ColaJazz Foundation

"The Blues Doctor" is a title familiar to many throughout the Carolinas, and it belongs to the one and only Drink Small.

Eartha Kitt, the globally-recognized singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and political activist, was born Earth Mae Keith in the small town of North, SC, in 1927.

Master saxophonist and educator, Thales Thomas "Skipp" Pearson, was born in 1937 in Orangeburg, SC, where he taught himself to read music with the help of a local band director.

The great jazz trumpeter, William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson, was in 1916 in Greenville, SC.

Many of us know of The Charleston, the world-renowned dance created in Charleston, SC. But have you heard of The Big Apple?

While New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz, it had many cradles, including South Carolina. Charleston's Jenkin's Orphanage Band was one of the most important cradles of them all.

Jazz grew from the rich musical traditions of West African culture which have been loved by many, including the Czech classical composer, Antonín Dvorák.

The Palmetto State loves to celebrate its tremendous jazz heritage with events like the South Carolina Jazz Festival, which happens the third week of October in Cheraw, SC.

Jazz giant and South Carolina native Dizzy Gillespie first worked in the trumpet sections of big bands before stepping forward to begin the small group revolution known as bebop and becoming a pioneer of Afro-Cuban jazz.

The great American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator, and singer Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina.