Meet the NEA's new Jazz Masters

And meanwhile in Chicago, a true Master once again does not get recognized--the inestimable 86 year old Von Freeman. I sent the box of Von's masterworks to NEA this year, daring them to say he is not deserving of the accolade--and they sent me back a form letter. Even letters of support from Richard the Second, Lois Weisberg, and many writers and musicians from around the country do not seem to persuade the A.B. Spellmans of the world that someone who chose to stay in Chicago and raise a whole generation of new players is deserving of the award.

I mean--George Benson? He maybe had it at one time, but what has he done for us lately?

HM: Von Freeman is indeed a jazz master and how the Jazz Masters are chosen remains a mystery; Benson doesn't need the $ or recognition any more than did Quincy Jones, one of last year's picks. But please let's not pick on the "A.B. Spellmans of the world" -- A.B., who wrote the enduring "Four Lives in the Bebop Business" about Ornette, Cecil Taylor, Jackie McLean and Herbie Nichols (without Spellman's book, now titled Four Lives, Nichols might have been lost to history) back in the '60s should be part of the solution, not a nickname for the problem.