From a news release just received:
May 21, 2009
Washington, DC – The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) today announced the recipients of the 2010 NEA Jazz Masters Award – the nation’s highest honor in this distinctly American music The eight recipients will each receive a $25,000 grant award and be publicly honored in an awards ceremony and concert on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The eight 2010 NEA Jazz Masters are:
Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist, composer, educator, New York, NY
Kenny Barron, pianist composer, educator, Brooklyn, NY
Bill Holman, composer arranger, saxophonist, Los Angeles, CA
Bobby Hutcherson, vibraphonist, marimba player, composer, Montara, CA
Yusef Lateef, saxophonist, flutist, oboist, composer, educator, Amherst, MA
Annie Ross, vocalist, New York, NY
Cedar Walton, pianist, composer, Brooklyn, NY
George Avakian, a jazz producer, manager, critic, and educator from Riverdale, New York, will receive the 2010 A.B Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.
Congratulations to all. To see the complete NEA announcement, click here. To read last week’s Wall Street Journal profile of George Avakian by Will Friedwald, click here.
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
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