International Jazz Day is an International Day declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe." It is celebrated annually on April 30.
Today, the world tips its hat to one of the most powerful cultural movements ever to emerge from the 20th century – Jazz. On International Jazz Day 2025, we’re not just talking about music. We’re talking about something deeper – something that stirs the soul, challenges the status quo, and in its own unspoken language, brings people together.
Declared in 2011 by UNESCO, this day is a nod to jazz’s uncanny ability to bridge divides – racial, national, and ideological. It’s the sound of resilience, of improvisation, of rebellion wrapped in elegance. It’s the soundtrack of smoky bars in 1940s Harlem, war-torn Europe in the '60s, South African townships under Apartheid, and Tokyo basements where saxophones still cry through the night.
As a conservative, I often reflect on the enduring power of cultural tradition, and jazz—despite its improvisational spirit—is rich with tradition. It is built on form, discipline, and respect for the past, even while pushing into the future. It represents freedom, yes, but also structure. The freedom to express, the structure to endure.
Though Jazz was born in America, it didn’t take long for it to cross the Atlantic and make its home in the UK. Post-war Britain saw the likes of Humphrey Lyttelton, Tubby Hayes, and Ronnie Scott transform our airwaves, our clubs, and our cultural self-image. For a while, Soho’s alleyways echoed with the clarinet and the upright bass, as jazz became the soundtrack of modern British confidence – the music of a nation finding its feet again.
Fast forward to 2025, and jazz is as alive as ever. From Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London to jazz cafes in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Manchester, the music persists not because it’s trendy, but because it tells the truth. Real music, real instruments, real emotion – all without the synthetic gloss that dominates so much of today’s "popular" noise.
Jazz also has a political story to tell. Louis Armstrong performed in the Middle East at the height of the Cold War. Dave Brubeck toured Eastern Europe. American diplomats packed trumpets alongside their briefcases, because they knew jazz could do what no politician could – reach the human heart.
In our increasingly fragmented and cancel-culture-obsessed world, jazz reminds us that dialogue still matters. That listening is as important as speaking. That opposing voices can share a stage and still create harmony.
Jazz may not be everyone's cup of tea and that's fine. But let’s not ignore what it has taught us: courage, expression, grace under fire, and the eternal value of creative freedom. In that sense, jazz is conservative. It’s about conserving human expression in its purest form.
So today, put down the phone for five minutes. Pour a Baileys over ice. Put on Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, or Dave Brubeck’s Time Out. Let your mind wander. Remember that freedom isn’t always about shouting the loudest—it’s sometimes about listening quietly to what someone else has to say… even if they’re saying it through a trumpet.
Happy Jazz Day 2025, wherever you are.
By Thomas Marsh-Connors – Angry British Conservative
