History of jazz infused with 'Soul,' in new museum exhibit

The history of jazz is explored in a fun exhibit inspired by the 2020 Pixar Animation Studios movie "Soul" that was produced for Walt Disney Pictures. The executive director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Tracy Hyter-Suffern, told The Associated Press that the exhibit, "The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure," is the first partnership for the center.

"We uninstalled most of our permanent exhibit," said Hyter-Suffern. "It was Disney's idea to turn the museum into the "Half Note Club" from the movie."

One of the museum trustees was so moved by the 2020 film that he reached out to the parent company to see if they could collaborate. The exhibit was previously at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida before making stops in Kansas City, Missouri and New Orleans. It shows visitors how jazz music has evolved.

"It explores what it looked like in San Juan, what it looked like in New Orleans, what it looked like in L.A., and of course, right here in Harlem," said Hyter-Suffern. "And it's a perfect alignment with our program, seeing as we explore the roots and the routes, r-o-u-t-e-s of jazz from there, from its African origins as it traveled through the Caribbean and landed in New Orleans and then came to Harlem."

The exhibit will be up until the end of August. Hyter-Suffern hopes this gives students a chance to explore all that is has to offer during their summer break.