National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2008 NEA Jazz Masters

Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center is dazzling background for announcement

October 2, 2007, New York, NY -- National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia announced the recipients of the 2008 NEA Jazz Masters Award tonight at a press conference at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The award is the nation's highest honor in this distinctly American art form. The recipients will receive a $25,000 fellowship, will appear in an award ceremony and concert on January 12, 2008, and have the opportunity to participate in other NEA-sponsored promotional and performance activities.

"I am delighted to announce the outstanding artists of the class of 2008," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "As jazz grows in the public's awareness and appreciation, I am encouraged that the NEA Jazz Masters Award has also gained broad recognition as the artform's highest honor."

This year's announcement is tinged with sadness with the death of renowned pianist and composer Andrew Hill who was notified of his receipt of the award shortly before his death. His wife, Joanne Robinson Hill, acknowledged the honor on his behalf.

In addition to Andrew Hill, this year's recipients are; Candido Camero (rhythm instrumentalist), Quincy Jones (bandleader), Tom McIntosh (composer-arranger), and Joe Wilder (solo instrumentalist/trumpet). This year's recipient of the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Master Award for Jazz Advocacy is Gunther Schuller.

In a departure from tradition, the newly named NEA Jazz Masters were in attendance at the announcement ceremony. As always, they will receive their plaques at the NEA Jazz Masters Awards concert at the annual International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) conference in January.

"Because the 2008 conference will be held in Toronto, Canada we knew it would be difficult for many in our large family of NEA Jazz Masters to make it there to share in the celebration, so we decided to throw a party closer to home as well," explained Chairman Gioia. Sixteen previously named NEA Jazz Masters were on hand for the announcement including Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, and Ahmad Jamal. Mr. Jones was not able to attend but will be at the NEA Jazz Masters celebration in Toronto, Ontario.

In addition to celebrating the new honorees, the crowd at the club also enjoyed a set by 2005 NEA Jazz Master George Wien and the Newport All Stars in celebration of the indefatigable Wein's 82th birthday

Each master artist in the 2008 class has made a unique contribution to jazz.

* Candido Camero is credited with being the first percussionist to bring conga drumming to jazz.
* Andrew Hill spent 40 years composing, performing, recording, and mentoring young musicians. He earned acclaim for his innovative performances and compositions beginning in the 1960s.
* A renaissance man of music, Quincy Jones is an impresario, conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer, and trumpeter.
* The unique voice of composer and arranger Tom McIntosh can be heard in the music of Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, and others as well as in Hollywood movies including Shaft.
* For 17 years, Joe Wilder performed with ABC-TV while building his reputation as a popular soloist and sideman.
* Gunther Schuller is a leader in both the classical and jazz traditions, contributing significant musical compositions and writings to expand jazz’s horizons.

Profiles of the 2008 NEA Jazz Masters are available on the web site.

Each year since 1982, the Arts Endowment has conferred the NEA Jazz Masters Award on a handful of living legends who have made major contributions to jazz. With this new class, the award has been given to 100 great figures in American music. Other NEA Jazz Masters include Count Basie, Art Blakey, Dave Brubeck, Betty Carter, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Cecil Taylor, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Teddy Wilson.

About NEA Jazz Masters: NEA Jazz Masters are selected from nominations submitted by the public. Newly named NEA Jazz Masters are honored at an awards ceremony and concert and are provided with a one-time fellowship of $25,000. Only living musicians or jazz advocates may be honored as NEA Jazz Masters.

To help these musicians make further connections with the American people, the Arts Endowment significantly expanded the program in 2004 and in 2005, establishing the NEA Jazz Masters Initiative. The initiative encompasses the award program itself; NEA Jazz Moments, a steady stream of performance and interview segments that air on 12 channels of XM Satellite Radio; NEA Jazz in the Schools, a web-based curriculum developed in partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center and generously supported in its creation by the Verizon Foundation. The Arts Endowment also collaborated with the Verve Music Group on CD and digital compilations and produced illustrated publications with profiles of all the NEA Jazz Masters.

For more information on NEA Jazz Masters, the public is invited to visit the web site, at www.neajazzmasters.org.

Source: National Endowment for the Arts

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