The Bridge

Premiering Fall 2026

The Bridge: The Jazz and Hip-Hop Map of Queens is an interactive digital experience designed to increase awareness about one of the essential storylines in the history of American music: how the presence of a prolific jazz community in the New York City borough of Queens had significant influence on the rise of hip-hop music in the borough and beyond.

Many jazz legends lived in Queens during the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie. In the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, hip-hop legends including Nas, Marly Marl, MC Serch, MC Shan, LL Cool J, Q-Tip grew up in Queens. In addition to these known names, the network of musicians from jazz, funk, and hip hop that flourished in Queens is prolific, connected through family, geography, and shared experience.

Building upon The Queens Jazz Trail map commissioned by Flushing Town Hall in 1998, the 60,000-piece Louis Armstrong Archives, and contemporary oral histories and research, The Bridge will allow users to explore the stories and connections of these artists and community members who made the culture happen in Queens.

 

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The Team

Thank you to the individuals who have helped to build this project from prototype to production through the years, including:

Additional Community have Included:

Thank you to the artists and scholars who have aided the project through the years:

CLYDE BULLARD: Flushing Town Hall, SYREETA GATES: Historian and Archivist, JAKE GOLDBAS: Louis Armstrong House Museum, ANTONIO HART: Queens College, ROY HAYNES: Musician, NATALIE MILBRODT: CUNY Archives, TATJANA LIGHTBOURN: Artist and Educator, JASON MORAN: Musician and Visual Artist, BILL TOLES: Musician, ELLEN KODADEK: Flushing Town Hall