JHJF Director, Curtis Faulkner

We invite you to come and share the spirit of the nations oldest annual celebration of Black

America here in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Juneteenth Heritage & Jazz Festival is the country’s unique event in celebration of the time-honored contributions of Black heritage and culture. The event is produced by an equally unique organization of the same name, which defines and showcases Juneteenth with America’s past, present and future in social progress. Inclusive of this is the preservation of the intellectual value and sophistication of the Black musical artistry known as…. Jazz !

June 19th is rapidly emerging as one of the most important dates of celebration for Blacks and all Americans as a time to recognize and honor the vast contributions post the Emancipation of Blacks in America. As does the celebration of July 4th affirms the patriotic spirit of freedoms and accomplishments had by White Americans after declaring their independence of 1776.

As articulated by Frederick Douglass in his speech at Rochester, NY in 1852, the lack of meaning July 4th truly had for Blacks, since then, political correctness had supported slavery. click speech Despite social, economical and political limitations, the Black experience has been the centerpiece of American culture and is universally recognized in shaping the greatest nation in history. Thus, Juneteenth has become the date that makes celebrating freedom for all Americans complete.

Central to this evolution, is the creation of a musical artistry so powerful in jazz, blues and gospel that it has been proclaimed, “American treasures”. These artistic compositions gave special meaning and spirit to social lore as the 20th century unfolded; it gave America a soul. As often the case, when change challenges mosaic society, many attempts to discredit and even band these creations all fell short due to the lack of other intellectual artistry that could better capture our American image and character. The need to showcase this exemplary style was so important we initiated Ambassadors of Good Will, from the only segment of our society we knew could best represent it. Musicians, Bluesians in the likes of Lewis “Satchmo”Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Edward “Duke” Ellington, Miles Dewey Davis, Scott Joplin, William “Count” Basie and W.C. Handy who were but a few, who could share and did demonstrate their genius in establishing our place as a nation of sophistication in the world.

It is to these social truths and historic value the Juneteenth Heritage & Jazz Festival celebrates June 19th and it is to this intellectual sophistication, we celebrate jazz.

Curtis Faulkner

Founding Director/Producer