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2010: The Year in Jazz
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: Five Peace Band Live (Concord), Chick Corea and John McLaughlin Five Peace Band ;
Best Contemporary Jazz Album: 75 (Heads Up), Joe Zawinul and The Zawinul Syndicate;
Best Jazz Vocal Album: Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman (Concord Jazz);
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Book One (World Village), New Orleans Jazz Orchestra;
Best Latin Jazz AlbumVocal or Instrumental: Juntos Para Siempre, (Sony Music/Calle 54) , Bebo Valdés and Chucho Valdés;
Best Improvised Jazz Solo: "Dancin' 4 Chicken," Terence Blanchard, track from Watts (Dark Key Music), Jeff "Tain" Watts;
Best Instrumental Arrangement: "West Side Story Medley," Resonance Big Band, Bill Cunliffe, arranger, track from Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute To Oscar Peterson (Resonance Records);
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): "Quiet Nights," Claus Ogerman, arranger, track from Diana Krall's Quiet Nights (Verve);
Best Pop Instrumental Album: Potato Hole (Anti) , Booker T. Jones;
Best Pop Instrumental Performance: "Throw Down Your Heart," Béla Fleck, track from Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3Africa Sessions (Rounder);
Best Contemporary World Music Album Vocal or Instrumental: Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3Africa Sessions (Rounder), Béla Fleck;
Best Album Notes: The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-1946), Dan Morgenstern, album notes writer Mosaic Records;
Best Historical Album: The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967) (Hip-O Select/Geffen Records), Andy McKaie, compilation producer; Erick Labson, mastering engineer;
Best Classical Crossover Album: Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs Of Joy And Peace (Sony Classical), Yo-Yo Ma wiith Odair Assad, Sergio Assad, Chris Botti, Dave Brubeck, Matt Brubeck, John Clayton, Paquito d'Rivera, Renée Fleming, Diana Krall, Alison Krauss, Natalie McMaster, Edgar Meyer, Cristina Pato, Joshua Redman, Jake Shimabukuro, Silk Road Ensemble, James Taylor, Chris Thile, Wu Tong, Alon Yavnai & Amelia Zirin-Brown.
Life-size, or Larger
Late pianist Oscar Peterson was honored with a life-size sculpture unveiled June 30 (Canada Day) outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa by Queen Elizabeth II. Peterson had played for the queen a few years before his death in 2007. In the sculpture, Peterson is seated on a bench by a grand piano with a concept that invites passersby to sit with the pianist and play a duet.
On February 21, which would have been Nina Simone's 77th birthday, an eight-foot-tall sculpture of the late artist/activist was dedicated in the town of her birth, Tryon, NC.
On October 2, the late guitarist Sonny Sharrock had a street named for him in his hometown of Ossining, NY. In a ceremony presided over by Ossining's mayor, South Malcolm Street was renamed "Sonny Sharrock Way."
On his what would have been his 93rd birthday, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was honored with a Google icon (called a "doodle") on October 21. A London newspaper, The Independent, celebrated the cause by selecting video clips of Dizzy with Louis Armstrong, Dizzy in The Muppet Show, Dizzy with the Terry Gibbs Orchestra and an audio-only clip from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival for its website.
A Louis Armstrong sculpture in Armstrong Park in New Orleans was damaged by a construction crew that cracked part of the Armstrong statue, stretching the bronze and separating Armstrong's left shoe from the statue's base. Sculptor, Elizabeth Catlett consulted with art restoration specialists about how the sculpture could be repaired.
Ups and Downs in the Business of Jazz
Sponsor shopping, again: George Wein's New Festival Productions ended the year looking for a new corporate sponsor for its Newport Jazz Festival and a companion jazz festival in New York. The health-care spinoff CareFusion shifted its focus away from event sponsorship after stepping in two years ago to rescue the Newport event and to revive the New York festival in 2010. Wein regained control of both events in 2009 after a group of young entrepreneurs bought his company and rapidly ran it into the ground.
England swings in one less venue: The London jazz club Pizza on the Park closed in late June after about 30 years as one of London's prime cabaret and jazz venues. The building's owners are turning the site into an ultra-posh boutique hotel. The final three acts in the basement club were American cabaret singers Andrea Marcovicci, Karen Akers and Steve Ross.







