2017: The Year in Jazz

A year of achievements, challenges to gender inequality, scandal and losses

The year 2017 was quite something for the jazz world. Incidents or discussions of misogyny and sexual misconduct bubbled up even before the #MeToo phenomenon developed. Beyond that, woman musicians made significant contributions to the genre. International Jazz Day brought its biggest stage to Havana, Cuba. Sonny Rollins made the headlines without playing a note. The New Orleans financial scandal focusing on trumpeter Irvin Mayfield reached the indictment phase. It was the 100th birthday year for ten deceased jazz notables. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA Jazz Masters and the jazz world said farewell to four others who were among the many industry-associated musicians and figures who passed away during the year.

Jazz and gender

In this second century for jazz, one would think there would be a level playing field for all musicians. But the subject of inequality is still there—and surfaced throughout the year in many guises. Misogyny and misconduct drew important new focuses amid reports of sexual misbehavior—and several women musicians went public with personal stories about repression and/or sexism that proclaimed it's time for a new day and more awareness.

Some of these happened well before the #MeToo phenomenon opened the floodgates.

Grammy-winning Portland, Oregon trumpeter and educator Thara Memory was indicted in February on 10 counts of sex abuse and harassment of two girls and two women, at least two of whom had been his students. The incidents allegedly occurred between 2013 and 2016. Memory died four months after his arrest at age 68. His health had been failing for several years. Bassist and educator Steve Kirby retired in June from the University of Manitoba jazz faculty after an internal investigation report found he repeatedly made inappropriate sexual comments and unwanted sexual contact with female students. He had taught in Winnipeg since 2003. After his quiet departure, Kirby joined the Berklee College of Music faculty, but was fired when Berklee administrators learned of the matter. At a three-hour town hall meeting in November after the Boston Globe published articles spotlighting several incidents, Berklee president Roger Brown revealed that 11 faculty members quietly had been dismissed over sexual misconduct allegations since 2004. He announced the administration would take steps to ensure Berklee is place that is safe and nurturing for every student. A faculty group called for increased female representation of faculty and students to 50 percent by 2025.

Robert Glasper fueled the sexism discussion in an interview published on fellow pianist Ethan Iverson's blog, "Do the Math" that was published in early March. Glasper talked about the jazz audience, saying women listeners are more interested in the groove than the solo (he used the term "musical clitoris"). It prompted scathing criticism on social media. Glasper and Iverson both apologized. In a Facebook posting that acknowledged his poor choice of words, Glasper said his intent had been to show that jazz is still too much of a "boy's club"—and that needs to change.

Drummer and vibraphonist Sasha Berliner, a student at New York's New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, guitarist Lily Maase and baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian wrote lengthy blog posts or other open accounts about their personal experiences as women musicians. In a 6,000-word blog response to the Glasper interview, Berliner talked about being overlooked or underestimated by teachers despite her talent, and said she had been sexually harassed by someone she relied on for gigs in her native San Francisco Bay Area. The year wasn't all about sexual harassment issues for women musicians. It was also a time for significant projects, groundbreaking innovation and saying farewell to one of their leading lights—pianist Geri Allen.

Bassist, singer and bandleader Esperanza Spalding broadcast live on Facebook for 77 hours non-stop in mid-September while writing, rehearsing and recording a new album called Exposure. The challenging project, as described by Giovanni Russonello in the New York Times, "became a display of dauntless prowess and grand ambition."

Critics took note of significant new or debut albums. They included avant-garde trumpeter Jaimie Branch's Fly or Die (International Anthem, 2017), drummer Kate Gentile's Mannequins (Skirl, 2017), pianist Simona Premazzi's Outspoken (Sself Produced, 2017) and pianist Marta Sanchez's Danza Impossible (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2017). Pianist Geri Allen, who had an outstanding career as a top-tier pianist and educator (University of Michigan, University of Pittsburgh), died June 27 from cancer just two weeks after her 60th birthday. Allen had been scheduled to appear in August at the Newport Jazz Festival with her collaborative all-star trio ACS with drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and bassist Spalding. Carrington and Spalding carried on with a "Flying Toward the Sound" program in Allen's honor at Newport, celebrating her music with a rotation of pianists: Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran and Christian Sands.

International Jazz Day, Take Six

Havana, Cuba was the Global Host City for 2017's International Jazz Day a worldwide event produced by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. The highlight, its Global Concert, took place April 30 at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso and was streamed worldwide. UNESCO goodwill ambassador Herbie Hancock and fellow pianist Chucho Valdes were the artist directors for this sixth annual event.

The international roster of performers included Ambrose Akinmusire, Melissa Aldana, Richard Bona, Till Bronner, Igor Butman, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling, Takuya Kuroda, Ivan Lins, Sixto Llorente, Youn Sun Nah,Gianluca Petrella, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Antonio Sanchez, Esperanza Spalding, Dhafer Youssef and others. To showcase its talent, Cuba required that the concert performers include one Cuban musician per one "global" artist. Musicians and educators from Cuba and around the world participated in free concerts, master classes, workshops and outreach throughout Havana in the week leading up to the concert. Thousands of International Jazz Day performances, educational activities and community service programs took place in more than 190 countries.

In a departure from past practice, UNESCO revised the selection process and also announced the International Jazz Day Global Host Cities for the next two years. They will be Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2018 and Sydney, Australia in 2019. Both cities were selected by an advisory committee through a new nominating process. In contrast to these early announcements, 2017's locale wasn't disclosed until three weeks before the Havana concert.

Jazzy Centennials

A significant number of jazz notables had their 100th birthdays noted posthumously—sometimes with great fanfare—during 2017. Those musicians included pianist Tadd Dameron, singer Ella Fitzgerald, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, singers Lena Horne and Dave Lambert, pianist Thelonious Monk, drummer Buddy Rich, bassist Curley Russell, percussionist Mongo Santamaria and singer Jo Stafford. Former Gillespie pianist Danilo Pérez assembled an all-star band to tour North America and Europe performing the music of four jazz icons born in 1917. The tour was called Jazz 100: The Music of Dizzy, Ella, Mongo and Monk. Thelonious Monk's hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, celebrated his centennial with several activities, even though his family moved to New York when he was 4.

Sonny Side Up

Sonny Rollins doesn't perform anymore due to health issues, but the 86-year-old tenor saxophone titan is still making his presence felt on jazz and society in a variety of ways. In May, New York's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture announced it had acquired Rollins' personal archive. It includes hundreds of recordings from rehearsals and practice sessions, hundreds of pages of musical notation, a Selmer saxophone that Rollins played as far back as the 1950s, scores of letters to and from his wife, Lucille, who managed his career starting in the 1970s, and a stream of philosophical notes. The center said it will eventually make the archive accessible to the public.

But there's more. In November, he designated a major gift to Oberlin College in Ohio to create the "Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble Fund" to support "exemplary conservatory musicians and service efforts." The college said Rollins was moved by Oberlin's place "as the first institution of higher learning to adopt a policy to admit students of color and the first to confer degrees to women, and by the contributions its alumni. They included alumni black violinist and composer Will Marion Cook, who graduated in 1888 and went on to become an important teacher and mentor to Duke Ellington." Rollins said he wanted to help cultivate promising jazz musicians within the framework of "inclusive excellence and social impact," he said. "Giving back to others teaches inner peace and inner spirituality. Everything is going to be open for them if they devote themselves in this way." Beginning in spring 2018, Oberlin jazz studies majors will be able to audition for "The Sonny Ensemble." Each candidate will be considered on four criteria: an audition, academic achievement, "thoughtful response to a question about the place of jazz in the world," and "service to humanity."

There were two Rollins-related initiatives in New York City. Brooklyn Councilman Stephen Levin introduced a bill calling to rename the Williamsburg Bridge after the saxophonist, who practiced on the span's pedestrian path during a two-year hiatus that began in 1959. Also, Essex Crossing, a billion-dollar new development on Manhattan's Lower East Side that decimated a walkup tenement at 400 Grand Street where Rollins once lived, announced it will honor him by naming a new 15-story tower in his honor. That new building at 145 Clinton Street will be called The Rollins.

Hanging up the mallets

Vibraphonist and educator Gary Burton surprised many in the jazz world in late February when he announced he was retiring for good—at age 74—after one final March tour with longtime collaborator Makoto Ozone. They set out for 13 concerts in eight cities over 17 days. Their piano-and vibes tour concluded in Burton's home state of Indiana—and The Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis. While Burton said he wouldn't perform in public or even practice in private after that—there was one exception. On October 19, he played one tune at a Berklee College of Music concert honoring composer Michael Gibbs a few weeks after his 80th birthday. Burton dedicated his only solo performance of Gibbs' "Sweet Rain" to "my school friend—we were in class together back in the day." Gibbs and guitarist Bill Frisell, who was one of Gibbs' students in the 1970s, were awarded honorary doctorates at the Boston event.

Awards and honors of note

NEA JAZZ MASTERS: Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, bassist Dave Holland, pianist and composer Dick Hyman, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Ira Gitler, a veteran jazz author, editor, producer and educator, were honored April 3 as 2017's class of National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters. Gitler received the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. Their recognition for lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz included $25,000 awards. The 2018 recipients will be honored April 16 at a tribute concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington. They are guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, pianist and composer JoAnne Brackeen, singer Dianne Reeves and the 2018 Spellman Award recipient, club owner and producer Todd Barkan.

GRAMMY AWARDS: Winners of jazz-related categories at the 2017 Grammy Awards, held February 12 in Los Angeles include multiple trophies to guitarist John Scofield and saxophonist-composer Ted Nash and singer-multi-instrumentalist-arranger-composer Jacob Collier. They were Snarky Puppy, Culcha Vulcha (GroundUP, 2016)—best contemporary instrumental album; John Scofield, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," track from Country for Old Men (Impulse!, 2016)—best improvised jazz solo; Gregory Porter, Take Me to the Alley (Blue Note, 2016)—best jazz vocal album: John Scofield, Country for Old Men (Impulse!, 201)6—best jazz instrumental album; Ted Nash Big Band, Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom (Motéma, 2016)—best large jazz ensemble album:

Also, Chucho Valdes, Tribute to Irakere: Live in Marciac (Jazz Village, 2016)—best Latin jazz album: Ted Nash, composer of "Spoken at Midnight" from Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom (Motéma, 2016)—best instrumental composition; Jacob Collier, arranger "You and I," track from: In My Room (Membran, 2016)—best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella; Jacob Collier, arranger "Flintstones," track from: In My Room (Membran, 2016)—best arrangement, instruments and vocals. Miles Davis & Various Artists, Miles Ahead (Columbia/Legacy, 2016)—best compilation soundtrack album for visual media. David Bowie's Blackstar (ISO, RCA, Columbia, and Sony, 2016), featuring the Donny McCaslin quartet, won Grammys for best recording package and best engineered album, non-classical.

LATIN GRAMMY AWARDS: There were several Latin jazz-related winners at the 18th annual Latin Grammy Awards held November 16 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. They were Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado}& Orquesta, Salsa Big Band (Rubén Blades Producciones, 2017)—album of the year; Michel Camilo & Tomatito, Spain Forever (Verve, 2016)—best instrumental album; Eliane Elias, Dance of Time (Concord Jazz, 2017)—best Latin jazz/jazz album; Jon Secada featuring The Charlie Sepulveda Big Band, To Beny Moré With Love (BMG, 2017)—best traditional tropical album.

SASSY AWARDS: Quiana Lynell took top honors November 12 at the 2017Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. Lynell received $5,000 and a recording contract offer from the Concord Music Group. The other finalists were second-place finisher Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield, third-place finisher Christine Fawson, Tiffany Austin and Fabio Giacalone. This sixth annual competition drew more than 600 entrants from around the world. The event is part of the TD James Moody Jazz Festival.

2016 NPR MUSIC JAZZ CRITICS POLL: Pianist-composer Vijay Iyer's Far From Over (ECM, 2017) was voted 2017t's best new recording in the fifth annual NPR Jazz Critics Poll,. Steve Coleman's Morphogenesis (Pi, 2016) finished second and Tyshawn Sorey's Verisimilitude (Pi, 2017) finished third in the balloting. Thelonious Monk's music for the 1960 French film Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Sam/Saga, 2017) finished first in the Rara Avis category for reissues and vault discoveries. Monk's music for the movie was unused by director Roger Vadim and released for the first time in 2017. The Francis Davis compiled this annual poll from Top 10 lists submitted by 137 jazz writers.

JJA AWARDS: Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and reed player Anat Cohen were multiple-award winners in the Jazz Journalists Association's 2017 Jazz Awards. Smith was honored as musician of the year and collected duo of the year honors with pianist Vijay Iyer. Cohen was named clarinetist of the year and multi-reeds player of the year for the third consecutive year. Pianist McCoy Tyner won the lifetime achievement in jazz category, while pianist Joey Alexander was named up-and-c0ming artist of the year. Trumpeter Brian Lynch's Madera Latino—A Latin Jazz Perspective on the Music of Woody Shaw (Hollistic MusicWorks, 2016) was record of the year in JJA member balloting

The 2017 JJA Jazz Awards in journalism and media categories included: Ted Gioia (lifetime achievement in jazz journalism), DownBeat magazine (jazz periodical of the year), Ethan Iverson (jazz blog of the year) for "Do The Math" and Krin Gabbard (jazz book of the year) for "Better Git It In Your Soul: An Interpretive Biography of Charles Mingus" (University of California Press, 2016) . Manolo Nebot Rochera (jazz photo of the year) was honored for his July 2016 image of singer Cecile McLorin Salvant at Festival Internacional Jazz Peniscola in Castellon Spain, July 2016. Ashley Kahn was honored with JJA's Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing in 2016, Mark Ruffin received the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Broadcasting in the Year 2016 and Frank Stewart received the Lona Foote-Bob Parent Award for Photography in the Year 2016.

MACARTHUR FELLOWS: The MacArthur Foundation's 24 new MacArthur Fellows for 2017 included jazz musician and composer Tyshawn Sorey. The so-called "genius grant" includes a $625,000, no-strings-attached award. Sorey for "assimilating and transforming ideas from a broad spectrum of traditional and experimental idioms into musical creations that celebrate alternative musical modeling within the improvisation-composition continuum." Roots singer-musician—composer Rhiannon Giddens was honored for "enriching our understanding of American music by reclaiming African American contributions to folk and country genres and revealing affinities between a range of musical traditions, from gospel and Celtic to jazz and R&B."

ASCAP: Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater received the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award on December 14. The award honors ASCAP members for their charitable and humanitarian efforts. As a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Bridgewater is part of an appeal for international solidarity to finance global grassroots projects in the fight against world hunger.

POLAR MUSIC PRIZE: Pop musician Sting and saxophonist Wayne Shorter were 2017's recipients of Sweden's Polar Music Prize, which includes a cash prize of one million Swedish krona (about $113,000). They were honored as composers and virtuoso musicians. The Polar prize committee noted, "Without the musical explorations of Wayne Shorter, modern music would not have drilled so deep."

BMI JAZZ COMPOSERS WORKSHOP: Remy Le Boeuf was awarded the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition prize for "Sibbian," selected out of nine big-band and large-ensemble works performed during BMI's annual Summer Showcase concert in New York. The June 6 award included a $3,000 commission for LeBoeuf to write a new work that will premiere at the 2018 concert. The Jazz Composers Workshop focuses on fostering the musical growth of new and emerging composers and extending the language of composition for jazz orchestras.

BNY MELLON JAZZ LIVING LEGACY AWARD: Saxophonist Odean Pope received the BNY Mellon Jazz 2017 Living Legacy Award in October. The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation created the award in 1994 to honor jazz masters from the mid-Atlantic region who have achieved distinction in jazz performance and education.

EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR: Pianist and educator Rob Klevan, who has taught music in California's Monterey Peninsula since the late 1970s, was honored in January with the 2017 John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award by the Berklee College of Music and the Jazz Education Network. Klevan is on the faculty of the York School and leads the Pacific Grove High School jazz club, which includes student musicians from area schools and even homeschooled students.

Industry initiatives...

WBGO-NPR: Newark, New Jersey's public radio station WBGO, the second-highest-rated jazz station in the U.S., revamped and expanded its jazz presence beyond the radio waves in significant ways. It revamped its website and social media presence to become an online source for jazz and to become National Public Radio's primary provider of jazz content. The station hired jazz critic Nate Chinen to direct its editorial content, work on its "Jazz Night in America" program and join the NPR music commentators team.

QWEST TV: In mid-December, producer Quincy Jones launched Qwest TV, a new video platform featuring a curated library of high-quality video content from across the jazz world. Its online library includes of concert videos and feature documentaries, most of them unavailable on YouTube or any other streaming site. The initial 50 featured videos include documentaries on singer Al Jarreau and pianist Michel Petrucciani, concert films featuring the pianist Jason Moran, the fusion band Kneebody and Malian singer Oumou Sangaré, as well as "The Sound of New York," a 10-part series that features half-hour portraits of musicians including Damion Reid, Mark Turner and Bilal. Qwest TV works like Netflix. Subscribers pay a small monthly fee for access to its full library.

JAZZ CONNECT HANDS OFF TO JAZZ CONGRESS: The New York City-based industry conference, held in January for the past six years, has evolved into Jazz Congress, which begins in 2018 in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Jazz Connect began in 2012 as a pre-conference leading into the big APAP performing arts presenters conference and NYC Winter Jazzfest. It became a standalone event held at St. Peter's Church in midtown Manhattan from 2015 to 2017. JazzTimes was co-producer of Jazz Connect and has the same role at Jazz Congress. The magazine has been producing multi-day industry forums that bring together artists, media and industry leaders in the global jazz community to exchange ideas and network since 1979.

JAZZ ACROSS BORDERS: In a vein similar to the New York jazz confabs, the first Jazz Across Borders conference was held in Saint Petersburg in mid-November. Saxophonist-composer-bandleader Igor Butman was the event's driving force with conference support from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Panel discussions, round tables, workshops, and meetings of jazz industry representatives preceded showcase performances by some of Russia's leading and emerging jazz artists and a culminating gala concert by Russian musicians and a collaboration between singer Kurt Elling and the Moscow Chamber Jazz Ensemble. Jazz Across Borders was held in conjunction with sixth annual St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

GUARANTEED FAIR WAGE FUND: The San Francisco Bay-area nonprofit Jazz in the Neighborhood took major steps and held a fundraiser in 2017 to bolster its program to ensure the Bay Area to ensure freelance musicians are paid a minimum of $150 per performance. Its Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund subsidizes concerts in venues that are unable to raise that kind of fee. Trumpeter Marco Guarneri created the nonprofit six years ago. Jazz in the Neighborhood has presented nearly 200 concerts in Bay Area venues, paying $140,000 to more than 300 musicians. In 2017, it received a $3,000 grant from the SF Friends of Chamber Music to fund a February 2018 concert showcasing three young professionals from the nonprofit's Emerging Artists programs.

On the Record

CONCORD ACQUIRES SAVOY LABEL GROUP: The year brought two more acquisitions for Concord Music Group, which is no longer the independent boutique label that auto dealer Carl Jefferson founded in 1973 as Concord Jazz. It bought Savoy Label Group in September, acquiring more than 3,000 master recordings by Savoy Records and Savoy's 429 Records adult rock and alternative music label. It bought the Imagem Music Group for more than $500 million in June, helping make Concord the world's fifth-largest integrated music company.

MAINSTREAM RECORDS: Mainstream Records, an independent label active in the 1960s and '70s, was revived in October by producer-writer-director and standup comic Judd Apatow, He is the grandson of Bob Shad, a pioneering 1940s jazz producer who founded Mainstream in 1964.Before starting Mainstream, Shadd worked with the Manor, National and Mercury labels and founded the Mercury-owned EmArcy label.

BLUE NOTE SERIES: Luxury Boxes usually are found ball parks and football stadiums. Now they exist in jazz, thanks to Blue Note. In November, the label introduced the first volume of The Blue Note Review, which it calls a limited edition luxury box set. Each biannual volume will include a collection of new music from the label's current artists, as well as an archival recording from Blue Note's vaults." The 1,500-copy collectible sets are only available through online ordering. The label said the music will not be sold separately or available via download or streaming sites.

Volume One: "Peace, Love & Fishing contain a two-LP vinyl double-album and a two CD set of new and previously unreleased recordings by current label artists including the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Charles Lloyd & the Marvels, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Gregory Porter, Kandace Springs, Terence Blanchard, Derrick Hodge and the Blue Note All-Stars featuring Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper, Hodge, Lionel Loueke, Kendrick Scott and Marcus Strickland. There's also a vinyl reissue of the previously out-of-print rare classic album Step Lightly by trumpeter Blue Mitchell, recorded in 1963 with Joe Henderson, Leo Wright, Herbie Hancock, Gene Taylor and Roy Brooks. The $200 boxed-set also includes two previously unreleased photographs by Blue Note co-founder Francis Wolff, a designer scarf and a "Jazz Is Not a Crime" turntable mat conceived by Ryan Adams.

STREAMING ECM: Manfred Eicher's German jazz label ECM made its entire catalog available to subscribers of music-streaming services including Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and Qobuz. The mid-November transition was made possible through a new digital distribution agreement with Universal Music, the company that distributes ECM recordings in the United States. It means ECM is no longer an industry holdout against digital distribution. "In recent years, ECM and the musicians have had to face unauthorized streaming of recordings via video-sharing websites, plus piracy, bootlegs and a proliferation of illegal download sites. It was important to make the catalogue accessible within a framework where copyrights are respected," the label said.

Jazz venue ups and downs

BLUE NOTE EXPANDS TO SOUTH AMERICA: Blue Note Entertainment Group opened its eighth Blue Note Jazz Club in August. The new location in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, joined a worldwide network that includes the flagship club in New York City, as well as clubs in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan; Milan, Italy; Waikiki, Hawaii; Beijing, China; and Napa, California. The 350-seat venue in Rio's Lagoa section is a partnership with L21 Participacões, a prominent Brazilian-based entertainment holding company led by entrepreneur Luiz Calainho.

THE JAZZ FORUM: Trumpeter and producer Mark Morganelli moved his Jazz Forum into new, permanent quarters in Tarrytown, New York in June. The grand opening weekend for Westchester County's premier jazz club featured trumpeter Roy Hargrove's quintet and the launch of a Brazilian Music Sundays program with singer Monika Oliveira's band, The Brazilians.

THE STONE: New York's experimental music club founded in 2005 by saxophonist John Zorn disclosed that it will move into the New School's Glass Box Theater in March 2018 after having to close its previous Lower East Side location. Rather than weekly residencies by a single performer, artists will program a month of concerts at a time featuring a variety of musicians.

SCULLERS/CABOT: Fred Taylor, a legendary club owner and concert producer on the Boston jazz scene since the 1950s, was fired as entertainment director at Scullers Jazz Club in February. The move by management at the DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel angered many in the Boston jazz community. Jan Mullen, who ran The SideDoor, a jazz club in Old Lyme, Connecticut, was hired to book and manage Scullers. Taylor quickly started a new jazz concert series at the Cabot Theater in suburban Beverly, Massachusetts.

SACRAMENTO MUSIC FESTIVAL: The Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society pulled the plug in December on its 44-year-old trad jazz weekend, previously known as the Old Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee. It was done in by budget deficits and dwindling attendance. The festival had been held in Old Sacramento each Memorial Day weekend since 1974. Attendance peaked at 85,000 in the mid-1980s but dwindled to about 20,000 in the last few years.

AMERICAN JAZZ MUSEUM: The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council has authorized the city manager to take a closer look at the assets and management of the finance-challenged American Jazz Museum. The council is also approved a $250,000 boost for the museum, just to meet payroll. The museum faces an estimated $1 million shortfall due to overspending and losses in its inaugural Kansas City Jazz and Heritage Festival last Memorial Day weekend, which resulted in bounced checks to some performers and delayed payments to vendors. The museum also manages the Blue Room, Gem Theater and the 18th and Vine Visitors Center. One councilman has recommended a takeover of the facility's management by the city's Parks Department.

OSCAR PETERSON FESTIVAL: The Canadian pianist's widow, Kelly Peterson, and Bravo Niagara! Artistic Director Christine Mori announced in July that the first Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival will take place February 16-18, 2018 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Four-time JUNO winning pianist and composer Renee Rosnes is the new festival's artistic director. The 2018 headliners include singer Cecile McLorin Salvant, trumpeter Jon Faddis, bassist Christian McBride, and pianists Bill Charlap, Benny Green and Rosnes. The first festival will be dedicated to jazz impresario Norman Granz, a close friend of pianist Peterson who created the celebrated Jazz at the Philharmonic concert tours.

MARSHALL UNIVERSITY: The Huntington, West Virginia, institution announced that its College of Arts and Media and jazz studies program will host the annual Ellis Marsalis Summer Jazz Festival and triennial Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition beginning in the summer of 2018. The inaugural series will be preceded by the 20th anniversary edition of Marshall's Jazz-MU-Tazz summer jazz camp for high school students.

KOSHER JAZZ CLUB: An abandoned Hasidic synagogue in Oradea, Romania, is now home to the Kosher Jazz Club and independent theater. Owner Andris Sella rents the property from Oradea's 400-member Jewish community. His club offers wine, coffee and live jazz.

SUNSET CAFÉ/GRAND TERRACE CAFE: The January closing of Meyer's Ace Hardware on Chicago's south side, started another chapter in the history of one of the Windy City's most important jazz locations. Before it became a hardware store in 1960, the E. 35th Street building was home to the Sunset Cafe, later known as the Grand Terrace Cafe. Louis Armstrong's manager Joe Glaser owned the integrated club. The Grand Terrace featured national broadcasts of club dates featuring pianist Earl Hines and his orchestra. The Meyers family preserved the art deco jazz murals that decorated the club. John Ahn, whose Langlee Properties bought the property, said he plans to continue using the landmark space for retail—and was looking into preserving and restoring the murals.

On the legal front...

THE MAYFIELD SAGA, YEAR THREE: Grammy-winning trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and his childhood friend and longtime business partner, pianist Ronald Markham, were indicted December 14 by a federal grand jury in New Orleans. The criminal charges allege they used their positions running the city's public library foundation to funnel money to the Mayfield-founded New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and, in some cases, to support the trumpeter's lavish lifestyle. The 19 federal counts against the pair include one count of conspiracy, four counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, 11 counts of money laundering and one count of obstruction of justice. Their arrangement was scheduled for January 4.

The indictment alleges that Mayfield and Markham began a conspiracy in August 2011 by transmitting money from the New Orleans Public Library Foundation to accounts they controlled at the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, including to help pay their salaries, Mayfield's production company and travel expenses, including swanky hotel stays in New York. Tens of thousands more dollars allegedly were used for NOJO's operating expenses, depleting the library foundation's limited funds for supporting the Crescent City's public libraries. The orchestra had been losing money.

Mayfield rose to prominence on the local music scene in the late 1990s, was appointed as the city's cultural ambassador and chairman of the public library board by former Mayor Ray Nagin. He took over as president of the library's nonprofit support foundation in 2008. By 2012, Mayfield had convinced the five-member board to expand the nonprofit's mission to provide more general community support and to give himself "sole and uncontrolled discretion" over its finances. From 2011 to 2014, the library foundation tapped into donations meant for the city's libraries and gave NOJO more than $1.1 million in grants to help it build a new $10 million community center, music venue and bar called the New Orleans Jazz Market. Since the controversy surfaced in 2015, the trumpeter was booted off the library foundation, resigned as artistic director of his orchestra—and lost his faculty post at the University of New Orleans.

In October 2017, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra resumed performances after a one-year hiatus, with a new administration. Drummer Adonis Rose was named artistic director and Sarah Bell was named NOJO president and CEO. Pianist Ellis Marsalis joined the organization's artistic development committee. In August, local health insurer Peoples Health severed ties with the organization, ending its multi-year Jazz Market naming-rights agreement.

MONK'S SON SUES BREWERY: Drummer T.S. Monk, son of the late Thelonious Monk, sued a northern California brewery in August to stop it from exploiting his father's memory to sell a Trappist-style beer and related merchandise. Monk claimed had verbally granted North Coast Brewing Co permission to use his father's name, image and likeness for the sale of Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale, in exchange for donating some profits to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Monk said he revoked that permission in January 2016 after learning that North Coast was selling at least 17 other items referencing his father, including cups, hoodies, mouse pads, soap, T-shirts and tap handles. Monk said he insisted that North Coast enter a merchandising agreement and pay royalties to his father's estate, but that the Fort Bragg, California-based brewery has changed nothing. "The harm caused to the Monk Estate has been irreparable," the complaint said. Monk is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for North Coast's alleged trademark infringement, unjust enrichment and violation of California's right of publicity. The complaint was filed in San Francisco federal court.

COPYRIGHT CASE: A federal judge ruled on May 31 that hip-hop artist Drake did not violate copyright law when he sampled a spoken word track from Jimmy Smith's 1982 recording Off the Top. Smith's estate file suit in 2014, alleging Drake violated its copyright to "Jimmy Smith Rap" from Smith's 1982 album "Off the Top." U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley in New York dismissed the suit, saying the sampling was entitled to protection as "fair use." In the original recording, Smith said "Jazz is the only real music that's gonna last." On the Drake recording, Smith's reference to jazz was deleted, and his words were edited to say "Only real music is gonna last." Pauley found that this change was sufficiently transformative to grant protection as "fair use."

CABARET LAW IS HISTORY: New York City's archaic Cabaret Law is gone after 91 years on the books. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation repealing the Prohibition Era law on November 27. The law banned dancing in establishments without a special license. The law was put in place in 1926. Councilman Rafael Espnial proposed the repeal, arguing the law had been was used to target black jazz clubs and discriminate against minority groups ever since.

BUS ACCIDENT: Bassist Marcus Miller sued a German bus company for causing an accident during a 2012 European tour that left him with spinal compression and forced cancellation of eight concerts stretching from The Netherlands to St. Petersburg, Russia. The accident happened on a busy highway in Switzerland. The converted tour bus hit a wall along a curve and overturned, killing the driver. Thirteen musicians, a manager and a reserve bus driver were aboard when the accident occurred,

In the crime log...

MURDER CHARGES: A 22-year-old jazz drummer from Maine who graduated from Ohio's prestigious Oberlin Conservatory in June faces murder charges for the slaying of four people in Groton, Massachusetts on September 8. Police accused Orion Krause of killing his mother, his grandparents and their caretaker with a baseball bat. After a 40-day evaluation, a judge ruled Krause competent to stand trial, but said he will remain at Bridgewater State Hospital pending trial, A neighbor said Krause showed up naked and muddy at his home in Groton, a town about 40 miles northwest of Boston, and said he "just murdered four people."

VIOLIN THEFT: Miami police said a thief used a crowbar to smash into musician Nicole Yarling's car on June 10, stealing her violin and other belongings while she was grocery shopping. Four days later, police arrested Matthew Fein, 51, on burglary and grand theft charges. Police said a witness saw Fein burglarizing the car and took several photographs as he stole the violin and several other items. Police said Fein pawned Yarling's belongings, which were retrieved and returned to her.

Oliver Jones retires—again

In September, Montreal-based pianist Oliver Jones was pretty firm that he is retiring for good. But you never know., a few days before a September tribute near the Little Burgundy neighborhood where he grew up, the 83-year-old said his playing days are over. Then again, Jones has been saying that off-and-on for nearly 20 years, but kept returning to the concert stage. Only time will tell if he sticks to retirement this time.

Hurricane Maria relief

The jazz community responded with several benefit concerts in October and November after Hurricane Maria wreaked devastation on Puerto Rico in its march through the Caribbean a month earlier. Puerto Rican alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon brought together a variety of band mates and other musicians for concerts at Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, California an October 8 and at The Jazz Gallery in New York on November 1.They benefited the Puerto Rico Real Time Recovery Fund and the Hurricane Maria Community Relief & Recovery Fund. On October 23, percussionist and bandleader Bobby Sanabria led an all-star Latin jazz concert at Le Poisson Rouge in New York to benefit musicians in Puerto Rico through the Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians Emergency Fund.

The Bad Plus changes

The modern jazz trio The Bad Plus made a major lineup change after its New Year's Eve appearance at the Village Vanguard. The band announced last April on its Facebook page that pianist Ethan Iverson would leave the group. Orrin Evans has joined founding members Reid Anderson on bass and Dave King on drums. "This is not an act of replacement; no tryouts were held. We've known and respected Orrin as a musician and as a person for longer than The Bad Plus has existed. His heart and his talents are simply a perfect match to continue our trajectory," the band's announcement said.

Tower of Power tragedy

Bassist Marc Van Wageningen and drummer David Garibaldi were struck by an Amtrak train on January 12 while walking to a Tower of Power performance at Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland, California. Both men were hospitalized, van Wageningen with critical injuries. Garibaldi has returned to the band full time. Van Wageningen continues his recovery from the accident and resumed playing on October 25—at Yoshi's. He has subbed in the band for 15 years. Bay Area musicians organized benefit concerts and a fund-raising recording to help with the bassist's substantial medical expenses.

New Trane mural in Philly

While a 12-year-old mural of John Coltrane near his North Philadelphia house was destroyed in 2014 to make way for real estate development, a new mural was created a few blocks away. RTI's Susan Lewis reports on a new mural now rising just blocks away, Artist Ernel Martinez created the new Coltrane mural at 29th and Diamond streets. While the original showed a contemplative Coltrane in front of dreamy blue images of his house and music making, the Martinez mural used bold colors to depict a confident Coltrane with his shining sax, his figure looming large in the warm light of a setting sun. The artist said je wanted "to reflect his humanity, more than anything else: his eyes, the love of this music and his instrument."

Honoring Nina Simone's legacy

A group of four prominent New York black artists acquired singer-pianist Nina Simone's Tryon, North Carolina childhood home in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The group said it will use the three-room property to "honor the legacy" of Simone. "My feeling when I learned that this house existed was just an incredible urgency to make sure it didn't go away," sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson told The New York Times. Johnson, conceptualist Adam Pendleton, filmmaker Ellen Gallagher and abstract painter Julie Mehretucy said they bought the property as "an act of art but also of politics."

Honoring thy father

Sam Brecker, the 24-year-old son of late saxophonist Michael Brecker, hosted a bone marrow drive in his father's memory on September 23, to raise awareness of the need for people to be screened as possible bone marrow donors. Michael Brecker was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. Despite a well-publicized worldwide search, a suitable marrow donor was not found. He underwent an experimental partial stem cell transplant, but died in 2007. His son is a three-year veteran of the Hastings-on-Hudson, New York police department and also serves as a volunteer fireman.

Django biopic

The Berlin Film Festival opened February 9 with the screening of the French film Django, a biopic about the Belgian-French jazz legend Django Reinhardt. This feature debut project by French director Etienne Comar focuses on the gypsy guitarist's flight from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1943. The music for the film is provided by the Dutch jazz group Trio Rosenberg.

Peabody Institute resignation

Saxophonist Gary Thomas resigned in September from the jazz program he helped establish at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore in 2001. Some of his colleagues alleged he left because the work of the jazz department and its teachers didn't receive the respect and support it deserved from other faculty.

2017 Final Bars

The jazz world lost many musicians and industry-related people during 2017, including four of its NEA Jazz Masters: Muhal Richard Abrams, George Avakian, Jon Hendricks and Nat Hentoff. The year also included the October 24 passing of saxophonist Fred Staton. At age 102, he had been touted as the world's oldest jazz musician. He was a member of the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band and the older brother of late singer Dakota Staton. Here's a comprehensive compilation:

Accordionist Peggy Lawrence; accordionists and singers Dick Contino, Régis Gizavo; accordionist, singer and painter Karl Hodina.

Arranger and cellist Paul Buckmaster.

Banjo player, guitarist and actor Andreas von der Meden; banjo player and educator Charlie Tagawa.

Bassists Ernie Acquisto, Bob Christopher, Edwin Coleman, Bob Cunningham, Holger Czukay, Margaret Harmon, Mingo Jones, Tim Luntzel, Dave Moore, Nicolai Munch-Hansen, Don Payne, Rino Zurzolo; bassist and bandleader Jan Arnet; bassist, composer and broadcaster Ray Villadonga; bassist and ukelelist Lyle Ritz; bassist, singer, arts patron and philanthropist Ted Cutler; bassist and educator John Shifflett; bassist and recording engineer Spencer Starnes; bassist and broadcaster Jackie Flavelle; bass guitarist Robert "Pops" Popwell.

Bassoonist Alaeddin Adlernest.

Cellist Daniel Pezzotti.

Clarinetists Claus Jürgen Möller, Karl "Charly" Petri, Siggi Seyffer, Dennis Smylie; clarinetist and keyboardist Patrick "Petz" Hartert; clarinetist and saxophonist Jean Tordo; clarinetist, singer and educator Paul Nossiter; clarinetist, educator and musical instrument company executive Mike Bennett.

Composer, arranger, accordionist and music executive Dominic Frontiere; composer, pianist, producer and singer Leon Ware; composer, pianist and educator Vuk Kulenovic; composer and guitarist Daniel Licht.

Conductor Maurice Peress; conductor, composer, arranger and producer Buddy Bregman; conductor, arranger and bassist William Brohn.

Drummers Rolf Bänninger, Benny Barth, John Blackwell Jr., Roger Blàvia, John Boudreaux, "Mad" Harold Cardwell, Bill Dowdy, Bob Herrman, Rudy Lawless, Jaki Liebezeit, Lou Marino, Pierino Munari, Sunny Murray, Skip Prokop, Ben Riley, Mickey Roker, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Benny Soans, Ted Sommer, Corneliu Stroe, Clyde Stubblefield; drummer and bandleader Frank Capp; drummer and composer Zabba Lindner; drummer, composer and singer Wilson das Neves; drummers and educators Heinz von Moisy, Kim Plainfield; drummer and singers Arnold "Spider" Rondinelli, Grady Tate; drummer, singer and producer Bill Carney; drummer and timbalero Ramón "Monchito" Muñoz; drummer, producer, composer and arranger David Axelrod; drummer, editor and writer Tony Augarde; drummer, painter, printmaker and sculptor A.R. Penck (Ralf Winkler); drummer, bandleader and cultural advocate Jürgen Thormann; drummer and promoter Soares Katumbela; drummer and actor Janne "Loffe" Carlsson; drummer, broadcaster, engineer, producer and (Kneptune) record label owner Kenny Harris.

Educator and pianist Daisy Peterson Sweeney (Oscar Peterson's sister)\.

Flutists Brian Delma Taylor, Dave Valentin; flutist, composer and educator Matt Marvuglio.

Guitarists John Abercrombie, Paul Abler, Tommy Allsup, Larry Coryell, Eddie Diehl, Stephan Diez, Willy Donni, Errol Dyers, Jay Geils, Col. Bruce Hampton, Allan Holdsworth, Halvard Kausland, Chuck Loeb, Mundell Lowe, Gustl Lütjens, Andy Manndorf, Tsunehide Matsuki, Skeets McWilliams, Fausto Mesolella, Phil Miller, Vincent Nguini, Bern Nix, Joel Perry, Léo Petit, Leon Rhodes, Bobby Trook, Samuel Tshiyembe; guitarist, banjo player and broadcaster Tony Davis; guitarist and bassist Ray Chamberlain; guitarist, bassist, producer and Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker; guitarists and composers Paul Abler, Irio De Paula; guitarists and educators Bill Horvitz, Alan Joseph, Thomas Phleps; guitarist, educator and writer Ian Cruickshank; guitarist, arranger and producer Cheikh Tidiane Tall; guitarist and singer Chuck Berry; guitarist and artistic director of Senegal's Saint Louis Jazz Festival Khabane Thiam; guitarist, conductor, composer and arranger Frank Como.

Keyboardists and singers Delmar Brown, Junie Morrison; keyboard player and record producer Toby Smith.

Multi-instrumentalists Rick Centalonza, Kèmo Kouyaté, Mattathias Pearson; multi-instrumentalist, composer and bandleader Kelan Phil Cohran; multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, AACM co-founder and NEA Jazz Master Muhal Richard Abrams; multi-instrumentalist and composer Harry Shírman.

Organists Melvin Carter Sr., Seleno Clarke, Sarah McLawler; organist and composer Marián Varga; organist, pianist and vibes player Mike Carr.

Percussionist Bessemer "Bess" Taylor; percussionist and bandleader Anselmo Vidal; percussionist and educator Bobby Matos; percussionist and percussion instrument manufacturer Cali Rivera; percussionist and producer Laudir de Oliveira; percussionist and industrial instrument pioneer Z'ev (Stefan Joel Weisser).

Pianists Riza Arshad, Bill Barnacle, Gottfried Böttger, Clarence Bell, Don Coates, John Critchinson, Leo Cuypers, Armand De Genova, Nick DeNucci, Danny Holgate, Karan Joseph, Fumio Karashima, Brian Klarman, Lucho Macedo, Paul Mastriani, Tom McClung, Misha Mengelberg, Clem Moorman, Horace Parlan, Willie Pickens, Keith Stackhouse, Jeter Thompson, Dolph Traymon, Avo Uvezian, Vladimir Vittikh, Billy Wallace, Andy Whittington, John Wright; pianists and arrangers Erich Becht, Czeslaw Gawlik; pianist, bandleader, composer and educator Barry Levitt; pianists, bandleaders and composers Theo Bophela, Billy Dennison; pianist and bandleader Jimmy Dale; pianist, bassist and composer Oscar Alem; pianist and club co-founder Al Neil (Vancouver's Cellar Jazz Club); pianists and composers Egil Kapstad, Roberta Mandel, Maurice Vander; pianist, composer and arranger John Coates Jr.; pianists and educators Geri Allen, Bill Bell, Jim Pickley, Bill Seymour, Charles Winslow; pianist and film composer Luis Bacalov; pianist, radio producer and writer Michael Naura; pianists and singers Fats Domino, Gerry Gottschalk; pianist and poet Roy Fisher; pianist, conductor and musical director Vinnie Falcone; pianist, singer and educator Otis Hayes; pianist and educator Bill St Laurent; pianist, composer, club co-owner (The Ellington Jazz Club in Perth, Australia), educator and festival founder (Perth International Jazz Festival) Graham Wood; pianist and writer Mike Hennessey; pianist, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Jeannot Rabeson; pianist and piano tuner John Butler.

Poet and jazz poetry cafe organizer (Richmond VA's Tuesday Verses) Lorna Pinckney.

Saxophonists George Allgaier, Jean Aussanaire, Walter Badenschneider, Yves Belin, Arthur Blythe, Hugh Brodie, Bill Carmichael, Joe Cipriano, Wilfried "Rimsky" Eichhorn, Jürgen Engesser, Alexander Evans, Paul Gaglio, Lou Gare, René Gervat, Gijs Hendriks, Buck Hill, Pentti Ilmonen, Sid Jekowsky, Eddie Katindig (Eddie K), Klaus Marmulla, Milivoje Mića Marković, Bernie Mcentegart, Dick Meldonian, Syd Morris, John Murtaugh, Eddie Pazant, Stan Robinson, Sol Schlinger, Larry Slezak, Fred Staton, Joe Thomas, Ger van Voorden (Ger Sax), Ralph "Hassan" Williams; saxophonists and bandleaders Mel Martin, Larry Elgart; saxophonist, bandleader and producer Dave Pell; saxophonist, bandleader and singer Bob Poloncarz; saxophonist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney; saxophonist, broadcaster, educator and writer Bob Rigter; saxophonists and educators John Alexander, Tim Bell, Dick Culver, Mario Escalera, Andy McGhee, Skipp Pearson; saxophonist and musicologist Ekkehard Jost; saxophonist, producer and writer Christian Bonnet;.

Singers Richard Adam, Juli Fábián, Joy Fleming, Donna Fuller, Lucky Gordon, Peggy Hayama, Al Jarreau, Christine Jones, Thandi Klaasen, Myra Love, Jacky Micaelli, Debby Moore (Debbie McDade), Memo Morales, Chris Murrell, Peter Nthwane, Carole Renee, Lynn Roberts, Sandi Russell, Abel Sithole, Keely Smith, Bea Wain, Ruth Williams, Thomas Zawaira aka Bla Thomas; singer, songwriter, bandleader, educator and NEA Jazz Master Jon Hendricks; singers and actors Barbara Cook, Della Reese, Helen Southern; singers and educators Mili Bermejo, Kevin Mahogany; singer, guitarist, composer and arranger Boulo Valcourt; singer and guitarist Ray Phiri; singers and pianists Barbara Carroll, Buddy Greco, Janet Seidel; singer, keyboardist and producer William Onyeabor; singer and dancer Martha Arras (Martha Rich); singer and percussionist Frank Holder; singer and trombonist Boris Lindqvist (Rock Boris); singer and broadcaster Dick Noel; singer, broadcaster and comedian Saucy Sylvia (Sylvia Mureddu); singer, songwriter and producer Bernard Ighner; singer, songwriter and actor Luiz Melodia; singer, songwriter, pianist and producer Robbie Malinga.

Trombonists Wendell Eugene, Mike Grey, Pat Ireland, George Kidd, John Messner, John Thorp, Roger Williams; trombonists and bandleaders Morris Ellis, Bill Tole; trombonist and clarinetist Adolf Georg Klapproth; trombonist and composer Charles Small; trombonists and educators George Broussard, Roswell Rudd, Jeff Tower.

Tres player Papi Oviedo.

Trumpeters Günter Bochow, Hans Carling, Bill Dunmore, Gary Eisenberg, Gary Elton, Rod Hamer, Atle Hammer, Tony Hardwick, Elias Lopes, Rod Mason, Michael McGovern, Johnny Mekoa, Pit Müller, Hal Posey, Ernesto "Tito" Puentes, Toni Rabold, Leon "Red" Schwartz, Tony Terran, Steve Wiest; trumpeter and big-band leader Herb Runge; trumpeter, composer, educator and broadcaster Walt Blanton; trumpeter, composer and arranger Lew Gluckin; trumpeters and educators Thara Memory, Melton Mustafa; trumpeter and Texas Jazz Festival founder Eddie Olivares Sr.; trumpeter and pianist Gordon Leinwand; trumpeter and bandleader Fejat Sejdić.

Tuba player John Buckingham; tuba player and bassist Joe ("Chicken Joe") Hanchrow; tuba and sousaphone player, bassist and jazz club operator (Edinburgh, Scotland's Stud Club) James Young.

Vibraphonist and pianist Martti Pohjalainen, vibraphonist, studio manager and Monterey Bay Hot Jazz Society co-founder Jack Fanning.

Violinist Svend Asmussen; violinist and educator Nina Trott; violinist and producer Walter Quintus (CMP Records).

Washboard player and artist Klaus von Woyski.

Record label founders Joe Fields (Cobblestone, Muse, Savant, HighNote), Harris "Lee" Rea (Louisiana Red Hot Records); record label (BYG) founder, and record and jazz festival producer Jean Karakos; record producers Bob Erdos (Stomp Off),Hideo Ikeezumi (PSF Records), Eric Miller (Pablo Records); recording executive and producer Tommy LiPuma (A&M, Blue Thumb, GRP, Verve, Warner Bros.); record producer and promoter Gérard Terronès (Futura, Marge); record producer (Argentina's Trova label) and broadcaster Alfredo Radoszynski; record label co-founder Dorsey Boyce Baron (ChazJazz); jazz promoter William Shaw (Coventry Jazz); Jazz UK project director Heulwen Phillips; jazz concert promoter and International Art of Jazz founder Ann Sneed; Swiss jazz and blues advocate and producer Hannes Anrig; booking agent Bennett Morgan; world music record producer and pianist David Lewiston; record and concert producer, manager, booking agent and drummer Steve Getz (son of saxophonist Stan Getz); record producer Uku Kuut; ublisher, entrepreneur and Playboy Jazz Festival founder Hugh Hefner; record industry executive (Decca, Columbia, World Pacific, Warner Bros., RCA), producer, artist manager, writer and NEA Jazz Master George Avakian.

Recording engineer Jim Czak (NOLA Studios NYC); recording engineer, producer, composer and keyboardist Charlie Eble.

Club owners Artis Jones (Milwaukee's Mr. J's and ARJ's Blues & Jazz Club), Mario Maglieri (Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy Theatre and Rainbow Bar & Grill in Los Angeles), Jimmy Makarounis (Portland OR's Jimmy Mak's), Rudy Onderwyzer (Shelly's Manne-Hole, The Light House and Hop Singh in Los Angeles), Fred Salih (Fandango Café in Sarasota FL), Charlie Sims (Donna's Bar & Grill in New Orleans), Amy Tabbinor (Stoke-on Trent UK's Cellar Club), Fred Weintraub (New York's Bitter End coffee house), Jim Young (Strictly Tabu in Dallas TX, Gonzalo Villar (Cuba's El Malecón, La Negra Tomasa, MantecaJazz and XancaraJazz); club owner and broadcaster Jerry Gillotti (Gilly's in Dayton, Ohio); club manager Paul Feyaerts (Café Damberd in Ghent, Belgium); music producer, poet and cultural activist Mappy Torres (New York's El Taller Latino Americano); British jazz promoter, artist manager, record producer and club manager John Jack; jazz producer and drummer Fritz Ewald; British producer, promoter and club owner Harold Pendleton (London's Marquee Club, National Jazz Festival); promoter Thelma Anderson (founder of Philadelphia's Council of Jazz Advocates).

Guitar maker Bill Collings.

Broadcasters Heb Oscar Anderson, Helen Borgers, Pierre Bouteiller; former radio station owner (KJAZ), festival producer and real estate developer Ron Cowan; broadcaster, producer and photographer Steve Schwartz; broadcaster and writer Miguel Camacho.

Jazz scholar, educator and broadcaster David Cayer; ethnomusicologist Charles Duvelle.

Photographers Terry Cryer, Don Hunstein, Scott Pollard, Chuck Stewart, Pete Turner; photographer and artist Barkley L. Hendricks; photographer, writer and producer Paul Karting.

Writers Phyllis Croom, Thomas Fitterling, Alain Tercinet; writer, NEA Jazz Master, historian and civil liberties advocate Nat Hentoff; writer, broadcaster and producer Elliot Meadow; jazz historian, archivist, discographer, writer, producer, educator and photographer Ed Berger; writer and historian Tom Jacobsen; writers and broadcasters Philippe Adler, Knut Borge, Lucien Malson; writer, promoter and Jazz In Arizona co-founder Patricia Myers; writer and promoter Michel Delorme; curator Rod Clarke (Museum of Traditional Jazz, Washington, DC); writer and French radio/ TV director Jean-Christophe Averty; jazz researcher Herman Openeer; writer, broadcaster and curator Sue Steward; writers and producers Richard Havers, Royce Osborn.

Blues, gospel and R&B artists, and industry figures Lonnie Brooks, Wayne Cochran, James Cotton, CeDell Davis, Bill Donoghue ('fesser Mojo), Jimmy Dotson, "Washboard" Lissa Driscoll, Calep Emphrey Jr., John Fisher, Guitar Gable (Gabriel Perrodin), Linda Hopkins, Melvyn "Deacon" Jones, Paul Oliver, Rudy Rotta, Davis Taylor, T.N.T. Tribble, Lundi Tyamara, Leo "Bud" Welch.

This Final Bars list was compiled from many sources including local newspapers, the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt newsletter, AllAboutJazz.com, Wikipedia, the New York Times, Legacy.com, Rolling Stone, Variety, JazzTimes.com, blogs, listserves, Facebook pages, Twitter and various and European publications.

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