A group of Berklee professors brings Jazz on Wheels to the Hyde Park library, 35 Harvard Avenue, on Saturday, December 2, for a free event beginning at noon. Call the library at 617-361-2524 for more information.

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	Berklee professor John Hazilla is surrounded by children during a Jazz On Wheels performance.

Berklee faculty members will talk about the history of the music between selections and invite members of the audience to join them for the finale. Performing faculty will include Matthew Nicholl, piano; Ron Mahdi, bass; John Baboian, guitar; Ernesto Diaz and Mikael Ringquist, percussion; and drummer and group director John Hazilla. Special guest rapper and Berklee alumna Abria Smith will present a history of jazz hip-hop style.

To set the mood, a collection of photographs, courtesy of the Boston Jazz Society, will be on exhibit at the library, featuring jazz luminaries and a visual history of Boston area jazz clubs. Founded in 1973, the Boston Jazz Society is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to jazz appreciation. Through its sponsorship of scholarships, lectures, seminars, concerts, and tributes, it promotes jazz education and assists in performances and fund-raisers for other social, cultural, and education groups.

For more than 150 years, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America with revolutionary ideas and famous firsts. Established in 1848, the BPL was the first publicly supported municipal library in America, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library and the first to have a children's room.

Today, the BPL boasts 27 neighborhood branches, free Internet access, two unique restaurants, an award-winning website, and an online store featuring reproductions of the BPL's priceless photographs and artwork. Each year, the BPL hosts nearly 5000 programs, answers more than one million reference questions, and serves millions of people in its National Historic Landmark McKim Building in Copley Square. All of its programs and exhibits are free and open to the public.