2018: The Year in Jazz

The year 2018 was a busy one for the jazz world. The genre's version of the #MeToo movement resulted in a new Code of Conduct and other efforts to make the music workplace more equitable. International Jazz Day brought its biggest stage to St. Petersburg, Russia. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which ran a high-profile performance competition for more than 30 years and co-produces International Jazz Day, announced a significant name change. The New Orleans financial scandal focusing on trumpeter Irvin Mayfield saw its indictments expanded twice. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA Jazz Masters and the jazz world said farewell to five others who were among the many musicians and industry-associated figures who passed away during the year.

Jazz and gender, year two

Jazz's #MeToo movement to fight predatory and sexist behavior within the musical genre—and a historical industry bias against women—took a variety of twists and turns during 2018.

WE HAVE VOICE COLLECTIVE: More than a dozen female and non-binary musicians in jazz released a Code of Conduct in April that spelled out what a more-equitable workplace might look like and set expectations for change. "What we're trying to do is change the cultural mind-set so that people know what to do when they suspect or see abuse," tenor saxophonist and We Have Voice Collective member Maria Grand told the New York Times. More than 50 jazz-related organizations—festivals, venues, educational institutions, record labels and small media outlets—have signed on to the Code of Conduct, committing to abide by it. They include the Banff International Workshop in Jazz & Creative Music, Biophilia Records, Greenleaf Music, the National Jazz Museum, the Perth International Jazz Festival, SFJazz, Vision Festival and Winter Jazzfest in New York City. Winter Jazzfest has committed to making its bookings 50 percent gender equitable by 2022, joining the PRS Foundation's Keychange international initiative to empower women to help transform the future of music.

INSTITUTE OF JAZZ AND GENDER JUSTICE: Boston-based Berklee College of Music launched the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice in September. Drummer, faculty member and We Have Voice collective member Terri Lyne Carrington is the institute's founder and artistic director. The institute will include classes, like "Jazz, Gender and Society," research activities, artist residencies, performances and community engagement events. Solving the gender disparity will help the jazz industry overall by allowing the music to grow and change, thanks to more input from women, Carrington said. "It's up to both men and women to do this work, and anybody that really cares about the music and cares about humanity will see the value in making it more equitable."

HE SAID-SHE SAID: Saxophonist Steve Coleman, 62, sued his former lover, saxophonist Maria Grand, 26, for defamation after she accused him of manipulating her into a five-year relationship in exchange for being her mentor. A seven-page letter that she sent privately to a group of their colleagues became public when Coleman included it as an exhibit in his lawsuit. In that suit, filed in US District Court in Brooklyn, NY, in October, Coleman sued Swiss-born Grand for her statements, which he claimed have damaged his reputation and his ability to book performances. Grand filed a countersuit in November, claiming Coleman defamed her, hurt her career and caused emotional distress when he branded her a liar. Grand was 17 when she first met Coleman. In the letter, she said Coleman almost immediately propositioned her for sex and groomed her for a sexual relationship. She said Coleman would cut off his valuable mentorship and later paid gigs unless she agreed to sleep with him. They were involved from 2011 until 2016, when she broke it off.

International Jazz Day, Take Seven

St. Petersburg, Russia, was the Global Host City for 2018'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 All-Star Global Concert, took place April 30 at the historic Mariinsky Theater. UNESCO goodwill ambassador Herbie Hancock and Russian saxophonist Igor Butman were the artistic directors for this seventh annual event. Admission-free outreach and jazz-education events took place throughout the city on April 29 and 30. More than 190 nations hosted IJD events on April 30.

The international roster of jazz artists who performed at the Global Concert included Cyrille Aimée, John Beasley, Till Bronner, Oleg Butman, Joey DeFrancesco, Fatoumata Diawara, Kurt Elling, Antonio Farao, James Genus, Robert Glasper, David Goloschekin, Gilad Hekselman, Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Anatoly Kroll, Gaoyang Li, Rudresh Mahanthappa, The Manhattan Transfer, Branford Marsalis, James Morrison, Makoto Ozone, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves, Lee Ritenour, Luciana Souza and Ben Williams. Sydney, Australia will be 2019's Global Host City.

An identity shift

In name, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, a high-profile jazz advocacy organization since its founding in 1987, went away on December 31, 2018. Effective January 1, the non-profit sponsor of a high-profile International Jazz Competition and co-producer of UNESCO's International Jazz Day, renamed itself after its current chairman, Herbie Hancock. The 30th edition of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Competition was held in early December in Washington, DC. The 31st edition will carry Hancock's name. The pianist and composer, who has chaired the organization for 15 years, recused himself from the board vote. Bottom line is the mission is the same, despite the name change requested by the Monk estate.

Jazzy centennnials

A significant number of jazz notables had their 100th birthdays noted posthumously during 2018. Those musicians included bandleader, composer and trumpeter Gerald Wilson; bassists Jimmy Blanton and Tommy Potter; pianists Hank Jones, Marian McPartland, Professor Longhair, Jimmy Rowles and Sir Charles Thompson; saxophonists Arnett Cobb, Peanuts Hucko and Ike Quebec; singers Eddie Jefferson and Joe Williams; songwriter Bobby Troup; and trumpeter Howard McGhee.

Awards and honors of note

NEA JAZZ MASTERS: Guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, pianist and composer JoAnne Brackeen, singer Dianne Reeves and club owner and producer Todd Barkan were honored April 16 as 2018's class of National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters. Barkan 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 2019 recipients will be honored April 15 at a tribute concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. They are pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim, bandleader and composer Maria Schneider, late singer-pianist-composer Bob Dorough and jazz critic Stanley Crouch.

GRAMMY AWARDS: There was a wide range of jazz-related winners at the 2018 (60th annual) Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York City on January 28. They were Cecile McLorin Salvant, Dreams and Daggers (Mack Avenue, 2017)—best jazz vocal album; various artists, Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 (Columbia, 2017)—best traditional pop vocal album; Billy Childs, Rebirth (Mack Avenue, 2017)—best jazz instrumental album; Christian McBride Big Band, Bringin' It (Mack Avenue, 2017)—best large jazz ensemble album; John McLaughlin, soloist "Miles Beyond" track from: Live at Ronnie Scott's, John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension (Abstract Logix, 2017)—best Improvised jazz solo.

Also, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Prototype (Shanachie, 2017)—best contemporary instrumental album; Pablo Ziegler Trio, Jazz Tango (ZOHO, 2017)—best Latin jazz album; Rubén Blades con Roberto Delgado y Orquesta, Salsa Big Band (Rubén Blades Productions, 2017)—best tropical Latin album; Arturo O'Farrill, composer, "Three Revolutions" (from Arturo O'Farrill & Chucho Valdes, Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico (Motéma, 2017)—best instrumental composition; Early Americans (Outline, 2016), (a Jane Ira Bloom album), Jim Anderson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Jim Anderson and Jane Ira Bloom, surround producers—best surround sound album.

LATIN GRAMMYS: There were three jazz-related winners at the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards on November 15 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. They were Miguel Siso, Identidad (Guataca, 2018)—best instrumental album; Pedro Giraudo, Vigor Tanguero (ZOHO, 2018)—best tango album; Hermeto Pascoal & Big Band, Natureza Universal (Scubidu/Numen, 2017)—best Latin jazz/jazz album. Additionally, the Latin Recording Academy honored pianist Chucho Valdes and six other influential Latin music artists with Lifetime Achievement Awards for outstanding and lasting contributions to the genre. The 19th annual awards aired live on Univision.

JJA AWARDS: Saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Fred Hersch, drummer Matt Wilson and jazz journalist Patricia Willard led the honorees at the Jazz Journalists Association's 2018 Jazz Awards, the organization's 22rd annual honors for excellence in music and music journalism. Golson received JJA's Lifetime Achievement in Jazz award. Writer-researcher-historian Willard was the first woman celebrated for her Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism by the JJA. Wilson was honored as musician of the year and for record of the year for Honey and Salt: Music Inspired by the Poetry of Carl Sandburg (Palmetto, 2017). Hersch was honored as pianist of the year and for book of the year, the latter for his memoir, Good Things Happen Slowly: A Life In and Out of Jazz (Crown Archetype, 2017).

Other JJA Awards honorees included soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, clarinetist Anat Cohen, baritone saxophonist Claire Daly, trumpeter Tom Harrell, guitarist Mary Halvorson, pianist Vijay Iyer, flutist Nicole Mitchell, bassist Linda May Han Oh, saxophonists Chris Potter and Miguel Zenon, cellist Tomeka Reid, singers Cecile McLorin Salvant and Jazzmeia Horn, orchestra-leading composer-arranger Maria Schneider and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith. Writer Nate Chinen, broadcaster Neil Tesser and photographers Michael Jackson and Richard Conde (photo of the year) took top honors in the journalism categories.

MONK COMPETITION: Israeli-born pianist Tom Oren won first prize at the 2018 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, held in early December in Washington, DC. It was the first Monk Competition held since 2015. Oren won a $25,000 scholarship and a contract with Concord Records. The other finalists, Isaiah J. Thompson from West Orange, NJ and Maxime Sanchez from Toulouse, France, finished second and third respectively in this 30th Monk Competition. Beginning in 2019, the competition and its sponsoring Institute of Jazz will carry the name of the institute's current chairman, pianist and composer Herbie Hancock.

ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME: Singer-songwriter-pianist Nina Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, along with more conventional rock acts Bon Jovi, the Cars, Dire Straits, the Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. In her induction speech in Cleveland, R&B singer Mary J. Blige said "Nina was bold, strong, feisty and fearless, and so vulnerable and transparent all at the same time.... Her songs about injustice, struggle and black life resonate to this day. They're just as relevant to Ferguson or Baltimore or Mississippi as they were to the civil-rights era."

SASSY AWARDS: Cleveland native Laurin Talese won the seventh annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition on November 18 in Newark, NJ. She received a $5,000 cash award and a guaranteed performing slot at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival. The other finalists were second-place finisher Oleg Akkuratov from Russia, third-place finisher Toscha Comeaux from Hartford, CT, Gabrielle Cavassa from San Francisco, CA, and Olivia Chindamo from Australia. There were more than 600 submissions for the competition, which is part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's TD James Moody Jazz Festival.

ELLA AWARDS: Erik Leuthaeuser of Berlin, Germany, won the second annual Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition on April 28 in Washington, DC. The event is sponsored by the Blues Alley Jazz Society, the Smithsonian Institution and the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation/. The other finalists were Sarah Rossy of Toronto, Canada, Sarah Moyers of Burke VA, Monica Pabelonio of Boston MA, and Dalia Nasr of Alexandria VA. Leuthaeuser received $1,500 and an opening act performance at John Pizzarelli's Blues Alley show the following night.

BMI COMPOSERS WORKSHOP: Composer Jihye Lee was awarded the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize and Manny Albam Commission at the 30th annual BMI Jazz Composers Workshop showcase concert in New York City on June 14. The 17-piece BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra performed works from nine of the workshop's composers, with Lee's piece, "Unshakeable Mind," chosen as the winning composition. The prize is named in honor of the workshop's late founder and longtime musical director. With the $3,000 commission, Leewill compose a new piece that will premiere at the 2019 showcase. Previous prize winner Remi LaBoeuf performed his commissioned work "Sibbian" to close out the evening.

LIVING LEGACY: Japanese pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi received the BNY Mellon Jazz 2018 Living Legacy Award at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on October 19. The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation award recognizes living jazz masters from the region who have achieved distinction in performance and education.

ELLIS MARSALIS PIANO COMPETITION: Ben Paterson of Philadelphia won first place at the inaugural edition of the Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, in June. RINA of Saitama, Japan won second place and the Nu Jazz Agency's Chico & Lupe O'Farrill Award for Best Original Composition. Isaiah J. Thompson of West Orange, NJ won third place and an award for Best Rendition of an Ellis Marsalis Song.

ROYAL HONOR: Guitarist Pat Metheny was elected into the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. At the May induction, the academy honored him for being "one of the world's most significant living jazz musicians." It noted his unmistakable sound and being an improviser with "what appears to be an infinite flow of ideas."

DORIS DUKE AWARDS: The 2018 Doris Duke Artist Awards for jazz were awarded in June to singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, violinist Regina Carter and vibraphonist Stefon Harris. The awards from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation include $250,000 in flexible funding, along with up to an additional $25,000 to encourage contributions to retirement savings. With the 2018 class, the foundation has awarded approximately $29.625 million to 108 noteworthy artists since May 2012. Going forward, the foundation will continue to present up to seven Doris Duke Artist Awards on an annual basis.

KENNEDY CENTER HONORS: Saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter joined Reba McEntire, Cher, Philip Glass and the producers of the Broadway musical " Hamilton as 2018's Kennedy Center Honors winners. The annual awards for artists who have made extraordinary contributions to culture are celebrated at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

BEN FRANKLIN MEDAL: Herbie Hancock became the first musician to receive the Ben Franklin Medal from the London-based Royal Society for the Arts. The award honors people who transcend their vocations to generally benefit mankind. "Jazz is built on those humanistic characteristics. It's about sharing and being non-judgmental, and supporting each other," Hancock said at the December 5 medal ceremony in Philadelphia.

Jazz venue ups and downs

B.B. KING BLUES CLUB & GRILL: The high-profile New York City music club closed its doors on April 29. Owners said the venue was no longer sustainable because of rent increases on the midtown Manhattan location. B.B. King's was the site of the Jazz Journalists Association's Jazz Awards from 2004 to 2006.

RYLES JAZZ CLUB: This live music venue, a fixture on the Boston-area jazz scene for more than 40 years, shut down at the end of June. The family took over from founder Jack Reilly and ran it for the last 25 years decided to sell the building on Inman Square in Cambridge, MA, to focus on another restaurant they own. Ryles first opened in 1977. Reilly, a longtime fixture of the local music scene who died in 2016, made Ryles a destination for both acclaimed musicians and those just starting out, including students from Berklee College of Music across the river in Boston.

TIPITINA'S: The jazz-flavored jam band Galactic purchased this revered New Orleans music club late in the year. The prior owner, Roland Von Kurnatowski, is the subject of an extensive fraud investigation unrelated to the club. Tip's was founded in 1977 as a venue for pianist Professor Longhair. Galactic drummer Stanton Moore said the band's goal is to "preserve, promote and protect the future of New Orleans music, culture and heritage via the Tipitina's venue and brand."

SCANDINAVIAN JAZZ CHURCH: After 112 years of worship, music and jazz, the Scandinavian Jazz Church in New Orleans decided to close its doors for good by the end of 2018. The Prytania Street church and community center lost its funding from the Norwegian government two years ago. First founded as the Seamen's Mission, the church was known for monthly jazz services featuring local musicians and cross-cultural worship drawing on its Scandinavian heritage. It was rebranded as a "jazz church" in 2017 turn the focus towards its musical offerings. The church began offering weekly jazz services and other music to expand itself as a community center in addition to a Christian center.

AMERICAN JAZZ MUSEUM: Efforts continued in Kansas City, MO, in 2018 to rescue the financially troubled American Jazz Museum, which needed a $1.6 million city bailout in 2017 to keep its doors open after a jazz festival fiasco. Independent consultants recommended a refreshed, smaller board of directors with new perspectives.

JAZZ PHILADELPHIA: There's a new initiative to underscore the importance of jazz to the City of Brotherly Love. The new organization, Jazz Philadelphia, was created to advance the education, funding, and creative progression of the musical form. The Wyncote Foundation is funding the effort. A two-day kickoff summit at the Kimmel Center in early November featured performances and panel discussions about music education, grant-writing for institutions, and developing business savvy for musicians.

FANTASY STUDIOS: This offspring of Fantasy Records closed in mid-September when its building in Berkeley, CA, was sold. The studio opened in 1971 and was for years northern California's only major recording studio. The Fantasy label, founded in 1949, released albums by many major West Coast jazz musicians in the 1950s through the 1960s, including Dave Brubeck and Vince Guaraldi, before expanding into the rock genre.

SAARBRÜCKEN JAZZ FESTIVAL: This longtime, popular German jazz festival bit the dust after artistic director Wolfgang Krause allegedly misappropriated the budget in 2017 and its organizing agency, Jazz-Syndikat e.V., dissolved in 2018. Many musicians are still waiting for their November 2017 performance fees. Efforts were underway to develop new local jazz series, including KettenJazz—a three-night series held in an old building at the St. Arnualer chain factory.

On the record...

TRANE'S LOST RECORDING: The Impulse! label released a March 6, 1963 John Coltrane quartet recording that disappeared for more than 50 years, until the saxophonist's personal copy was found in the possession of the family of his first wife, Juanita Naima Coltrane. The session was released June 29 as Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Impulse! 2018). It was recorded one day before Coltrane's classic ballads album with singer Johnny Hartman. The band cut multiple takes of seven compositions, Several tunes were unnamed; one was later titled "Impressions," while two others were never released in any form and, to the best of anyone's knowledge, never recorded again.

JEFF GOLDBLUM: The actor (and pianist) Jeff Goldblum has been playing the keyboard since he was a kid—and has been a jazz buff since his pre-teens. Without much fanfare, he's played weekly gigs at clubs around Los Angeles, and sometimes in New York, for about 20 years. Goldberg and his band, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, released their first album, The Capitol Studios Sessions (Decca, 2018), with singers Imelda May and Haley Reinhart, comedian Sarah Silverman and trumpeter Till Bronner as featured guests. Goldblum named the band after a family friend from his Pittsburgh childhood. The recording soared to the top of the jazz charts after its November 9 release.

SHORTER GOES MULTI-MEDIA: Saxophonist Wayne Shorter's latest project, Emanon (Blue Note, 2018) is a comprehensive package with a teasing title (it spells "no name" backwards). It consists of three discs of live and studio recordings by his quartet, augmented by the 34-piece Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. At various points in the music, Shorter repurposed melodies from earlier compositions. But wait, there's more: an allegorical science-fiction novel that was written by Shorter and screenwriter Monica Sly, and illustrated by artist Randy DuBurke. Shorter drew his own comic book as a teenager.

DELMARK RECORDS: Two years after closing his Jazz Record Mart in downtown Chicago, Bob Koester sold his Delmark Records jazz and blues label to local musicians Julia Miller and Elbio Barilari. The May 1 sale included Delmark, subsidiary labels, a catalog of masters dating to the 1920s, a voluminous inventory of CDs and LPs and the Riverside Studio at 4121 N. Rockwell St. The sale was completed Tuesday, May 1. At age 86, Koester decided it was time to pass the torch but keep things spinning.

THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT: A new smartphone app called Record Player automatically recognizes album covers. The app uses Google Cloud Vision API and the Spotify API to recognize cover artwork and direct the user to the album on Spotify. With the resurgence of interest in vinyl in the past few years, the app may be ideal for avid music fans and vinyl collectors who may want to preview an album that catches their eye in a store so they can check it out before purchasing it.*

RUBBERBAND ON RECORD STORE DAY: Warner Music Group/Rhino released a 12-inch vinyl, four-track EP of the lost Miles Davis recording Rubberband (Rhino, 2018) on April 21, Record Store Day. Davis moved from Columbia Records to Warner Bros in 1985, and started recording the album with funk and soul grooves. The album was subsequently shelved and Davis went on to record Tutu (Warner Bros., 1986). While the album remained unfinished, a re-mastered version of the title track appeared on the digital release Perfect Way: The Miles Davis Anthology—The Warner Bros. Years (Warner Classics UK, 2010). Thirty-two years after Rubberband was recorded, the original producers teamed up with Davis' nephew, Vincent Wilburn, Jr., to finish and update the title track with vocals by R&B singer Ledisi.

SONY-EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING: Sony has purchased a 60 percent stake in EMI Music Publishing from a group of investors led by Mubadala, one of the United Arab Emirates' sovereign wealth funds. The Japanese company already held a minority stake in EMI, whose catalog contains more than two million songs from music legends and current hitmakers. The $2.3 billion cash deal leaves Sony owning about 90% of EMI, cementing its position as the world's biggest music publisher. Sony has stepped up its investments in content in recent years as it seeks to shift away from making hardware like TVs and stereos. Bringing in the EMI catalog will increase Sony's music library to about 4.5 million songs. Sony also owns a small stake in music-streaming platform Spotify, which went public in 2018.

In the jazz classroom...

PEABODY INSTITUTE: Trumpeter Sean Jones was hired as the new jazz department chairman at Johns Hopkins University's prestigious Peabody Institute in Baltimore, MD, after the resignation of Gary Thomas The saxophonist had taught at Peabody since 1996 and founded the jazz department in 2001. He was forced to resign in August 2017 after he complained to the conservatory about discrimination and disparities between jazz and classical students. After Jones was hired, Peabody also recruited three jazz faculty members with local ties: bassist Kris Funn, saxophonist Tim Green and vibraphonist Warren Wolf.

HIP-HOP MEETS JAZZ: New York University added a new course on jazz and hip-hop to its fall 2018 curriculum, with Jonathan Davis, a.k.a. rapper and DJ Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, and jazz journalist Ashley Kahn sharing the instructorship. The course at NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music explores the historical connections between jazz and hip-hop on many levels —including the socio-cultural, compositional, business and technological—from the 1970s to the present.

In the jazz archives...

THE KID FROM RED BANK: The Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, NJ, acquired a collection of nearly 1,000 artifacts that belonged to the late Count Basie. The Count Basie Collection includes his pianos, Hammond organ, photos, correspondence, concert programs, business records, housewares, clothes, press clippings and one of his signature ship captain's hats. Rutgers-Newark now also acquired the rights to Basie's name, likeness, and trademark. The collection will be made available to the public in the near future for research and exhibition.

GOING DIGITAL: Fans and researchers no longer need to make an appointment and visit the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, NY, to check out its collection of Satchmo-related material. The museum has digitized thousands of valuable artifacts of the late jazz legend, including photographs, letters, audio, newspaper clippings, video, personal papers, sheet music and scrapbooks. Director of Research Collections Ricky Riccardi estimates 16,000 photographs, 750 reel-to-reel tapes, 2,000 recordings (including concerts and radio broadcasts), and 350 videos are in the mix. Everything in the collection is accessible online at louisarmstronghouse.or g. The painstaking two-year project was funded through a $2.7-million grant from Robert F. Smith's Fund II Foundation.

STRAYHORN COLLECTION: The Library of Congress announced in late November that it had acquired the original manuscripts documenting the work of composer, arranger and pianist Billy Strayhorn. The collection contains nearly 18,000 documents, including music manuscripts, lyric sheets and scripts, financial and business papers dating from the 1940s, and photographs from the 1930s through the 1960s. It includes some 3,000 music manuscripts in Strayhorn's own handwriting, including lead sheets, piano-vocal scores and complete orchestrations. These include compositions written solely by Strayhorn or in collaboration with Duke Ellington. Since Strayhorn's death in 1967, his original manuscripts had been in the custody of the Strayhorn family and available only for limited scholarship.

On the legal front...

MAYFIELD SAGA, YEAR FOUR: In two superseding indictments issued in June and November, the federal government added charges of wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice against trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and business partner Ronald Markham. Markham also faces a new charge of lying to the FBI. The initial investigation alleged they used more than $1.3 million from the New Orleans Public Library Foundation to cover the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra's salaries and expenses, and maintain Mayfield's extravagant lifestyle. Their trial is scheduled to begin April 29, 2019.

NORTH SEA JAZZ FESTIVAL (SOUTH AFRICA): African National Congress leader Mike Mabayakhulu and 15 co-defendants were charged with corruption over 28 million rand ($2 million) that was spent on a jazz festival in Durban that never happened. Durban's North Sea Jazz Festival had been planned as a joint venture with a Rotterdam-based partner. The event was cancelled but payments were still made to several local companies.

Crime log...

SIGNATURE SOUSAPHONE STOLEN: Preservation Hall Jazz Band leader Ben Jaffe's sousaphone was stolen from his car after a February 24 performance at New Orleans Airlift, a non-profit arts center on North Rampart Street. The band's offer of a no-questions-asked reward for its return worked. Jaffe retrieved the tuba two weeks later after an anonymous tip to its whereabouts. The horn's distinctive lettering—PRESERVATION HALL—NOLA—had been removed, but Jaffe said there was little other damage.

BUSKING BUST: British clarinetist Luke Eira was arrested July 7 and carted away in a police van for playing his unamplified instrument "for too long" in front of a Marks & Spencer store in Muswell Hill, a London neighborhood popular for buskers. Main street shoppers were shocked by the arrest. The case was thrown out of Magistrate's Court two days later. Eira is a regular performer at the Bhudda Bar and Crouch End's Crossover Jazz Room and also works with Bristol-based jazz and hip-hop artist ThisisDA.

KIDDIE PORN: Birmingham, AL, jazz pianist, singer and educator Ray Reach was arrested on child porn charges in April by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force. A spokesman said the investigation into Reach was launched after the agency received information that he was suspected of being in possession child pornography. Reach allegedly had the images on his electronic devices.

Jazz and art

THE GREATEST BAND THAT NEVER PLAYED: Impressionist artist Peter Hurley was commissioned to paint a cedar fence in Englewood, CO, just south of Denver, last summer to imagine Ludwig von Beethoven listening to the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century. The mural shows the classical composer digging pianists Thelonious Monk and Oscar Peterson, saxophonists Sidney Bechet, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins, trumpeter Miles Davis, flutist Eric Dolphy, guitarist {B.B. King}}, bassist Charles Mingus, drummer Elvin Jones, and others, performing "Round Midnight." "Look at him: He's skeptical. He's listening intently," Chicago-resident Hurley said of his six-foot-tall Beethoven. "He wants to make everyone in tune."

JASON MORAN IN MILWAUKEE: Jazz pianist Jason Moran displayed the varied facets of his creativity in a multimedia show at Milwaukee's Walker Art Center in May. He performed two multimedia concerts May 18 and 19 with his longtime trio, Bandwagon (bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits, plus DJ Ashland Mines and visual artists Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin. The gallery, set up like a warehouse-space jazz club, also contained three sculptures by Moran, part of his "Staged" series paying homage to historic New York jazz venues: Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, the Three Deuces and Slugs' Saloon. A facing wall contained charcoal drawings from a series called "Run," in which Moran taped a long piece of paper over the piano and played, his fingertips covered in charcoal. The artwork is performative, abstract, alive, although a little boringly planned out. The show celebrated Moran's art-infused jazz and jazz-infused art.

AUGUST WILSON CULTURAL CENTER: This Pittsburgh art center in December presented the world premiere of trumpeter Sean Jones' "A Suite for Flying Girls." The composition, commissioned by AWCC, was inspired by Nigerian contemporary artist Peju Alatise's art installation "Flying Girls." Her eight-sculpture installation of winged girls in mid-flight, represents the realities faced by women in Africa, including child labor, injustice and the vision of a safer future.

Pori Jazz firing

Finland's Pori Jazz Festival board of directors fired newly hired CEO Aki Ruotsala in June, two months before he was scheduled to take his post, for making controversial comments about homosexuality. In an interview with a local newspaper, Satakunnan Kansa, Ruotsala suggested that gay people do not exist and that homosexuality could be cured.

National Treasures

John Coltrane's two-story home in Huntington, NY, and Nina Simone's birthplace and childhood home in Tryon, NC, have been named National Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Coltrane lived in the Long Island home from 1964 until his death in 196. Upstairs he wrote the compositions that became his <A Love Supreme and later that decade his wife Alice Coltrane recorded her solo debut record, A Monastic Trio in a studio in the basement. In 2017, four African-American artists—conceptualist Adam Pendleton, sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, filmmaker Ellen Gallagher, and painter Julie Mehretu—purchased Simone's old home for $95,000.The National Trust will assist with renovation and preservation efforts of both sites, including finding a new use for the Tryon site to honor Simone's contributions and inspire new generations of artists and activists.

Miles Davis' boyhood Home

The East St. Louis, IL, home where trumpeter Miles Davis grew up opened to the public for the first time on June 2. The now-preserved and renovated site includes a variety of artifacts and memorabilia, including a signed wall hanging of one of Davis' artworks, which he gave to a local school when it was renamed the Miles Davis Elementary School. That school closed a few years ago. The grand opening of the House of Miles East St. Louis included the inaugural Miles Fest at the site. A week later, nearby Alton, IL, where Davis was born, held its 13th annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival to benefit the Alton Museum of History and Art.

Stamp of approval

The U.S. Postal Service honored singer and civil rights activist Lena Horne on the 41st stamp in the Black Heritage commemorative stamp series. The Forever stamp was released with first day of issue event at New York's Peter Norton Symphony Space on January 30.

SousaFund

Sousaphonist/bassist Ben Jaffe and the Preservation Hall Foundation created a fund to provide instruments and educational support to young African-American music students, after learning of the tragic death of college-bound bass and tuba player Draylen Mason. The teen was one of two people killed in a wave of package bombings in Austin, TX, in March. He had been accepted into the Butler School of Music at UT Austin and the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music -but hadn't been notified yet of the latter award.

Sharks dig jazz

Researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, reported in May that found sharks could recognize jazz. Scientists trained juvenile sharks to swim over to where jazz was playing, to receive food. Sharks previously were thought to associate the sound of a boat engine with food, because food is often thrown from tourist boats to attract sharks to cage-diving expeditions. The addition of classical music to the experiment confused the sharks, who couldn't figure out that they had to go to a different location for food.

Space jam

Stuttgart, Germany's Jazz Open Festival brought a new, literal, meaning to the phrase "space jam" when the band Kraftwerk jammed with German astronaut Alexander Gerst in a live connection from the International Space Station on July 20. Gerst used a tablet computer configured with a virtual synthesizer to duet with the group on the 1978 track, "Spacelab."

Flock of Four

Director Gregory Caruso made his feature film debut in April with Flock of Four, a jazz-themed coming-of-age tale. It follows four Pasadena teens through a single night of 1959's Central Avenue jazz scene Los Angeles, going from club to club, to find and hoping to hear a jazz legend, a trumpeter named Pope Dixon.

Q-Tip as Miles—for one night only

Hip-hop icon as Q-Tip, the leader of Tribe Called Quest, was cast as trumpeter Miles Davis for a theatrical production about a day in the life of the trumpeter. George Nelson wrote the play, My Funny Valentine, which got a single sold-out reading at Joe's Pub in New York City on March 26. The script imagined a fateful day in Davis' life in the early '80s when he ignites a chain of life-altering events by responding to a fan letter.

Vintage wheels

A 1980 Ferrari 308GTSi, once owned by Miles Davis was sold at auction for $90,450 to an unnamed bidder in late September. The eBay auction was run by the Beverly Hills Car Club. Seventy-nine individuals submitted bids for the car, which is painted "Fly Yellow" and boasts a brown leather interior.

Celebrating Oscar—with hoops

The first edition of the Oscar Peterson Classic was held August 10-11 in Little Burgundy, the Montreal neighborhood where the piano giant grew up. The tourney was held in a neighborhood park that was renamed Oscar Peterson Park in 2009, two years after Peterson's death. Tournament proceeds were earmarked for scholarships for underprivileged youth. Sponsors and organizers said basketball was the best way to get the community together, while also paying homage to the jazz legend.

From jazz to town hall

Swiss jazz promoter Christian Jott Jenny, organizer and artistic director of the St. Moritz Jazz Festival, was elected mayor of the chic Alpine resort town in September. Jenny, 40, who is also a singer, defeated incumbent Sigi Asprion by 72 votes. St. Moritz has hosted the Winter Olympics twice—in 1928 and 1948.

2018 Final Bars

The jazz world lost many musicians and industry-related people during 2018, including five of its NEA Jazz Masters: Bob Dorough, Lorraine Gordon, Cecil Taylor, Randy Weston and Nancy Wilson. Saxophonist Les Lieber, founder of Manhattan's Jazz at Noon series and Fire Island's Chill Out concerts, died at age 106.

Here's a comprehensive compilation.

Accordionist Yvette Horner; accordionist and saxophonist Asmund Bjørken.

Bandleader Bob Edison; bandleader and educator Alexander Erpilev.

Banjo players Peter Bullis, Clive Grey.

Bassists Gerald Adams, Ricardo Baumgarten, Max Bennett, Paulo Cardoso, Tony DeCicco, Wayne Dockery, Norman Edge, Fedor Frešo, Roman Grinev, Bobby Haynes, Doug Kirschner, Arthur Maia, Gustavo Márquez, Wilson McKindra, Stanisław Otałęga, André Rodrigues, Peter Schneider, Joe Sydow; bassist, cellist and educator Buell Neidlinger; bassist, guitarist, singer and producer Billy Hancock; bassists and educators Charles Hoag, Lenny Pollacchi; bassist, educator, broadcaster and writer Cüneyt Sermet; producer and singer Fedor Frešo; bassist and photographer Jim Crutcher; bassist and promoter Bill Reid; bassist and co-founder of Germany's Rheingauer Jazzclub Edu Jung; bassist and festival organizer (Germany's Düsseldorfer Jazz Rally and International Jazz Festival Viersen) Ali Haurand.

Bassoonists and educators Gary Moody, Marvin Roth.

Cellist Hugh McDowell.

Clarinetists Perry Robinson, Eddie Wiggins; clarinetist and pianist Harry Burt.

Composers Carol Hall, Thomas Pernes; composer, arranger, record producer and pianist Heiner Stadler; composers, arrangers, big-band leaders and educators Glen Daum, Patrick Williams; composer, accordionist and pianist Francis Lai; composer, bassist, pianist, educator and musicologist Olly Wilson; composer, multi-instrumentalist and musical director Gérard Hourbette; composer and pianist Galt MacDermot; composer and violinist Takehisa Kosugi.

Cornetist, singer and New Black Eagles Jazz Band co-founder Tony Pringle.

Drummers Ron Barron, Robert Barry, Norman Beane, Tommy Check, Daniel Cisneros, Glenn Davis, Hüseyin Ertunç, Cootie Harris, Jon Hiseman, Armin Jungermann, Charlie Rice, Dave Riegert, Roger Sellers, Robert Shy, Paul Togawa, John von Ohlen, Abdallah Zuhri; drummer, bandleader and producer Jerry Fischer; drummers and educators Brian Hamada, Jack LeCompte, Bob McKee, Brian West; drummer and producer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler; drummer and club owner (Merced CA's Rudy's Jazz and Blues) Rudy Merino; drummer and novelist Bill Moody; drummer and cinematographer Witold Sobociński.

Electronic music pioneer, composer and educator Stanley Glasser.

French horn player Chris Costanzi.

Guitarists Don Alessi, Bob Bain, Glenn Branca, Steve Coutts, Alex Domschot, Wilbert Longmire, Jeff Louna, Calvin Newborn, Martin Nitsch, Cyril Pahinui, Richard Ring, Coco Schumann, Jon Sholle, Ivan Smirnov, Wah Wah Watson; guitarists and educators Gyula Babos, John Marasco, Dick Sheridan, John Sopko; guitarist, bassist, bandleader, composer, arranger and writer Dan Fox; guitarist, producer and songwriter Reggie Lucas.

Harpist and educator Carrol McLaughlin.

Keyboard player C.W. Vrtacek (Charles O'Meara); keyboard player, composer, producer and engineer Hardy Fox (Charles Bobuck).

Lyricist Norman Gimbel.

Multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Curt Prina; multi-instrumentalist and composer Christian Burchard. ; multi-instrumentalist and singer Sergei Mosin; multi-instrumentalist and educator Richard Amses.

Oboist and bandleader Zdeněk Barták Sr.

Organist, pianist and vibes player Curt Prina.

Percussionists Jack Costanzo, Ken Philmore, Pancho Terry; percussionist and bandleader Ahmadu Jah; percussionist and educator Dean Witten.

Pianists Barrie Ascroft, Steve Austin, Dick Bernet, Kristin Bialick, Reuben Brown, Brian Browne, Blanche Burton-Lyles, Harald Eckstein, Ghalib Ghallab, Chri Gillespie, Steve Goodman, Donnie Heitler, Johnny Hot, John Hughes, Nathan Jatcko, Hermann Keller, Brooks Kerr, Jean Kittrell, Johnny Knapp, Thierry Lalo, Olivier Lancelot, Johnny Maddox, Norio Maeda, Gildo Mahones, Jodi Marshall, Ralph Martin, Dick Mattick, Dick Meares, Lennie Metcalfe, Vern Nussbaum, Gary Peterson, Masahiro Sayama, Uli Scherer, Art Simmons, Jim Somerville, George Spaulding, Helmut Stütz, Dick Voigt, Keith Vreeland, John Williams; pianists, bandleaders, composers and NEA Jazz Masters Cecil Taylor, Randy Weston; pianist and bandleader Howard Williams; pianist and broadcaster Jim "The Jazz" Caine; pianist, flutist, composer and educator Paul Zopel; pianist, conductor, composer and arranger Tommy Banks; pianists and composers Don Alberts, Misha Alperin, Stelvio Cipriani, Harvey Hanson, Rafael "Bullumba" Landestoy, Arnold Maury, Christian Minkowitsch; pianist and organist Ray Tones; pianists, singers and songwriters Bob Dorough, Reg Webb; pianist, singer, bandleader and educator Ike Jenkins; pianist and singer Henry Butler; pianist, organist, educator and jazz club owner (Kobe, Japan's M.M. Join) Minoru Ozone; pianist and trombonist René Jonckeer; pianists and educators Eddie Baker, Didier Datcharry, Jack Reilly, Ernie Scott, Tad Weed; pianist, broadcaster and writer Dick Hughes; pianist and writer Amy Hildreth Duncan.

Poet and rapper Jalal Mansur Nuriddin.

Saxophonists Darryl Adams, Ed Agopian, Chuz Alfred, Leo Bazinet, Albert "Sax" Berry, Hamiet Bluiett, Errol Buddle, Ace Cannon, Ted Efantis, Sonny Fortune, Peter Guidi, Carl Janelli, Hiroaki Katayama, Abraham Tsoana Kola, Mike Laatz, Roger Lambson, Bob Leibowitz, Aubrey Hwang Martin, Big Jay McNeely, Fred "Big Cat" Monroe, Charles Neville, Don Payne, Rolf Pifnitzka, Alain Rellay, Eddie Shaw, Frank Smith, Chuck Stentz, Ron Sutton, Rick Torcaso, John Van Rymenant, Uwe Werner, Chuck Wilson, Keith Zaharia, Norton Zieff; saxophonist and arranger Bob Freedman; saxophonists, bandleaders and educators Barry Kelsey, Scott Mullett, Roger Neumann; saxophonists and bandleaders Jochen Brauer, Carmen Dee; saxophonists and educators Donald Crawford, Nathan Davis, Jim Giacone, Fred Hess, Morgan King, Remy Filipovitch, Bill Laskey, Russ Phillips, Reynold Scott Jr., Rick Torcaso; saxophonist, graphic designer and writer Ove Stokstad, saxophonist and Halifax, Nova Scotia's Upstream Music Association co-founder Paul Cram; saxophonist and writer Jürg Laederach; saxophonist, educator and jazz club artistic director (Wilmington DE's Nomad Bar) Harry Spencer; saxophonist, writer and founder of Manhattan's Jazz at Noon series and Fire Island's Chill Out concerts Les Lieber; saxophonist, artist manager, arts administrator and educator James Jordan.

Singers Monique Aldebert, Ursula Becker, Babs Beverley, Anita Honis Bohländer, Ruth Brisbane, Suzanne Couch, Theryl "Houseman" DeClouet, France Gall, Kay Grandolfo, Kellye Gray, Donald Greene, Anneke Grönloh, Theresa Hightower, Bobbi Jordan, Morgana King, Arthur Manuntung, Angela Maria, Marcia Maria, Dolores "Dee" Parker Morgan, Dottie Reid, Arthur "Mr. Okra" Robinson, Lara Saint Paul, Paul Ventura, Marlene VerPlanck, Barbara Walker, Wesla Whitfield; singer and NEA Jazz Master, broadcaster, actor and civil rights activist Nancy Wilson; singer and bandleader Janka Nabay; singer and educator Rebecca Parris; singers and guitarists Kassé Mady Diabaté, Philip Tabane; singer, pianist and songwriter Bob Dorough; singer, pianist and organist Aretha Franklin; singers and pianists Paul Broadnax, Audrey Morris; singers and songwriters Charles Aznavour, Miúcha, Geoffrey Oryema; singer, drummer, A&R manager, club owner and Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts president Don Gardner; singer, actor and poet Jacques Higelin; singer and actor Micki Varro; singer, pianist and producer Habib Faye; singer, percussionist and broadcaster Samia Panni.

Trombonists Pat Arana, Peter Feil, John Getz, Urbie Green, Scotty Hill, Dean Hubbard, Bill Hughes, Kirk Keutemeier, Erich Kleinschuster, David Leigh, Caroline Morton-Hicks, Dick Simon, Conny Stintzing, Frans Van Dyck. Jack Zito; trombonist, drummer, bandleader, writer, producer and record label founder Big Bill Bissonnette (Jazz Crusade); trombonists and bandleaders Ron Bowks, Mike Harries, Jimmy Wilkins; trombonists and educators Ken Hanlon, Leonard Neldhold, Bill Watrous, Mike Wiliamson; trombonist and singer Andre Stephani; trombonist, bassist, psychologist and actor Roger Burton.

Trumpeters Kevin Bryan, Joe "Doc" Bryant, Everett Farey, Dewey Johnson, Don Johnson, Lou Kaminski, Armand Olevano, Mason Prince, Boy Raaijmakers, Dalton Rousseau; trumpeter, bandleader, composer and singer Hugh Masekela; trumpeter, bandleader and educator Bill Fabrizio; trumpeters and bandleaders Al Garner, Roy Hargrove, Stan Reynolds, Tomasz Stanko, Jeff Taylor; trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator Ken McCoy; trumpeter, composer and conductor Walter Eichenberg; trumpeter, percussionist and bandleader Jerry Gonzalez; trumpeter and trombonist Egon Denu; trumpeter and broadcaster Lukas Burckhardt; trumpeters and educators Ken Grasley, Jim White.

Tuba players Pat Bowen, Jean Levinson; tuba and banjo player Tom Dutart; tuba player and bassist Rich Viano.

Ukelele player and slack-key guitarist, composer, record company founder (Kanikapila) and educator Peter Moon.

Vibraphonists Jerzy Milian, Wolfgang Schlüter.

Violinists Lucy Heiberg, Didier Lockwood; violinist and bassist Zipflo Weinrich.

Music director and composer Robert Arthur.

Sound engineer and bassist Aki Lehmann.

Record producers Akim Bergmann (Trikont), Joop De Roo (various labels), Rob Sunenblick (Uptown Records); record label founder, photographer and poet Dan Serro (Kharma Jazz and Danola); record record label founder (Miles Music) and race car driver John Miles; record label (Carnival) co-owner, music shop co-owner, jazz club board member, broadcaster and writer Mina Lea Crais; Tower Records founder Russ Solomon; record producer (Jeton label), broadcaster, writer and publicist Woomy Schmidt; engineer and producer Geoff Emerick; jazz promoter Pepe Hosiasson; jazz promoters Monique Manfelsdorff, Peter Schmitt-Sausen, the co-founder of Germany's Hürther Jazz Night; producer and songwriter Norman Blagman; record producer, label co-founder & co-owner, and guitarist Mike Panico (Relative Pitch).

Jazz club owner and NEA Jazz Master Lorraine Gordon (New York's Village Vanguard); jazz club owner and record label founder Henry Storch (Duesseldorf, Germany's Unique Club and Unique Records); jazz club owner Mel Hood (Lake Como NJ's Jason's Jazz & Blues Club); jazz club founder David Mossman (London's Vortex Jazz Club); nightclub owner Rocky Palmer (Schenectady NY's RocMar, Castle Club, Gourmet, Pompeii Room and RJ Ritz Terrace); music production specialist (French Quarter Fest and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival), and New Orleans bar and club manager and owner Barbara Gillmor; artist manager, club manager (New York's Birdland) and (Jazzmobile) production coordinator and historian Johnnie Garry; Edinburgh (Scotland) Jazz & Blues Festival founder, banjo player and guitarist Mike Hart; jazz festival co-founder Simone Ginibre (Nice, France's Grande Parade du Jazz); festival director Paco Martín Peñas (Spain's La Mar de Músicas and the Jazz Festival of Cartagena); Vancouver Jazz Festival artistic director Ken Pickering; Rowan (NC) Blues & Jazz Festival founder Eleanor Qadirah; former executive director of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Arts Festival Barbara Widdoes; record producer and concert programmer Rik Bevernage (Werf); concert promoter and record store owner Gavin Jones; record store owners "Bleecker Street Bob" Plotnick, Raffe Simonian (Chicago's Raffe's Record Riot); concert and festival producer (New York's first Harlem Jazz Festival & Jazz on the River) and weekly newspaper publisher (Jazzbill) Leo Hopewell; producer, promoter, club proprietor (Johannesburg's Dorkay House) and singer Queeneth Ndaba; JazzTimes founder & publisher, record store owner, producer and drummer Ira Sabin; restaurant owner Kathy Kriger (Rick's Café Casablanca); entertainment lawyer Howell Begle.

Broadcasters Gina Carter-Simmers, Roger Fega, David Mitchell, Neal Murray; broadcaster, pianist and writer Franck Bauer; broadcaster and Jazz Ottawa co-founder Ron Sweetman.

Discographer Horst J. Salewski.

Photographers Clemens Kalischer, Marek Karewicz, Jan Persson.

Writers Olav Angell, Michael Goodwin, Lee Jeske, Hans-Klaus Jungheinrich, Lauri Karvonen, Owen McNally, Alun Morgan; writer and actor Jean Porter; writer, business manager and (New Orleans Jazz Club) volunteer attorney Nick Gagliano; writer, broadcaster, editor, photographer, saxophonist and producer (Tucson Jazz Festival, Charles Mingus Hometown Jazz Festival) Yvonne Ervin; writer, broadcaster and musicologist Lino Betancourt Molina; writers and historians Lerone Bennett Jr., torian Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenberg; writer and photographer Bob Byler; writer and jazz festival organizer (Lake George NY's Jazz at the Lake) Paul Pines; writer and lyricist Marcia Hillman.

Blues, gospel and R&B artists, and industry figures Khaira Arby, Eddie Campbell, Siva Choy, Eddy Clearwater, Little Sammy Davis, Dennis Edwards, Clarence Fountain, Rick Hall, Edwin Hawkins, Algia Mae Hinton, Denise LaSalle, Lazy Lester, Stan Lewis, Floyd Miles, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, James "Nick" Nixon, "Sunshine" Sonny Payne, Otis Rush, Preston Shannon, David Shaw, Eddie Shaw, Yvonne Staples, Tony Joe White, Jody Williams, Betty Willis, Eddie Willis.

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 European publications.

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