Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Featured on this year’s official 2021 poster is pianist, singer, songwriter, storyteller and civil rights activist Nina Simone.

This year, Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) recognized the historical legacy of pianist, singer, songwriter, storyteller, and civil rights activist Nina Simone. The annual JAM poster is an illustration of Nina Simone by Duke Ellington School of the Arts sophomore visual arts student Naa Anyele Sowah-de Jesus.

Learn more about this year's poster here: https://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz/jazz-appreciation-month/featured-artist

For more information on Jazz Appreciation Month visit: https://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz/jazz-appreciation-month

Check out the Nina Simone project: ninasimoneproject.org

Explore more resources from our friends at the National Museum of African American History and Culture:
📸 1977 photograph of Nina Simone: https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2012.164.125
📝 Letter to Andy Stroud from Nina Simone: https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2011.132.3a-e
🎶 Promotional card for a piano recital given by Eunice Waymon (Nina Simone): https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2011.132.2
🎙 "Mississippi Goddam" and "Sea Lion Woman" recorded by Nina Simone: https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2011.132.9ab