{"id":2014,"date":"2016-04-06T23:14:17","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T03:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2014"},"modified":"2019-09-12T14:07:35","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T18:07:35","slug":"at-the-neas-jazz-masters-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2016\/04\/at-the-neas-jazz-masters-ball.html","title":{"rendered":"At the NEA&#8217;s Jazz Masters Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Kennedy Center was filled Monday night with VIPs, devotees and artists across disciplines for<br \/>\nthe 34th annual celebration of Jazz Masters by the National Endowment of the Arts.\u00c2\u00a0Here&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.downbeat.com\/default.asp?sect=news&amp;subsect=news_detail&amp;nid=3108\">my coverage for DownBeat magazine<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0on the tribute to the 2016 honorees:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2018\" style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/images-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2018\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2018\" class=\"wp-image-2018 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/images-2.jpg\" alt=\"images-2\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2018\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Burton, \u00c2\u00a9Jimmy Katz<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Fierce and soulful \u00c2\u00a0saxophonists <strong>Archie Shepp<\/strong> and <strong>Pharoah Sanders<\/strong>, cool yet lyrically expressive vibist <strong>Gary Burton<\/strong>, and<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wendy Oxenhorn<\/strong>, the genuinely devoted-to-music-and-people exec director of the Jazz Foundation of America, if\u00c2\u00a0not exactly jazz&#8217;s cross between <a href=\"http:\/\/www.motherteresa.org\/\"><strong>Mother Theresa<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/a>and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biography.com\/people\/victoria-woodhull-9536447\">Victoria Woodhull<\/a><\/strong>. There are now\u00c2\u00a0140 worthies officially on this\u00c2\u00a0honor roll.<\/p>\n<p>Glimpsed among attendees were US attorney general <strong>Loretta Lynch<\/strong>; key industry and executives such as<strong>\u00c2\u00a0Patrick Cook from BMI, <\/strong>the\u00c2\u00a0music rights\u00c2\u00a0organization; \u00c2\u00a0Jazz Foundation president <strong>R.<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<strong>Jarrett Lillien<\/strong>; Curator of American Music. National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution <strong>Dr. John Edward Hasse<\/strong>; Ellington expert <strong>Patricia Willard<\/strong>; trombonist <strong>Craig Harris<\/strong>; percussionist <strong>Kahil El&#8217;Zabar<\/strong>; vocalist <strong>Ruth Cameron Haden<\/strong>; ethnomusicologist <strong>Verna Gillis<\/strong>; longtime jazz radio show host <strong>Rusty Hassan<\/strong>; writers <strong>Mike West<\/strong> (Washington Post, Washington\u00c2\u00a0City Paper), <strong>Evan Haga<\/strong> (JazzTimes) and playwright <strong>Ntozake Shange,<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0among many other cool folk. . .\u00c2\u00a0Here&#8217;s a slide show from the event by Jim Eigo of Jazz Promo Services &#8212; the first shot is of me with old friend Baltimore arts consultant Don Palmer, who I&#8217;d just run into.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NAsPTE2l2tA\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>To check my journalism against the event, watch the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arts.gov\/lifetime-honors\/nea-jazz-masters\/2016-nea-jazz-masters-tribute-concert-webcast\">archived version of the live webcast<\/a>, which was streamed live on NPR.org, by Sirius-FM, and on NEA.gov itself.<\/p>\n<p>Highlights include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>at 12:05 &#8212; Archie Shepp&#8217;s &#8220;Hambone&#8221; and &#8220;Blues for Brother George Jackson,&#8221; played by an explosive octet\u00c2\u00a0&#8212; tenor saxophonist <strong>David Murray<\/strong> showing his deep debt to Shepp, shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder-to-shoulder with supersonic altoist <strong>Rudresh Mahanthappa<\/strong>, crackling trumpeter <strong>Ambrose Akinmusire<\/strong> and trombonist <strong>Roswell Rudd,<\/strong> who emphasized how\u00c2\u00a0gutbucket fundamentals that were key elements way back and still\u00c2\u00a0in &#8220;free&#8221; jazz, while <strong>Jason<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<strong>Moran<\/strong> was all over the piano, <strong>Linda Oh<\/strong> held the bottom with percussion by <strong>Pedrito Martinez<\/strong> and drummer <strong>Karriem Riggins<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<li>at 26:10 &#8212; Shepp himself speaking truth to power, dryly nailing the ills that jazz springs\u00c2\u00a0from\u00c2\u00a0as a expression of hope and demanding the arts be available to everyone in America, not only those comfortable in the middle class;<\/li>\n<li>at 38:55 &#8212; Pianist <strong>Chick Corea<\/strong> honors Gary Burton by playing their signature duet, &#8220;Crystal Silence,&#8221; but with generation-younger vibist <strong>Stefon Harris<\/strong>, who doesn&#8217;t pretend to have mastered Burton&#8217;s astounding four-mallet technique;<\/li>\n<li>at 1:02:38 &#8212; In honor of Pharoah Sanders, regal pianist <strong>Randy Weston<\/strong> (90 today, April 6!) going deep on his composition &#8220;The Healers&#8221; with\u00c2\u00a0noble tenor saxophonist <strong>Billy Harper<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<li>at 1:15:10 &#8212; Sanders saying a simple thanks. Have you ever heard Pharoah speak?\u00c2\u00a0A treat.<\/li>\n<li>at 1:23: 55 a video clip of Wendy Oxenhorn smokin&#8217; on blues harmonica, followed by &#8212;<\/li>\n<li>tenor saxophonist <strong>Jimmy Heath<\/strong>, 90 very soon, in great form tone, swing, execution\u00c2\u00a0and ideas-wise, boppin&#8217; while young alto saxist<strong> Lakecia Benjamin<\/strong> blows funkily on his &#8220;Gingerbread Boy.&#8221; Wendy&#8217;s speech is a heartwarming hoot, too.<\/li>\n<li>Throughout, host Jason Moran, the KenCen&#8217;s artistic director for jazz, presenting the show with friendly, funny, open warmth, dapper in tight tux and brim.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I have a post-event article on the Jazz Masters due at DownBeat Friday, to include a few words from NEA director of Music and Opera <a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/04\/ann-meier-baker-nea-director-of-music-and-opera-on-her-new-job-and-nea-jazz-masters.html\">Ann Meier Baker<\/a> on how these events\u00c2\u00a0represent\u00c2\u00a0the agency&#8217;s\u00c2\u00a0jazz program. How do they follow up an blast like this?<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.howardmandel.com\/\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">howardmandel.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.feedburner.com\/fb\/a\/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1102712&amp;loc=en_US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe by Email <\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/JazzBeyondJazz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe by RSS<\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Follow on Twitter <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8217;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 yet lyrically expressive vibist Gary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2016,"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":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/imgres.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-wu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1945,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/10\/nea-doubles-down-on-beyond-jazz-with-2016-jazz-masters.html","url_meta":{"origin":2014,"position":0},"title":"NEA doubles down on beyond-jazz with 2016 Jazz Masters","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"October 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"shepp","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/shepp.jpg?resize=350%2C200","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":2014,"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 &quot;main&quot;","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":1655,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2014\/06\/nea-2015-jazz-masters-who-stretched-jazz.html","url_meta":{"origin":2014,"position":2},"title":"NEA 2015 Jazz Masters &#8211; who stretched &#8220;jazz&#8221;","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 &quot;main&quot;","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":1700,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2014\/08\/chicago-jazz-festival-club-tour-images.html","url_meta":{"origin":2014,"position":3},"title":"Chicago Jazz Festival club tour images","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The 36th annual Chicago Jazz Festival (mostly free) kicked off Wednesday with a trolley tour of\u00c2\u00a0neighborhood clubs. Marc PoKempner captured performers' and crowds' spirits in his images: The Jazz Festival continues tonight -- Saturday -- with headlining vibist Gary Burton receiving JJA Jazz Awards for his playing and Best Book\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","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\/2014\/08\/peppers-po.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/peppers-po.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/peppers-po.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/peppers-po.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":403,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/06\/new_nea_jazz_masters_a_classy.html","url_meta":{"origin":2014,"position":4},"title":"New NEA Jazz Masters: A classy last class","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"June 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Endowment for the Arts's final designated Jazz Masters are all worthy: drummer Jack DeJohnette,\u00a0saxophonist Von Freeman,\u00a0bassist Charlie Haden, singer Sheila Jordan and trumpeter-educator-organizer-gadfly Jimmy Owens have had long and profoundly influential if not broadly celebrated or financially rewarded creative careers. So much the worse that this 30 year\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":286,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/01\/jazz_journalists_confer_with_a.html","url_meta":{"origin":2014,"position":5},"title":"Jazz journalists confer with APAP, NEA","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jazz Journalists Association's five days of programming in coordination with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference and Nat'l Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters events was a raging success on several fronts. Activities included the educational, informational, musical, productive and social. Overall, the JJA conference counted approximately 100\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014","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=2014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}