In the first session, Alex Wintz discusses his life as a musician during COVID-19. He discusses his background and describes travel and performances right before the city shut down. He delves into the difficulties of performing music online, how to carefully interact with others, and connecting with friends via Zoom. He also discusses the government responses at the city, state, and national levels .
In the second session, Wintz speaks about the major events of the previous ten months including the protests against racial injustice, the election, and the nightly fireworks in Harlem. He also discusses considerations around returning to live performance, distancing precautions with family and friends, and economic considerations for musicians. The audio for this session was lost before the collection was donated to the archives, so the session is transcript-only.
In the third session, Wintz speaks about the return of music to NYC post-pandemic. He discusses how the jazz scene has changed and clubs have closed down. A returning theme in the interview is the way Alex feels like he has aged and how he has made changes recently to fit this new life stage. He has moved to the Bronx, and he and his wife are trying to start a family. Wintz analyzes diminished trust in the political system and how the trauma of the pandemic has yet to be addressed
Musicians; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; COVID-19 (Disease)--Social Aspects; Epidemics--Social Aspects; Social distancing (Public health); Black lives matter movement; Jazz musicians; Guitarists; Jazz--Social aspects--United States; United States Politics and government 21st century; Harlem (New York, N.Y.); Wintz, Alex
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
103 pages
Note (Biographical)
Born in 1988, Alex Wintz is a musician. At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was living in Harlem and teaching himself how to code
Note
Interviewed by Denise Milstein on May 12 and December 9, 2020 and September 20, 2022
Note (Provenance)
Alex Wintz, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023