{"id":1182,"date":"2013-01-17T18:20:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T23:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2013-01-17T18:20:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T23:20:00","slug":"how-to-recognize-nea-jazz-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/01\/how-to-recognize-nea-jazz-masters.html","title":{"rendered":"How to recognize NEA Jazz Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NEAJazzMasters<\/a>

NEA Jazz Masters sit together, Jazz at Lincoln Center Jan 14 2013; photo by S\u00c3\u00a1nta Instv\u00c3\u00a1n Csaba<\/p><\/div>\n

There is no Golden Globes, Emmies, Oscars or highly hyped Grammys for jazz. So the National Endowment of the Arts’ Jazz Masters award is, as acting NEA chair Joan Shigekawa said at ceremonies crowning its 2013 inductees on\u00c2\u00a0Jan. 14, “the greatest honor the nation can bestow” on veteran creators of America’s world-beloved vernacular yet “classical” music. You’d think there’d be a lot of media brouhaha, generating publicity that gets jazz high in the day’s trending topics, especially with past Masters and the new ones all together for a night of music at Dizzy’s Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center, one of the most glamorous venues in the U.S. of A. See it now: the\u00c2\u00a0live-streamed six-camera shoot\u00c2\u00a0is now archived<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0on the NEA’s website\u00c2\u00a0www.Arts.Gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Eddie<\/a>

Mt. Rushmore of Latin Jazz Masters: from left, Eddie Palmieri, Candido Camero, Paquito d’Rivera;
photo by S\u00c3\u00a1nta Istv\u00c3\u00a1n Csaba<\/p><\/div>\n

But no. Despite the presence of musical artists — artists!<\/em> — Roy Haynes, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lee Konitz, Sheila Jordan, Dave Liebman, Paquito d’Rivera, Candido Camero, Jimmy Heath, Annie Ross, Randy Weston, McCoy Tyner, Ahmad Jamal, Joe Wilder, Jimmy Owens, Chico Hamilton, David Baker, Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Baron, Wynton, Branford and Jason Marsalis all in one room! Along with their newly invested peers Eddie Palmieri, Lou Donaldson and Mose Allison! In what centuries hence might be considered the historic occasion upon which several of them played together! — the sum total of coverage three days after the event comprises exemplary accounts by Nate Chinen in the New York Times<\/a> and Larry Blumenfeld on his blog at ArtInfo<\/a>, tweets mostly generated by the NEA itself, NPRMusic (which collaborated in live broadcast with WBGO and Sirius XM broadcast it, too) and others involved in the production, very little notice on Facebook, and a\u00c2\u00a0post by the NEA’s own blogger<\/a> Rebecca Gross that’s already been superseded by a lengthy “postcard” from newly retired NEA chair Rocco Landesman. Oh yes, the issue was raised by\u00c2\u00a0Peter Hum in the Ottawa Citizen<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and Anna Silman in\u00c2\u00a0The New York Observer<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0that newly named Jazz Master “advocate” Lorraine Gordon of the Village Vanguard, who couldn’t attend due to illness, has not endorsed the “Jazz for Justice” initiative of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians to gain pension contributions for musicians who gig in New York’s clubs.<\/p>\n

\"Sheila<\/a>

Sheila Jordan and Randy Weston laugh it up;
photo by S\u00c3\u00a1nta Istv\u00c3\u00a1n Csaba<\/p><\/div>\n

There was a photo op, at which freelancers including S\u00c3\u00a5nta Istv\u00c3\u00a1n Csaba, the Transylvanian cum Budapest photographer who’s supplied images to JBJ all week, first captured a formal portrait and then were free to grab candids. No story in the Wall Street Journal (though Blumenfeld, a frequent freelancer for it, said he had pitched the Masters hard), nothing up yet on the websites of JazzTimes or DownBeat (though representatives of both jazz mags attended the black-tie investiture dinner) nor on JazzCorner or AllAboutJazz, nothing noted in network or cable tv news, no notice in mainstream periodicals . .<\/p>\n

What can the NEA — or anyone — do to gain attention to the Jazz Masters, and maybe more for jazz? How about:<\/p>\n