Join Eric Byrd, local musician and Founder & Executive Creative Director of the Frederick Jazz Society, for a One Maryland, One Book program connected to the 2026 selection, No Sense in Wishing by Lawrence Burney. This multimedia and discussion-based program will explore how Black musicians turn social observation into sound, with a focus on how rhythm, voice, groove, and musical texture have been used in jazz and hip-hop to reflect community, place, struggle, hope, and social change.

Using local Black artists such as Gil Scott-Heron and Lester Bowie as key examples, the program will connect these musical traditions to Burney’s reflections on music, Baltimore, memory, and Black cultural life.