Kwame Alexander on Bringing the Free Spirit of Jazz to Young Viewers

This is an introduction to jazz. And so the idea is, if you like it, if you love it, if you show us you love it by watching it, then absolutely, I think there are a lot more stories to tell in a full, fledged-out series.

What we’re trying to do with the shorts is try to give people sort of a quick slice of what this universe, this rooster jazz universe, is like.

Does Acoustic Rooster represent you at all?

My advanced-creative-writing professor, sophomore year [at Virginia Tech], was Nikki Giovanni, may she rest in peace. And I thought I knew everything there was to know about poetry as a sophomore. And, of course, she’s a legend, and I would challenge her nonstop, and she would give me Cs. And I remember having a conference with her during office hours, and she said to me, “Kwame, I can teach you how to write, but I can’t teach you how to be interesting.”

And I remember just being livid at that, like, “What are you talking about?” And, of course, you know, she would end up becoming, besides my parents, the most influential person in my writerly life. And it took me a while to see it. I think part of our goal with Rooster is to follow him on this journey, so he can get to that point.

Why did you decide to use original songs instead of works from the jazz canon?

For the special, it was important for us to create, to really be highly original, and to really showcase our talents. And again, this is an introduction. I really view this as a way to engage kids into this brilliant, masterful music, American form of music, that we call jazz music. I think outside of that, perhaps it just may be a little too expensive at this stage to secure some of the rights.