{"id":3140,"date":"2025-04-02T17:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T21:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=3140"},"modified":"2025-04-02T17:26:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T21:26:53","slug":"across-north-america-29-jazz-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2025\/04\/across-north-america-29-jazz-heroes.html","title":{"rendered":"Across North America, 29 “Jazz Heroes”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Twenty-five years ago the Jazz Journalists Association<\/a> began to identify and celebrate activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz as members of an \u201cA Team,\u201d soon renamed \u201cJazz Heroes.\u201d Today the JJA announced its 2025 slate of these Heroes<\/a>, 29 people across North America who put extraordinary efforts into sustaining and expanding jazz in its various forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So who are they? Musicians who double or triple as educators, presenters and support-group organizers. Festival producers from Tucson to Northampton, from the San Diego-Tijuana Borderland to Guelph, Ontario. The writer and scholar who founded Jazz Appreciation Month, the Jazz Foundation of America\u2019s Executive Director and the woman whose persistence has paid off in greater opportunities and visibility for other women as players and stars. See them all\u00a0JJAJazzAwards.org\/2025-jazz-heroes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s Jazz Heroes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u00b7 Bobby Bradford<\/a>, Los Angeles brassman who at age 90 continues to perform and lecture despite losing his home in the Altadena fires;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Juli\u00e1n Plascencia<\/a>, co-founder of the San Diego-Tijuana International Jazz Festival;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 John Edward Hasse<\/a>, biographer of Duke Ellington, Wall Street Journal contributor, and Emeritus Curator of Music at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where 30 years ago he initiated April across the globe as Jazz Appreciation Month;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Joe Petrucelli<\/a> of the Jazz Foundation of America, who\u2019s partnered with the Mellon Foundation on the new Jazz Legacy Fellowships for lifetime achievements;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Ellen Seeling<\/a>, now based in the Bay Area, whose steadfast playing — she broke the Latin Jazz gender biases — and advocacy for women won establishment of blind auditions for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and ever more recognition that women can and do play jazz — well!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Trumpeters abound this year: Besides Bradford and Seeling, there\u2019s Gregory Davis of the Dirty Dozens Brass Band, booker of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival contemporary jazz stage, and Mark Rapp, whose ColaJazz non-profit has amped up the scene in Columbia, South Carolina. But rhythm rules: Drummer-percussionist Jazz Heroes include Alan Jones of Seattle, Kenny Horst of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Clare Church (also a saxophonist, vocalist and partner in a Denver metro venue with her husband, Pete Lewis), David Rivera of San Juan, Puerto Rico and washboard enthusiast Jerry Gordon of New York\u2019s Capital District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocalists Karla Harris (Atlanta), Pamela Hart (Austin) and Kim Tucker (Philadelphia) do a lot more than simply — but beautifully — sing. Stephanie Matthews (Columbus, Ohio) has adapted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) into STEAM — adding \u201cA\u201d for \u201cArts.\u201d Brinae Ali of Baltimore turns tap-dancing into a multi-dimensional modern form. John Foster is invaluable to operations of the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Robert Radford has raised significant funds for Seattle jazz spheres. Amber Rogers and Daniel Bruce started a Cleveland jazz fest from scratch. And so on. The personality-profiles posted with portraits of each of the JJA\u2019s 29 Jazz Heroes detail how they\u2019ve distinguished themselves by leaning in to what jazz can do to inspire creativity, promote fellow-feeling and enhance life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Sheila Anderson, the Hang Queen of WBGO-FM<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Ruth Griggs, Northampton Jazz Festival<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Ajay Heble, International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Khris Dodge, Tucson Jazz Festival<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Ralphe Armstrong, Detroit-boosting bassist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 Wes Lowe, beloved West Palm Beach jazz teacher)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JJA — an independent nonprofit with 250 international members, currently — believes Jazz Heroes are essential to the health of the overall jazz ecosystem, and supports local efforts to celebrate them. The organization \u2014 an independent non-profit promoting the interests of writers, photographers, broadcaster and other media workers covering jazz \u2014 will produce an online Heroes event, April 17th,<\/sup>\u00a0and local presentations of Jazz Hero certificates. Details aren\u2019t set yet, but will be found soon at\u00a0JJAJazzAwards<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0JJANews<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every music genre \u2014 indeed, every art form \u2014 survives due to the efforts of people like these Heroes, working behind the scenes, often for little financial reward, because they love what they do for the art they advance. Just like the artists themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years ago the Jazz Journalists Association began to identify and celebrate activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz as members of an \u201cA Team,\u201d soon renamed \u201cJazz Heroes.\u201d Today the JJA announced its 2025 slate of these Heroes, 29 people across North America who put extraordinary efforts into sustaining and expanding jazz in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3141,"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":[2165,2171,519,2155,2162,2159,2170,2156,2169,2167,194,2157,2087,2173,2174,2158,2175,2153,2172,2178,2176,2160,2154,2163,2164,2177,2166,2161,2179],"class_list":{"0":"post-3140","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"tag-ajay-heble","9":"tag-alan-jones","10":"tag-bobby-bradford","11":"tag-brinae-ali","12":"tag-clare-church","13":"tag-daniel-bruce","14":"tag-david-rivera","15":"tag-debbie-mcclain","16":"tag-ellen-seeling","17":"tag-gregory-davis","18":"tag-jazz-journalists-association","19":"tag-jerry-gordon","20":"tag-jja-jazz-heroes","21":"tag-joe-petrucelli","22":"tag-john-edward-hasse","23":"tag-john-foster","24":"tag-julian-plascencia","25":"tag-karla-harris","26":"tag-kenny-horst","27":"tag-khris-dodge","28":"tag-kim-tucker","29":"tag-mark-rapp","30":"tag-pamela-hart","31":"tag-pete-lewis","32":"tag-ralphe-armstrong","33":"tag-ruth-griggs","34":"tag-sheila-anderson","35":"tag-stephanie-matthews","36":"tag-wes-lowe","37":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Jazz-Heroes-rectangle-collage.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-OE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3074,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2023\/04\/36-jazz-heroes-in-32-us-cities-and-there-are-many-more.html","url_meta":{"origin":3140,"position":0},"title":"36 Jazz Heroes in 32 US cities – and there are many more","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jazz Journalists Association announces the 2023 Jazz Heroes -- \"activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz,\" formerly the A Team -- emphasizing as it has annually since 2001 that jazz is culture that comes from the ground up, by individuals crossing all demographic categories, working frequently with others\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\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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finalist nominees in 42 categories of excellence in jazz music, recording, presenting and journalism at a new website, www.JazzJournalists.org -- which also\u00a0 details who's playing at the Jazz Standard (NYC) cocktail barbeque where winners will be announced on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1341,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/04\/jazz-day-reasons-to-be-cheerful.html","url_meta":{"origin":3140,"position":2},"title":"Jazz Day reasons to be cheerful","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On the second International Jazz Day, let's celebrate -- 1) A glorious legacy of enduring music; 2) The\u00c2\u00a0dedication to the art form of musicians and their supporters now, worldwide; 3) The recognition by government officials and institutions of jazz as an entity that will not be silenced or co-opted; 4)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jazz Heroes, designated in 2013 by the Jazz Journalists Association and 25 local North American communities","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/2013JazzHeroeswHEADwnumbers.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":397,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/05\/celebrating_jazz_excellence_.html","url_meta":{"origin":3140,"position":3},"title":"Celebrating jazz excellence — Awards, honors and privileges","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"May 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The NEA zeroes out its Jazz Masters program, the Grammys cuts categories so pop best-sellers regain prominence vis a vis less obviously commercial stars, but the Jazz Journalists Association's 15th annual Jazz Awards -- to be held June 11, 2011 with an afternoon gala with all star music at City\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"maria schneider &.jpeg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/maria%20schneider%20%26.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3097,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2024\/04\/its-jazz-appreciation-month-hail-jazz-heroes.html","url_meta":{"origin":3140,"position":4},"title":"It’s Jazz Appreciation Month: Hail Jazz Heroes!","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Since 2001, the Jazz Journalists Association (over which I preside) has celebrated some 350 \u201cactivists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz,\u201d as Jazz Heroes. The class of 2024 Jazz Heroes has just been announced, recognizing the good works of 33 people whose efforts extend from the Baja-San Diego borderland\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\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/2023-heroes-collage-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1802,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/04\/doris-duke-performing-artists-and-jja-jazz-heroes-tale-of-two-honor-rolls.html","url_meta":{"origin":3140,"position":5},"title":"Doris Duke Performing Artists and JJA Jazz Heroes: Tale of two honor rolls","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Six musicians identified with jazz have been named 2015\u00c2\u00a0Doris Duke Performing Artists receiving $275,000 each, and 24 \"Jazz Heroes\"\u00c2\u00a0have been certified by the Jazz Journalists Association after nominations from local jazz communities across the U.S. Are comparisons between these two very different lists of honorees instructive? 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