Jazz Masters

Jazz and beyond projects with 2018 NEA funding support

Given all the noise, theÂ National Endowment for the Arts’ $25 mil for arts, literature and educationÂ announced Feb. 7 may have been overlooked. But these funds and the projects they support, nationwide, should be noted.Â From more than $3 million going to initiatives strictly labeled “Music” (exclusive of “Musical Theater” or “Opera”) here’s my subjective selection of 50 grants referencing “jazz” and beyond.

The largest amounts among them go to Carnegie Hall to celebrate

Philip Glass’s 80th birthday ($85k and there’s a second grant on this theme, of $30k to the Pacific Symphony in Irvine CA ); to the Kennedy Center to present NEA Jazz Masters ($65K — I just heard Jazz Master pianist Randy Weston perform there, new arrangements of circa WWI music of James Reese Europe, a worthy program),Â and to the New Music America Foundation, ($60k to support the estimable and invaluable website NewMusicBox.org).

Most of the grants are far less. I believe there’s enormous return to the public on $10,000 to $15,000 spent on underwriting festivals, concert series, unusual performances, installations and education programs in communities from Northville, Michigan to Lorman, Mississippi, Woodstock NY (and Manhattan, Chinatown, Brooklyn) to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago, Oakland, LA, Toledo, Juneau, Pittsburgh, Sioux Falls, Ann Arbor, Santa Cruz, Louisville, Phoenix, and so on.

Sound investments, each one of these events (and many more supported by the NEA — really, see what good our taxes do, so cheaply. By comparision, $25 mil is the “relatively miniscule” (Time magazine, Jan 3 2018) amount just approved to fund development of a new road-mobile, ground-launched cruise missile, which Time reports is prohibited by Cold War agreements.

Oh, never mind. Here’s an entr’acte, then the grants.

Akropolis Quintet Inc. (aka Akropolis Reed Quintet) $10,000 Northville, MI To support “Together We Sound,” a festival of contemporary music by the Akropolis Reed Quintet.
Albany Symphony Orchestra, Inc. (aka Albany Symphony) $15,000 Albany, NY To support the American Music Festival.
Alcorn State University $10,000 Lorman, MS To support musical performances and an educational workshop at the Alcorn State University Jazz Festival.
Bang on a Can, Inc. (aka Bang on a Can) $50,000 Brooklyn, NY To support the Summer Festival of Music, a performance series and residency program for emerging composers and contemporary music performers.
Berklee College of Music, Inc. $25,000 Boston, MA To support musical performances and related educational and outreach activities at the Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival.
Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (aka Cabrillo Music Festival) $25,000 Santa Cruz, CA To support the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.
Carnegie Hall Corporation (aka Carnegie Hall (CH)) $85,000 New York, NY To support a concert series celebrating the works of composer Philip GlassÂ (see also Pacific Symphony).
Chicago Jazz Orchestra Association (aka Chicago Jazz Orchestra) $10,000 Skokie, IL To support a tribute concert to NEA Jazz Master Nancy Wilson.
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra $40,000 Cincinnati, OH To support Classical Roots, a series of concerts and recitals in celebration of African-American musical heritage.
Columbia University in the City of New York (on behalf of Miller Theatre) $30,000 New York, NY To support artist fees and production expenses for the Composer Portraits and Pop-up Concerts at Miller Theatre.
Creative Music Foundation, Inc. (aka Creative Music Studio) $10,000 Woodstock, NY To support a series of concert performances featuring jazz and poetry.
Cuyahoga Community College Foundation (on behalf of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland) $20,000 Cleveland, OH To support musical performances and educational activities at the Tri-C JazzFest jazz festival.
Da Camera Society of Texas (aka Da Camera of Houston) $25,000 Houston, TX To support presentations of chamber music and jazz with related educational activities.
DC Jazz Festival $35,000 Washington, DC To support musical performances as well as educational activities and audience engagement events at the DC Jazz Festival.
Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle (aka Earshot Jazz) $25,000 Seattle, WA To support musical performances and other activities at the Earshot Jazz Festival.
East Bay Performing Arts (aka Oakland Symphony) $10,000 Oakland, CA To support Notes from the African Diaspora, a concert performed by the Oakland Symphony.
Eighth Blackbird Performing Arts Association (aka Eighth Blackbird) $25,000 Chicago, IL To support the Blackbird Creative Lab, a training program for instrumentalists and composers.
Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center-Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance (aka Kaufman Music Center) (on behalf of Merkin Concert Hall) $15,000 New York, NY To support the Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Concert Hall.
Festival of New Trumpet Music, Inc. (aka FONT Music) $10,000. New York, NY To support the Festival of New Trumpet Music.
Healdsburg Jazz Festival, Inc. (aka Healdsburg Jazz) $20,000 Healdsburg, CA To support musical performances at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival 20th anniversary celebration.
Hear Now Music Festival $10,000 Los Angeles, CA To support the Hear Now Music Festival.
Hot Summer Jazz Festival (aka Twin Cities Jazz Festival) $10,000 Saint Paul, MN To support free musical performances at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.
Hyde Park Jazz Festival $15,000 Chicago, IL To support concert performances, commissions, and other activities at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
Jazz Bakery Performance Space (aka The Jazz Bakery) $25,000 Beverly Hills, CA To support concerts and educational activities featuring NEA Jazz Masters.
Jazz Foundation of America, Inc. (aka Jazz Foundation of America) $15,000 New York, NY To support curated musical performances as part of the Gig Fund program.
Jazz Gallery $25,000 New York, NY To support performance opportunities and a professional development program for emerging jazz artists.
Jazz House Kids, Inc. $45,000 Montclair, NJ To support free musical performances and related family-oriented activities at the Montclair Jazz Festival.
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (aka The Kennedy Center) $65,000 Washington, DC To support a series of concerts featuring NEA Jazz Masters and other legendary musicians.
Juneau Jazz & Classics, Inc. (aka Juneau Jazz & Classics) $15,000 Juneau, AK To support musical performances and educational activities at the Juneau Jazz & Classics Festival.
Kerrytown Concert House, Inc. (aka Kerrytown Concert House) $12,500 Ann Arbor, MI To support the Edgefest experimental music festival.
Kuumbwa Jazz Society (aka Kuumbwa Jazz aka KJ) $15,000 Santa Cruz, CA To support a jazz concert series.
Living Jazz $10,000 Oakland, CA To support a musical tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Louisville Orchestra $15,000 Louisville, KY To support guest artist fees and travel for the Festival of American Music.
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (aka MCG Youth & Arts) $12,500 Pittsburgh, PA To support a jazz concert series featuring artists and orchestras of various styles.
Monterey Jazz Festival $35,000 Monterey, CA To support performances, commissions, and related educational and audience engagement activities at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Music at the Anthology, Inc. (aka MATA) $10,000 New York, NY To support the 20th anniversary MATA Festival of new music.
Music From China, Inc. (aka Music From China) $10,000 New York, NY To support a commissioning and performance project of contemporary Chinese music.
Musical Instrument Museum (aka MIM) $12,500 Phoenix, AZ To support a program for foster children and foster families that offers access to the Musical Instrument Museum along with attendance at musical performances and participation in workshops and other educational activities.
Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (aka The Wild Center) $10,000 Tupper Lake, NY To support The Wild Center’s commissioning of an outdoor music installation by composer Pete M. Wyer.
New Music USA Inc (aka New Music USA) $60,000 New York, NY To support new music through online resources at NewMusicBox.org and newmusicusa.org.
Outpost Productions, Inc. (aka Outpost) $25,000 Albuquerque, NM To support musical performances, educational and related audience engagement activities at the New Mexico Jazz Festival.
Post-Classical Ensemble, Inc. (aka PostClassical Ensemble) $30,000 Washington, DC To support a vocal and choral performance project celebrating the contributions of African-American composer, arranger, and baritone Henry Thacker “Harry” Burleigh (1866-1949).
San Diego Symphony Orchestra Association (aka SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY) $20,000 San Diego, CA To support a music festival exploring the connection of rhythm and beat in the human experience.
Savannah Music Festival, Inc. (aka Savannah Music Festival) $40,000 Savannah, GA To support the annual Savannah Music Festival.
South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (aka SDSO) $12,500 Sioux Falls, SD To support Phase III of the Lakota Music Project.
Third Coast Percussion NFP (aka Third Coast Percussion) $10,000 Chicago, IL To support a pilot program of cross-genre collaborations with underrepresented artistic voices.
Toledo Orchestra Association, Inc. (aka Toledo Symphony Orchestra) $10,000 Toledo, OH To support the orchestra’s music festival celebrating the contributions of African-American musicians.
University of Chicago (aka University of Chicago, UChicago, UofC) $25,000 Chicago, IL To support the presentation of a performance project highlighting the music, influences, and legacy of Hungarian-born composer Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006).
University of Northern Colorado $20,000 Greeley, CO To support musical performances and educational workshops at the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival.
VocalEssence $35,000 Minneapolis, MN To support the annual WITNESS choral performance project celebrating the contributions of African Americans.

I hasten to repeat — this is a selection out of hundreds of NEA supported programs. Jazz, new and unusual music are also funded, if indirectly, in grants categorized as going to dance, folk and traditional arts, local arts agencies, media arts, museums, presenting and multi-disciplinary works. Every state from Alabama to Wyoming as well as the District of Columbia got funds. Support continued funding for the NEA.
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NEA doubles down on beyond-jazz with 2016 Jazz Masters

The National Endowment of the Arts has doubled down on celebratingÂ jazz beyond “jazz” — music that has exploded historicÂ parameters or preconceptions of Â “jazz” conventionsÂ — by naming as 2016 Jazz MastersÂ the saxophonistsÂ Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp — bothÂ protÃ©gÃ©s of the late, greatÂ John Coltrane — and Gary Burton, an innovator of technique and content who’s embraced pop, country, folk and rock influences, studio experiments and classical finesse in creation of his ownÂ originalÂ sound, taken up with pleasure byÂ musicians and listeners alike. Doing so, the governmental organization asserts that evolution as well as tradition isÂ central to jazz’s DNA.

Wendy Oxenhorn, executive director of the Jazz Foundation of America is also a newly celebrated Jazz Master, awarded for her peerless advocacy since 2000 of musicians in need. This honor concedes that something other than what the government or market can do is essential in supporting American arts.

Archie Shepp – Photo DR

Both Sanders, now 75, and Shepp, 78, were ensemble members on Coltrane’sÂ Ascension, arguablyÂ the “freest,” (most ambitiously seeking? unbridled?Â frenetic?) all- forcesÂ statement of their mentor’s life. Since Trane’s death in 1967, they’veÂ each had productive, creative,Â international careers.

Sanders’ early demonic energies droveÂ the vocabulary of tenor and soprano saxes (and also piccolo!) into screeching, roaring, rippingÂ timbres, unbreeched registers and sustained howls. He’s at his most extreme, in agony or ecstasy for an extraordinary seven minutes on “Crescent” fromÂ Offering: Live from Temple University, Trane’s last liveÂ recording from November 1966.Â Â ButÂ since Sander’sÂ breakthrough album under his own name,Â Tauhid,Â of that same year, he’s also generated serenity if not spiritualityÂ through “world music”-consciousÂ modal improvisations.

Shepp has, over a career of 50 years, been anÂ insightful, often acerbic social critic and a pioneering university professor as well as an challengingÂ composer-performer. He made his first mark on jazz charging forthÂ with a bristling hardÂ tone and long, twisting lines on “Rufus (Swung His Face At Last To The Wind, Then His Neck Snapped)” — titled in reference to the precipitating tragedy of James Baldwin’s Another Country —Â splitting tracks with Coltrane on the 1965 albumÂ New Thing at Newport.

A participant in the musician-directed October Revolution and short-lived Jazz Composers Guild, his work such asÂ Attica Blues, The Cry of My People and “Steam” have provocativelyÂ examinedÂ social themes. A man of many parts, Shepp evokesÂ Ellingtonian elegance, maverick academic rigor, the essence of gospel and the blues, African roots and modern lifeÂ in Paris. My favorite Shepp album — with fantastic arrangements, are they by Roswell Rudd who is just turning 80 and also deserves Jazz Master recognition?) — is The Magic of Ju-Ju. Â Â

Gary Burton – Berklee College of Music

Burton, 72, has many distinctions. Born and raised in Indiana, he’s one of the first jazz stars to emerge from a formal jazz education context, having attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1960 – ’61 and returning there as an important faculty member and administrator from 1971 to 2004. After workingÂ in Nashville early in his career, BurtonÂ conveyedÂ some of its rural feeling, sense of space and open vistas in his progressive, small group mid ’60s albums likeÂ Tennessee FirebirdÂ andÂ Duster. Inspired in partÂ by pianist Bill Evans, Burton essentiallyÂ inventedÂ a lush yetÂ limber technique for vibes and marimbas dexterously using four mallets – which he’sÂ deployed to great effect in duet albums with pianists including Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett.

Burton was an early explorer ofÂ overdubbing himself in layers (The Time Machine) and radical editing (“Lofty Fake Anagram“). He recorded with splendid bandsÂ including Roy Haynes, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley (on my long-ago favorite, Genuine Tong Funeral — with pseudonymously credited Pharoah?), Bob Moses andÂ guitarists Larry Coryell, Jerry Hahn, Pat Metheny, Julian Lage, pianist Makoto Ozone — often spotlighting musicians on the move. Burton has been one of the first jazz musicians to discussÂ his homosexuality publicly, and he himself wrote Learning to Listen, an autobiography named 2014 Jazz Book of the Year byÂ the Jazz Journalists Association.

Ms. Oxenhorn, since joining the Jazz Foundation in 2000 from her previous heroic jobÂ publishing Street News, has built the organization into the most significant and (sadly) necessary national network enablingÂ and/or providing medical, housing, consulting and employment assistance as well as many personal services to an ever-increasing population of jazz people in duress. The JFA has a powerful board, noble founders to remember, a small, dynamic staff and a pantheon of donors, but it is Wendy Oxenhorn who brings them together for the benefit of the culture-makers, hence culture itself.

Nominations for 2017 Jazz Masters can be made by anyone until Dec. 31 2015. Besides Rudd, consideration must be extended toÂ Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ernie Watts, Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman, Milford Graves, Ira Sullivan, Amina Claudine Myers, Charles Tolliver, Billy Harper, Oliver Lake, Junior Mance, John Scofield . . . Our country is rich in jazz masters, artistsÂ deserving wider recognition and rewarding audiences’ attentions.
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NEA ends Jazz, Folk, Opera awards for “full range of American artists”

National Endowment for the Arts’ FY-12 budget eliminates a 30-year-old Jazz Masters Awards program, and special recognition with National Heritage Fellowships and Opera honors, in favor of Artist of the Year Awards available for the entire spectrum of performing artists (all forms of music and theater as one). Here’s the NEA’s statement, issued through a spokesperson, regarding its “modification of honorifics,” in response to some issues I alluded to yesterday, which seem sure to reverberate with diverse effects throughout the U.S.’s far-flung and various jazz communities.

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Who decides who’s an NEA Jazz Master

The National Endowment of the Arts panel determining recipients of the annual Jazz Masters Fellowships is a small one. In the interest of transparency, the NEA has supplied the names of panelists who chose the class of ’09. It comprises five previously named Fellows, one “layperson,” one independent record producer, and two longtime jazz adminstrator-activists (who both happen to be honorees of the Jazz Journalists Association’s “A Team”).

Of course, if John McCain becomes president, it’s all moot (as Lee Rosenbaum reports, the GOP has no arts policy in its platform, and I remember writing to McCain during the 1980s objecting to his desire to de-fund the NEA). He’s clearly no jazz candidate — whereas Barack Obama spoke at the site of the Detroit Jazz Festival, on Labor Day, and San Francisco musicians are lining up behind him with a fundraising jam in San Francisco, October 13.

But that’s another posting: back to the NEA panelists –Â

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