Vacation Ideas: Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame is located in the historic Carver Theater on 4th Avenue Business District in Birmingham, Alabama. The museum is in the Civil Rights District at 1631 4th Avenue North, in Birmingham, Alabama. Admission is free, and the hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The Carver Theatre is a popular spot for local jazz artists. They have been host to jazz legends like Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. The Carver Theatre is open to the very best in entertainment that includes anything from theatrical performances to jazz jam sessions to swing dance classes.

The Carver Theatre for the Performing Arts was built in 1935. The present theatre includes 1,300 of the latest model theatre chairs and the newest development in air conditioning, sound, and projection. It was also one of several theatres in the Fourth Avenue area that offers first-run movies to African-Americans.

In 1990, the City of Birmingham began renovation of the Carver Theatre as a performing arts theatre and the new home of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and museum. It now operates as a non-profit, multi-use community theatre, which is open for bookings by local and national groups.

The art-deco museum is a place for entertainment as well as honoring great jazz artists with ties to the state of Alabama. Exhibits of accomplished jazz artists include:

• Nat King Cole
• Duke Ellington
• Lionel Hampton
• Erskine Hawkins

Visitors of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame travel from the beginnings of boogie woogie with Clarence “Pinetop” Smith to the jazz space journeys of Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Space Orchestra.

If you add the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame to your vacations ideas and become a visitor you will have a chance to get lost in Alabama’s rich jazz heritage. There are more than 2,200-square-feet of exhibits.

What you will see as parts of these vacation ideas include:

• Priceless jazz memorabilia: Paintings, quilts, instruments and the personal effects of artists like Ella Fitzgerald and W.C. Handy

The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame welcomes tour groups of any size. Their hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Guided Tours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and on Saturday after 1:00 p.m. The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame is closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is $2 per person for the self-guided tour and $3 per person for a guided tour.

If you bring a large tour group, look forward to both a tour and a showing of “Jazz in the Magic City.” “Jazz in the City” is a jazz documentary outlining the Jazz progression in Birmingham, Alabama.

For more information about the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame tours call 205-254-2731. You might want to add this to your vacation ideas as well.

Who does the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame honor? Inductees include:

• Performers
• Promoters
• Music publishing and recording leaders
• Broadcasters and others have had a significant impact on jazz music.
• Inductees into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame must also have been born in the state of Alabama or spent a considerable amount of time in Alabama developing, producing and influencing jazz.

If you are a lover of jazz music, you might want to add the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame to your list of vacation ideas.

Source: Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in Birmingham, Alabama

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© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved