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Jazz Greats Gather As National Endowment For The Arts Names Its 2006 NEA Jazz Masters
Gala Awards Concert in New York City Honors NEA Jazz Masters,
Highlights Role of the NEA on Organization's 40th Anniversary
Brilliant Latin-jazz percussionist Ray Barretto, vocalist extraordinaire Tony Bennett, master arranger-composer Bob Brookmeyer, multidimensional keyboardist Chick Corea, clarinet virtuoso Buddy DeFranco, blazing trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and history-making manager John Levy will take the stage in New York City on January 13, 2006, to receive the nation's highest honor in their art form: designation as National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters.
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia leads the 2006 NEA Jazz Masters celebration, including the gala awards concert held at the New York Hilton Grand Ballroom, Sixth Avenue at 53rd Street, beginning at 8:00 p.m. The event, featuring Ramsey Lewis and NEA Jazz Master Nancy Wilson as masters of ceremonies, will begin with a ceremonial procession of previously inducted NEA Jazz Masters. Musical tributes to the new inductees will include performances by the Count Basie Orchestra and the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, with arrangements by NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster.
The event is a highlight of this 40th anniversary year of the NEA, which was created through legislation signed on September 29, 1965, by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. According to National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia, “The NEA Jazz Masters Initiative is a perfect illustration of how the Arts Endowment has helped enrich and celebrate American cultural life and the achievements of our nation's artists. This comprehensive program benefits musicians, arts presenters, educators, students, and the general public. Best of all, it connects millions of Americans with this great musical tradition."
The NEA Jazz Masters celebrations are a major feature of the annual conference of the International Association for Jazz Education. The world's largest gathering of the global jazz community, the conference brings together some 7,000 educators, musicians, recording executives, exhibitors, journalists, and jazz enthusiasts.
Other NEA Jazz Masters events at the conference include a panel discussion with the 2006 inductees on January 14 at 1:00 p.m., at the Trianon Ballroom of the New York Hilton. The discussion will be moderated by noted author, critic, and former NEA Deputy Chairman A.B. Spellman, in whose honor the Arts Endowment has named the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.
In a related event, there will be a workshop presentation at 9:00 a.m. on January 14 in the Trianon Ballroom of NEA Jazz in the Schools, a five-unit, web-based, multimedia curriculum that will be available free of charge, beginning in January, to high-school social studies, U.S. history, and music teachers (www.neajazzintheschools.org). The curriculum, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, explores jazz as an indigenous American art form and as a means to understanding American history. NEA Jazz in the Schools is supported by a $100,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.
Each year since 1982, through the NEA Jazz Masters program, the National Endowment for the Arts has honored a select number of living legends who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz. Newly named NEA Jazz Masters are provided with a one-time fellowship of $25,000. In 2004, the NEA significantly expanded its NEA Jazz Masters Initiative into a comprehensive program that includes the NEA Jazz Masters Award; a 50-state NEA Jazz Masters tour; television and radio programming featuring NEA Jazz Masters; educational resources through the NEA Jazz in the Schools program, and recordings and publications. The NEA Jazz Masters On Tour component of the initiative, organized by the NEA and Arts Midwest, is sponsored by Verizon, with additional support provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through a grant to Chamber Music America.
Highlights Role of the NEA on Organization's 40th Anniversary
Brilliant Latin-jazz percussionist Ray Barretto, vocalist extraordinaire Tony Bennett, master arranger-composer Bob Brookmeyer, multidimensional keyboardist Chick Corea, clarinet virtuoso Buddy DeFranco, blazing trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and history-making manager John Levy will take the stage in New York City on January 13, 2006, to receive the nation's highest honor in their art form: designation as National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters.
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia leads the 2006 NEA Jazz Masters celebration, including the gala awards concert held at the New York Hilton Grand Ballroom, Sixth Avenue at 53rd Street, beginning at 8:00 p.m. The event, featuring Ramsey Lewis and NEA Jazz Master Nancy Wilson as masters of ceremonies, will begin with a ceremonial procession of previously inducted NEA Jazz Masters. Musical tributes to the new inductees will include performances by the Count Basie Orchestra and the Jon Faddis Jazz Orchestra, with arrangements by NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster.
The event is a highlight of this 40th anniversary year of the NEA, which was created through legislation signed on September 29, 1965, by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. According to National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia, “The NEA Jazz Masters Initiative is a perfect illustration of how the Arts Endowment has helped enrich and celebrate American cultural life and the achievements of our nation's artists. This comprehensive program benefits musicians, arts presenters, educators, students, and the general public. Best of all, it connects millions of Americans with this great musical tradition."
The NEA Jazz Masters celebrations are a major feature of the annual conference of the International Association for Jazz Education. The world's largest gathering of the global jazz community, the conference brings together some 7,000 educators, musicians, recording executives, exhibitors, journalists, and jazz enthusiasts.
Other NEA Jazz Masters events at the conference include a panel discussion with the 2006 inductees on January 14 at 1:00 p.m., at the Trianon Ballroom of the New York Hilton. The discussion will be moderated by noted author, critic, and former NEA Deputy Chairman A.B. Spellman, in whose honor the Arts Endowment has named the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.
In a related event, there will be a workshop presentation at 9:00 a.m. on January 14 in the Trianon Ballroom of NEA Jazz in the Schools, a five-unit, web-based, multimedia curriculum that will be available free of charge, beginning in January, to high-school social studies, U.S. history, and music teachers (www.neajazzintheschools.org). The curriculum, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, explores jazz as an indigenous American art form and as a means to understanding American history. NEA Jazz in the Schools is supported by a $100,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.
Each year since 1982, through the NEA Jazz Masters program, the National Endowment for the Arts has honored a select number of living legends who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz. Newly named NEA Jazz Masters are provided with a one-time fellowship of $25,000. In 2004, the NEA significantly expanded its NEA Jazz Masters Initiative into a comprehensive program that includes the NEA Jazz Masters Award; a 50-state NEA Jazz Masters tour; television and radio programming featuring NEA Jazz Masters; educational resources through the NEA Jazz in the Schools program, and recordings and publications. The NEA Jazz Masters On Tour component of the initiative, organized by the NEA and Arts Midwest, is sponsored by Verizon, with additional support provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through a grant to Chamber Music America.
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