{"id":1945,"date":"2015-10-30T11:22:09","date_gmt":"2015-10-30T15:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=1945"},"modified":"2019-09-12T14:39:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T18:39:59","slug":"nea-doubles-down-on-beyond-jazz-with-2016-jazz-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/10\/nea-doubles-down-on-beyond-jazz-with-2016-jazz-masters.html","title":{"rendered":"NEA doubles down on beyond-jazz with 2016 Jazz Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Endowment of the Arts has doubled down on celebrating\u00c2\u00a0jazz beyond “jazz” — music that has exploded historic\u00c2\u00a0parameters or preconceptions of \u00c2\u00a0“jazz” conventions\u00c2\u00a0— by naming as 2016 Jazz Masters<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0the saxophonists\u00c2\u00a0Pharoah Sanders<\/a> and Archie Shepp<\/a> — both\u00c2\u00a0prot\u00c3\u00a9g\u00c3\u00a9s of the late, great\u00c2\u00a0John Coltrane<\/a> — and Gary Burton<\/a>, an innovator of technique and content who’s embraced pop, country, folk and rock influences, studio experiments and classical finesse in creation of his own\u00c2\u00a0original\u00c2\u00a0sound, taken up with pleasure by\u00c2\u00a0musicians and listeners alike. Doing so, the governmental organization asserts that evolution as well as tradition is\u00c2\u00a0central to jazz’s DNA.<\/p>\n

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

\"shepp\"<\/a>

Archie Shepp – Photo DR<\/p><\/div>\n

Both Sanders, now 75, and Shepp, 78, were ensemble members on Coltrane’s\u00c2\u00a0Ascension<\/a>, <\/em>arguably\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>the “freest,” (most ambitiously seeking? unbridled?\u00c2\u00a0frenetic?) all- forces\u00c2\u00a0statement of their mentor’s life. Since Trane’s death in 1967, they’ve\u00c2\u00a0each had productive, creative,\u00c2\u00a0international careers.<\/p>\n

Sanders’ early demonic energies drove\u00c2\u00a0the vocabulary of tenor and soprano saxes (and also piccolo<\/a>!) into screeching, roaring, ripping\u00c2\u00a0timbres, unbreeched registers and sustained howls. He’s at his most extreme, in agony or ecstasy for an extraordinary seven minutes on “Crescent” from\u00c2\u00a0Offering: Live from Temple University<\/a>, <\/em>Trane’s last live\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>recording from November 1966.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>But\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>since Sander’s\u00c2\u00a0breakthrough album under his own name,\u00c2\u00a0Tauhid<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0of that same year, he’s also generated serenity if not spirituality\u00c2\u00a0through “world music”-conscious\u00c2\u00a0modal improvisations.<\/p>\n

Shepp has, over a career of 50 years, been an\u00c2\u00a0insightful, often acerbic social critic and a pioneering university professor as well as an challenging\u00c2\u00a0composer-performer. He made his first mark on jazz charging forth\u00c2\u00a0with a bristling hard\u00c2\u00a0tone and long, twisting lines on “Rufus (Swung His Face At Last To The Wind, Then His Neck Snapped)<\/a>” — titled in reference to the precipitating tragedy of James Baldwin’s Another Country —<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0splitting tracks with Coltrane on the 1965 album\u00c2\u00a0New Thing at Newport<\/em><\/em>.<\/p>\n

A participant in the musician-directed October Revolution and short-lived Jazz Composers Guild, his work such as\u00c2\u00a0Attica Blues, The Cry of My People <\/em>and “<\/em>Steam” have provocatively\u00c2\u00a0examined\u00c2\u00a0social themes. A man of many parts, Shepp evokes\u00c2\u00a0Ellingtonian elegance, maverick academic rigor, the essence of gospel and the blues, African roots and modern life\u00c2\u00a0in Paris. My favorite Shepp album — with fantastic arrangements, are they by Roswell Rudd<\/strong> who is just turning 80 and also deserves Jazz Master recognition?) — is The Magic of Ju-Ju<\/a><\/em>. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"burton\"<\/a>

Gary Burton – Berklee College of Music<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/a> in 1960 – ’61 and returning there as an important faculty member and administrator from 1971 to 2004. After working\u00c2\u00a0in Nashville early in his career, Burton\u00c2\u00a0conveyed\u00c2\u00a0some of its rural feeling, sense of space and open vistas in his progressive, small group mid ’60s albums like\u00c2\u00a0Tennessee Firebird<\/a><\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Duster<\/a><\/em>. Inspired in part\u00c2\u00a0by pianist Bill Evans, Burton essentially\u00c2\u00a0invented\u00c2\u00a0a lush yet\u00c2\u00a0limber technique for vibes and marimbas dexterously using four mallets – which he’s\u00c2\u00a0deployed to great effect in duet albums with pianists including Chick Corea<\/a> and Keith Jarrett.<\/a><\/p>\n

Burton was an early explorer of\u00c2\u00a0overdubbing himself in layers (The Time Machine<\/a><\/em>) and radical editing (“Lofty Fake Anagram<\/a>“). He recorded with splendid bands\u00c2\u00a0including Roy Haynes, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley (on my long-ago favorite, Genuine Tong Funeral<\/a><\/em> — with pseudonymously credited Pharoah?), Bob Moses and\u00c2\u00a0guitarists 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 discuss\u00c2\u00a0his homosexuality publicly, and he himself wrote Learning to Listen<\/em>,<\/a> an autobiography named 2014 Jazz Book of the Year by\u00c2\u00a0the Jazz Journalists Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ms. Oxenhorn, since joining the Jazz Foundation in 2000 from her previous heroic job\u00c2\u00a0publishing Street News<\/a>, has built the organization into the most significant and (sadly) necessary national network enabling\u00c2\u00a0and\/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.<\/p>\n

Nominations for 2017 Jazz Masters<\/a> can be made by anyone until Dec. 31 2015. Besides Rudd, consideration must be extended to\u00c2\u00a0Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ernie Watts, Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman<\/a>, Milford Graves, Ira Sullivan, Amina Claudine Myers, Charles Tolliver, Billy Harper, Oliver Lake, Junior Mance, John Scofield . . . Our country is rich in jazz masters, artists\u00c2\u00a0deserving wider recognition and rewarding audiences’ attentions.
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[contextly_auto_sidebar]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Endowment of the Arts has doubled down on celebrating\u00c2\u00a0jazz beyond “jazz” — music that has exploded historic\u00c2\u00a0parameters or preconceptions of \u00c2\u00a0“jazz” conventions\u00c2\u00a0— by naming as 2016 Jazz Masters\u00c2\u00a0the saxophonists\u00c2\u00a0Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp — both\u00c2\u00a0prot\u00c3\u00a9g\u00c3\u00a9s of the late, great\u00c2\u00a0John Coltrane — and Gary Burton, an innovator of technique and content who’s embraced pop, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1356,1358,1355,20,174,65,64,1357,178],"class_list":{"0":"post-1945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"tag-archie-shepp","9":"tag-gary-burton","10":"tag-howard-mandel","11":"tag-jazz","12":"tag-jazz-foundation-of-america","13":"tag-jazz-masters","14":"tag-national-endowment-for-the-arts","15":"tag-pharoah-sanders","16":"tag-wendy-oxenhorn","17":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/shepp.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-vn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2014,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2016\/04\/at-the-neas-jazz-masters-ball.html","url_meta":{"origin":1945,"position":0},"title":"At the NEA’s Jazz Masters Ball","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kennedy Center was filled Monday night with VIPs, devotees and artists across disciplines for the 34th annual celebration of Jazz Masters by the National Endowment of the Arts.\u00c2\u00a0Here's my coverage for DownBeat magazine\u00c2\u00a0on the tribute to the 2016 honorees: Fierce and soulful \u00c2\u00a0saxophonists Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders, cool\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"images-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/images-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2009,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2016\/04\/local-dc-jazz-apart-from-nea-jazz-masters-events.html","url_meta":{"origin":1945,"position":1},"title":"Local DC jazz apart from NEA Jazz Masters events","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In Washington DC for events surrounding the investiture of vibist Gary Burton, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp and\u00c2\u00a0Jazz Foundation of America's executive director\u00c2\u00a0Wendy Oxenhorn as National Endowment of the Arts' \u00c2\u00a0Jazz Masters, I visited\u00c2\u00a0a new grassroots venue that shows where the deep\u00c2\u00a0heart of jazz support lies. The\u00c2\u00a0Jazz and Cultural\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"imgres-7","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/imgres-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":762,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/01\/who-should-the-next-nea-jazz-masters-be.html","url_meta":{"origin":1945,"position":2},"title":"Who should the next NEA Jazz Masters be?","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Who should be the next NEA Jazz Masters? With last night's triumphant and deeply moving webcast of the NEA's 2012 Jazz Masters induction ceremonies came welcome news the annual fellowships for these major American artists will continue -- at least the financial awards of $25,000 per Master. More significant to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/2012-jazz-masters.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":516,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/08\/online-video-charlie-parker-jazz-fest-day-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":1945,"position":3},"title":"Online video Charlie Parker Jazz Fest, day 2","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Hurricane Irene wiped out both days of NYC's annual Charlie Parker Jazz Fest -- but not the show of Archie Shepp, Anat Cohen, Gerald Clayton and Madeleine Peyroux available via YouTube. Here's a dry, speculative approximation of what we missed (see yesterday's post for the virtual fest with Toots Thielemans,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/chepp.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1655,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2014\/06\/nea-2015-jazz-masters-who-stretched-jazz.html","url_meta":{"origin":1945,"position":4},"title":"NEA 2015 Jazz Masters – who stretched “jazz”","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"June 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Endowment for the Arts\u00c2\u00a0Jazz Masters of 2015, announced today, are musicians Carla Bley, George Coleman and Charles Lloyd -- all personal favorites who provoked my earliest interests in jazz going beyond \"jazz.\" So here are listening recommendations -- and\u00c2\u00a0my special shout out\u00c2\u00a0to\u00c2\u00a0Jazz Master Joe Segal of Chicago's\u00c2\u00a0Jazz Showcase\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"escalator","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/escalator.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2247,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/06\/nea-supports-jazz-and-us-arts-nationwide.html","url_meta":{"origin":1945,"position":5},"title":"NEA supports jazz and US arts nationwide","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"June 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Endowment of the Arts, arguably the most misunderstood and beleaguered doing-good office of the federal gov't (excluding the NEH, EPA, Consumer Financial Bureau, Civil Rights Division of the Justice Dept., and a few others) has issued its 2017 funding report, highlighting that its monies (monies from we US\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Anthony Braxton\"","block_context":{"text":"Anthony Braxton","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/anthony-braxton"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mule-ride-epicenter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mule-ride-epicenter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/mule-ride-epicenter.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}