OVERVIEW OF JAMBALAYAH

"jam" = a song

"to jam" = to perform music; to listen to music, to have a good time in a social setting

"jambalaya"= a Creole dish from New Orleans, Lousiana that is made from a combination of ingredients

"JAMBALAYAH.COM" = a website that presents an eclectic mix of YouTube music & dance video gems, mostly from African American culture and other Black cultures throughout the world

http://www.youtube.com/ is an amazing archive of creative performances from musicians, vocalists, and dancers from all around the world. However, because there are such a huge number of videos that have been uploaded to YouTube it's often quite difficult to find high quality, culturally significant videos there. Jambalayah.com is a website which helps the general public identify some of YouTube's high quality, creative, and culturally significant music & dance videos. The majority of the video gems that are showcased on Jambalayah.com are from African American cultures and from other Black cultures throughout the world.

Most of Jambalayah's showcase videos include a family friendly, edited version of the featured video's YouTube viewer comment threads. These edited viewer comment threads enable Jambalayah visitors to read interesting, informative, and educational comments without having to wade through the contentious, insulting and profanity filled posts that are often found on those threads. Presenting these comments does not mean that I or anyone else formally associated with Jambalayah agrees with those comments.

In its present format, visitors can not post comments about these videos on jambalayah.com. However, your input about this website and your suggestions about possible videos to showcase on Jambalayah.com are very much welcomed. Please contact me at :jambalayah17@yahoo.com.

Videos showcased on Jambalayah are listed in no particular order of preference. Please use Jambalayah's Search feature, the Jambalayah Video Categories, and/or the Jambalayah Video Listings located on the right hand side of the home page to find out if a video you are seeking is included in Jambalayah's archive. If a video is not included in this archive, that does not mean that it is not a culturally significant video gem.

My thanks to http://www.youtube.com/ for creating such a rich video archive and for making the video embedding process so easy to do. My thanks also to those who have taken the time to upload videos on YouTube.

Neither I nor anyone else who is formally associated with Jambalayah has made any of these videos. I have embedded these particular videos on jambalayah.com for cultural, entertainment, educational, historical, and folkloric purposes. All rights to these videos remain with their respectful owners.

Every video featured on Jambalayah.com ( and its sister website http://www.cocojams.com ) are appropriate for viewing by children & teens [as determined by mainstream American standards.]

****
Jambalayah.com was launched on December 20, 2009 as a volunteer effort. My heartfelt thanks to Greg Simkins and Lucas Onyango Musewe for providing volunteer technical support to Jambalayah.com and to my other website, Cocojams.com. Without their support, these websites would not exist.

Please remember to visit jambalayah's sister website http://www.cocojams.com/

Keep On Jammin!

If you are on facebook, join me at cocojams jambalayah.