Award / Grant News

Dr. John, Tom Waits Among Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

Source: Groove Notes
March 6, 2011

There are a handful of jazz musicians who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These musicians include Louis Armstrong, Charlie Christian, Nat “King" Cole, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Jelly Roll Morton, Les Paul, and Dinah Washington. Crossover artists Dr. John and Tom Waits will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next Monday, March 14th. Bios from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website read: New Orleans' own Dr. John has ...

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SundayWax Bits

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 6, 2011

Well, it doesn't get much better than this—being awarded the National Medal of Arts by the President of the United States on March 2. Of course, being named a Kennedy Center Honoree this year would certainly be icing on the cake for Sonny Rollins. The tenor saxophonist was awarded the prestigious medal along with Quincy Jones at the White House. Sonny, 80, is one of the last performing links to the start of post-war jazz and a musician who has ...

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Apologies Will Get You Nowhere: Steve Stoute and Neil Portnow's Joint Grammy Statement

Source: We All Make Music
March 5, 2011

People have been making fun of the Grammys for years. It's been called out of touch, irrelevant, worthless and stupid by both pros and joes, and this has been going on for so long that the very debate about the Grammys' relevance is itself irrelevant. So why has the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) suddenly started trying to tackle the criticism? Yesterday, Grammy president Neil Portnow and music executive Steve Stoute issued a joint statement proclaiming that ...

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Sonny Rollins and Quincy Jones Receive National Medal of Arts from President Obama at White House

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts
March 4, 2011

President Barack Obama presented the National Medal of Arts to two jazz giants—saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and musician and composer Quincy Jones—at a White House ceremony on Wednesday, March 3, 2011.

See story by Patrick Jarenwattananon of A Blog Supreme on NPR, and a video of the awards ceremony below.

Other winners from Massachusetts included James Taylor, the singer/songwriter from the Berkshires, Jacob's Pillow Dance, for their outstanding contributions to ...

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Sonny Rollins Honored at the Whitehouse

Source: RJ on Jazz by R.J. DeLuke
March 3, 2011

The Man, who personified art, gets a medal for it. At last. “Jazz is life," the legend, Sonny Rollins, told me a couple of years back. “It's what happens every minute of every day. It's fresh and new. Creative, just like life itself." It's kind of a summary, and yet the tip of the iceberg with Sonny, who at age 80 is still going strong. Breathing fire. Shaking tree limbs to see what falls. Taking what comes through his head ...

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Sonny Rollins Among NEA Honorees

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
March 2, 2011

Today at the White House, President Obama will present the National Medal of Arts to ten creative Americans, including Sonny Rollins and Quincy Jones. From the announcement by the National Endowment for the Arts, here is the complete list of 2010 recipients:Robert Brustein, theatrical critic, producer, playwright, educator; Van Cliburn, pianist, music educator; Mark di Suvero, sculptor; Donald Hall, poet; Quincy Jones, musician, music producer; Harper Lee, author; Sonny Rollins, jazz musician; Meryl Streep, actress; James Taylor, singer, songwriter; Jacob's ...

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Sonny's Still on a Roll

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
March 1, 2011

The high honors, perhaps long overdue, keep on rolling in for saxophonist Sonny Rollins. His historic 80th birthday concert in New York's Town Hall three nights after his September 7 birthday was one of the top jazz events of 2010 Then you add in Edward MacDowell Medal, a lifetime achievement award from the Montreal International Jazz Festival, being the subject of an artful and insightful book (John Abbott and Blumenthal's Saxophone Colossus: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins) and induction into ...

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Sonny Rollins to Receive National Medal of Arts at the White House, March 2

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
March 1, 2011

Saxophonist Sonny Rollins is one of ten honorees who will receive the 2010 National Medal of Arts for outstanding achievements and support of the arts, it was announced by the White House today. The presentation will be made tomorrow, March 2, at 1:45 pm, by President Barack Obama in an East Room ceremony at the White House. Mrs. Michelle Obama will also be in attendance. “I'm very happy that jazz, the greatest American music, is being recognized through this honor, ...

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