2022: The Year in Jazz

Current events impacted the jazz world in significant ways throughout 2022. In its third year, the coronavirus pandemic continued to lurk in some settings, while others recovered in robust fashion. Russia's war on Ukraine was felt by musicians and triggered an outpouring of support for its victims. Initiatives to ensure greater equity in jazz advanced. The 11th annual International Jazz Day blended in-person and livestreamed events around the globe. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA Jazz Masters and bid farewell to three others who were among the hundreds of industry-associated musicians and figures passing away during the year.

The Pandemic, Year Three...

While it is not gone, the easing of the coronavirus pandemic restarted or reinvigorated live performances across the jazz landscape for most of the year. It was a much-needed rebound for the many clubs, concerts and festivals that had pretty much gone into hibernation. That wasn't the case in January, when New York City's Winter JazzFest canceled all live events, reverting to virtual streamed performances. The Jazz Cruise canceled its sailings (mainstream jazz, Blue Note at Sea and the Smooth Jazz Cruise) for the second consecutive year, but was set to resume its events in January 2023.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the French Quarter Festival returned to the Crescent City after two-year pauses. JazzFest experienced a triumphant return, with 475,000 festival-goers attending over seven days in late April and early May. It matched attendance for pre-pandemic festivals, but fell short of the all-time record of 650,000 fans set in 2001.

The Montreal International Jazz Festival was back at full strength in late June and early July, with acts from across North America and around the globe. In 2021, a slimmed-down version featured fewer acts, almost all of them from Canada. European festivals were also back in force.

Music Rising, a charitable organization created after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, awarded direct grant relief to 1,474 New Orleans-area musicians and industry workers who struggled financially due to the pandemic and after Hurricane Ida. The funds are administered by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. More than $2 million was raised through a Guitar and Music Memorabilia auction in December 2021 that featured guitars and personal items from some of the world's most prominent musicians.

While there were 123 jazz-related coronavirus deaths in the prior two years combined, 2022 saw only 16 known fatal cases in the jazz community. They included tabla player Badal Roy, and pianist and arranger Sy Johnson.

One positive emerging from the pandemic's isolation was the extensive livestreaming of events. The technology appears here to stay as another way for musicians and presenters to expand their viewing base.

Russia's war on Ukraine

The jazz world was touched by—and responded to—Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, where the continuing war has impacted musicians but didn't silence the music. In cities around the globe, bands and jazz organizations held concerts to benefit humanitarian efforts to help Ukraine and its refugees. There was a wide range of developments.

While some musicians joined Ukraine's defense effort as civilian soldiers, others kept the music playing at venues, including 32 Jazz Club in Kyviv and Perron 7 in Odessa. Over the summer, Jazz Foundation of America visionary Wendy Oxenhorn went to Ukraine to deliver food to children in orphanages, and medical supplies to hospitals and civilian soldiers through the Backroads Foundation. While in Kyiv, she also located more than100 Ukrainian jazz musicians and connected them to the JFA. That effort resulted in paid gigs allowing them to keep the music alive and feed their families for six months.

The war also brought an exodus from members of the arts communities—in both countries. Days after Russia invaded Ukraine, jazz record producer Evgenii Petrushanskii moved from St. Petersburg to Tel Aviv, claiming Israeli citizenship based on his father's Jewish roots. "It's impossible to release a record in Russia so it goes to the foreign audience," Petrushanskii told NPR. "A majority of music aggregators who release music toward the platforms like Apple Music, Spotify—they're not working. They're not presenting in Russia anymore." He re-registered his Rainy Days Records label in Israel, hoping to release new records of Russian artists in 2023. Petrushanskii is one of more than 100 Russian and Ukrainian artists in film, music, art and dance who emigrated to rebuild their careers in Israel.

Ukraine-born pianist, composer and educator Vadim Neselovskyi, who moved to the U.S. two decades ago, thought about returning home to join up the fight. But he decided he could do more by donating his concert and recording revenue to humanitarian relief than he could as an inexperienced soldier. His world tour raised more than $100,000, even before the June 17 release of his new solo piano album, Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City (Sunnyside, 2022).

Arts for Art, the nonprofit organization that produces New York City's annual Vision Festival, and three other arts organizations—Deep Tones for Peace, The Clemente Cultural Center and CenterPoint Arts—presented a five-hour concert March 18 to benefit and express their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. More than 90 musicians, dancers, and poets took part. The "10,000 Tones for Peace" event raised $7,500 to assist Doctors Without Borders' efforts in Ukraine. The many jazz performers included Mark Dresser, Marty Ehrlich, Melvin Gibbs, Jason Kao Hwang, D.D. Jackson, Oliver Lake, Ingrid Laubrock, Joe Morris, William Parker, Matthew Shipp and Fay Victor. This was one of many solidarity or benefit jazz events held around the world.

Jazz and social justice...

Initiatives to ensure greater equity in jazz, for female musicians when it comes to club, concert and festival programming, as well as gender and racial equity in the classroom for non-male, non-white musicians, took seed in significant ways during the year. They are long overdue. That said, those efforts will take time to fully expand into the industry consciousness.

In one new initiative, seven emerging artists—women and/or non-binary performers—were selected for apprenticeships and mentorships in the Next Jazz Legacy program. New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice started the three-year program, with major funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to increase opportunities for musicians most under-represented in the art form. The first recipients are drummer Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez, singer and trombonist Lexi Hamner, guitarists Keyanna Hutchinson and Loke Risberg, pianist Alexis Lombre, pianist and organist Anastassiya Petrova, and trombonist Kalia Vandever.

In addition to the performance apprenticeships and creative mentorships, the seven Next Jazz Legacy artists will participate in business mentorships with experts in the field, quarterly learning cohorts led by Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice founder Terri Lyne Carrington, and receive small scholarships to enroll in a Berklee Online course of their choice, plus $10,000 grants to help further the next steps in their careers. "The rich legacy of jazz can only get better when we are inclusive," Carrington said. "This generation is demanding that we open our minds and hearts to consider a future with greater distance from the customs and standards of the past. As educators and mentors, it is our job to listen to them and work together to make needed change."

Drummer, educator, activist andNEA Jazz Master Carrington is the most-visible advocate for the jazz equity movement through the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice Boston. She also is artistic director at The Carr Center, a multi-disciplinary arts organization and performance space in downtown Detroit, which, like Berklee, was also at the heart of her significant 2022 projects. Her 11th album as a leader, New Standards Vol. 1 (Candid, 2022) on September 16, was released on September 16, as was her book—"New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers" (Hal Leonard and Berklee Press). The book features a century of music, including works by Lil Hardin Armstrong, Mary Lou Williams, Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, plus contemporaries Maria Schneider, Dianne Reeves, the late Geri Allen, Esperanza Spalding, Cassandra Wilson Nubya Garcia, Mary Halvorson, Nicole Mitchell and the recently departed Jaimie Branch, among others.

Carrington also published a nonfiction children's book called Three of a Kind: The Allen Carrington Spalding Trio (Author House, 2022). The poem explores the musical partnership she shared with pianist Geri Allen and bassist Esparanza Spalding before Allen's death in 2017 at age 60. It is designed to inspire young women globally to play instruments. "There were many reasons I decided to write 'Three of a Kind.' Like 'New Standards 101 Lead Sheets,' it is important to continue to deliver the message about challenging the perceptions of gender roles in jazz and education," Carrington said. " It's a message for all seasons."

A Carrington-conceived and curated multimedia installation premiered at The Carr Center from October 14 and ran through November 27. Through live performances, film, new pieces of art, symposiums and workshops, "New Standards, part one of Shifting The Narrative: Jazz and Gender Justice" explored the intersection of history, gender, race and innovation. The art included works created by singers Cecile McLorin Salvant, Carmen Lundy and Jazzmeia Horn, and a New Standards-inspired recipe created by Lizz Wright.

Mutual Mentorship for Musicians partnered with NYC Winter Jazzfest to hold an in-person festival presenting music from 19 woman and non-binary bandleaders. The five-day event, held in June at Greenwich House Music School, followed two years of virtual festivals. It included performances of six new duo commissions. M³ co-founders Sara Serpa and Jen Shyu programmed the festival to highlight intersections between race, sexuality or ability and "showcase our generation's most powerful under-represented voices in jazz and creative music. We hope that in the future, gender balance will be the rule and not the exception in the programming decisions of all artistic directors and curators around the world," Shyu said. The organization presented its inaugural $5,000 Lifetime Achievement Award to Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and storyteller Shantala Nurullah.

Esparanza Spalding announced in November that she is moving on from Harvard after fulfilling her five-year contract to teach music and musical activism courses at the Ivy League university. The bassist, singer and composer said her proposal to implement a "decolonial education" curriculum didn't get a positive response. She said a Black Artist-Educators Decolonizing and Placemaking program would help institutions and instructors to "move beyond metaphorical commitments to decolonial education, Black and Native solidarity and reparations." Spalding said she will continue to work on a similar program in her Portland, Oregon hometown, where she is creating a "sanctuary space" for artists of color.

International Jazz Day, Take Eleven...

2022's International Jazz Day was the 11th edition of the UNESCO-sponsored global celebration of jazz. The April 30 event, co-produced by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, included performances, educational workshops, community-service projects, panel discussions, jam sessions, and radio and TV broadcasts and streamed events hosted in all 50 U.S. states and more than 190 countries on all seven continents. Its all-star Global Concert was held at United Nations headquarters in New York City. Earlier plans for Cape Town, South Africa to be the Global Host City for 2022 were postponed because of the pandemic.

Participating musicians in the virtual concert streamed from the UN's General Assembly Hall included pianists Joey Alexander (Indonesia), Helio Alves (Brazil), John Beasley (musical director), Laurent de Wilde (France), Herbie Hancock (host and artistic director), Ray Lema, (Congo), Hiromi (Japan) and Tarek Yamani (Lebanon); bassists James Genus, Marcus Miller and Linda May Han Oh (Australia); drummers Terri Lyne Carrington and Brian Blade; saxophonists Ravi Coltrane, David Sanborn and Erena Terakubo (Japan); trumpeters Randy Brecker and Jeremy Pelt; and singers Shemekia Copeland, José James, Youn Sun Nah (South Korea), Gregory Porter, Alune Wade (Senegal) and Lizz Wright. Also, guitarist Mark Whitfield, harmonica player Gregoire Maret (Switzerland), harpist Edmar Castaneda (Colombia), table player Zakir Hussain (India), percussionist Pedrito Martinez (Cuba) and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh (Syria).

Two hours earlier, UNESCO and Morocco's Anya Music broadcast the second annual JazzWomenAfrica concert. It was the culmination of a residency project bringing together women jazz musicians from across Africa. They included percussionist Abigail Narkie Teye (Ghana), singers Laura Prince (Togo) and Mariaa Siga (Senegal), bassist Maah Keita (Senegal), guitarists Mounaissa (Mali) and Nelida Karr (Equatorial Guinea), and kora player Senny Camara (Senegal).

Centennial Notes...

More than 80 jazz musicians marked their 100th birthdays posthumously during 2022. Notables included bandleader Larry Elgart, bassists Charles Mingus and Oscar Pettiford, clarinetist Hugo Strasser, drummer Specs Powell, guitarists Mundell Lowe and Johnny Smith, pianists Beryl Booker, Jaki Byard, Dorothy Donegan, Duke Jordan, Paul Smith, Ralph Sutton and Gerald Wiggins, and harmonica player and guitarist Toots Thielemans. Also, saxophonists Manny Albam, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Von Freeman, Illinois Jacquet, Jackie Kelso, Cecil Payne, Frank Wess and Ernie Wilkins, trombonists Eddie Bert and Kai Winding, trumpeters John Carisi, Neal Hefti, Al Hirt, Joe Newman and Joe Wilder, and singers Carmen McRae, King Pleasure and Kay Starr. Bandleader and trumpeter Ray Anthony, the last surviving member of the original Glenn Miller Orchestra, celebrated his 100th birthday on January 20.

Singer and club co-owner Louise Tobin died November 26 at age 104. French hornist Vince DeRosa died July 18 at age 101. Multi-instrumentalist, musical glasses player, composer and bandleader Gloria Parker died April 13 at age 100. Pianist Joe Baque turned 100 on March 1 and died on November 6. Multi-instrumentalist and singer Della Griffin turned 100 on June 12 and died on August 9. Italian singer and actress Lia Origoni died October 26 at age 103. Belgian drummer, composer, arranger and bandleader Gaston Bogaert died December 9 in La Garde-Freinet, France at age 101. Berlin-based Susanne Schapowalow, the only known woman jazz photographer in the 1940s, died June 6 at age 100.

Awards and honors of note...

NEA JAZZ MASTERS: The National Endowment for the Arts' 2022 Jazz Masters, bassist Stanley Clarke, alto saxophonist, educator and activist Donald Harrison Jr., drummer Billy Hart and singer Cassandra Wilson, were inducted with a ceremony and concert March 31 at SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco. Harrison received the Jazz Masters' A.B. Spellman Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy for his work on behalf of the jazz community in his native New Orleans, where he is Big Chief of the Congo Square tribe of Black-masking (Mardi Gras) Indians.

The 2023 class of NEA Jazz Masters, to be honored on April 1 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, will include violinist Regina Carter, saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and drummer Louis Hayes. Producer-writer Sue Mingus, widow of bassist Charles Mingus will receive a posthumous A.B. Spellman Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy for her tireless efforts to present her late husband's work. She died on September 24, 2022.

CANADIAN JAZZ MASTERS: Saxophonist Pat LaBarbera and late pianist Paul Bley were honored with 2022 Canadian Jazz Master April 23 in Toronto. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the Oscar Peterson Jazz Festival, a two-night event at the Royal Conservatory complex. The Canada's Jazz Masters program started in 2018. The past recipients are guitarist Ed Bickert, trombonist and bandleader Rob McConnell, and pianist Oscar Peterson (2018); clarinetist Phil Nimmons and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler (2019); multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller (2020); and guitarist Sonny Greenwich and arranger Gil Evans (2021). JJA AWARDS: The Jazz Journalists Association honored musicians and journalists in 47 categories with its 2022 JJA Awards on May 3. Singer Sheila Jordan and late writer Greg Tate were honored in Lifetime Achievement in Jazz and Jazz Journalism, respectively. Jon Batiste collected musician of the year honors. Tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana was up-and-coming musician of the year. Kurt Elling and Cecile McLorin Salvant won male and female vocalist honors for the fifth consecutive year. Kenny Garrett's Sounds from the Ancestors (Mack Avenue, 2021) was record of the year and John Coltrane's A Love Supreme: Live From Seattle (Impulse!, 2021) was historical record of the year.

In the journalism categories, Ted Gioia won two awards: the Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing in 2021 and blog of the year ("The Honest Broker"), and Rusty Hassan of WPFW in Washington, DC won the Marian McPartland-Willis Conover Award for Career Achievement in Broadcasting. Carol Friedman won the Lona Foote-Bob Parent Award for Career Achievement in Photography, while Downbeat magazine took publication/web site of the year honors.

Greg Bryant and Nate Chinen of WBGO won podcast of the year honors for "Jazz United." Pianist Emmet Cohen was livestream producer of the year for his weekly show "Live From Emmet's Place." Pianist Deanna Witkowski won biography of the year honors for her book "Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul"(Liturgical Press, 2021). Jordannah Elizbeth won book of the year about jazz honors for "50 Black Women Who Sang Their Way into Music History" (RP Kids, 2021). Urszula Las' black & white image of alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, taken at Warsaw's Jazz Jamboree festival, was voted photo of the year.

GRAMMY AWARDS: There was a wide range of jazz-related winners at the 2022 Grammy Awards on April 3. The 64th annual event had been postponed from January 31 from Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas because of the spike in COVID infections from the omicron phase of the pandemic. The program honored music released between September 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021. Jon Batiste was nominated for 11 awards and won five, including album of the year. He was one of several jazz musicians winning in genre-crossing categories.

The winners by category were: Jon Batiste, We Are (Verve, 2021)—album of the year; Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Skyline (Passion, 2021)—best jazz instrumental album; Chick Corea, "Humpty Dumpty (Set 2)" from Chick Corea Akoustic Band LIVE (Concord Jazz, 2021)—best improvised jazz solo; Christian McBride Big Band, For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver (Mack Avenue, 2020)—best large jazz ensemble album; Esperanza Spalding, Songwrights Apothecary Lab (Concord Jazz, 2021)—best jazz vocal album; Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Love For Sale (Streamline, Columbia, Interscope, 2021)—best traditional pop vocal album;

Also, Eliane Elias with Chick Corea and Chucho Valdes, Mirror Mirror (Candid, 2021)—best Latin jazz album; Rubén Blades y Roberto Delgado & Orquesta, Salswing! (Rubén Blades Productions, 2021)—best tropical Latin album; Taylor Eigsti, Tree Falls (GSI, 2021)—best contemporary instrumental album; Lyle Mays, Eberhard (Oim, 2021)—best instrumental composition; Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Warner, 2021)—best compilation soundtrack for visual media;

Also, Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers, Soul: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Walt Disney, 2020)—best score soundtrack for visual media (tie with Carlos Rafael Rivera, The Queen's Gambit); Jon Batiste, "Cry" from We Are (Verve, 2021)—best American roots performance; Jon Batiste and Steve McEwan, songwriters, "Cry" from We Are (Verve, 2021)—best American roots song; Vince Mendoza, for Vince Mendoza, Julia Bullock and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, To the Edge of Longing (edit version) (Modern, 2021)—best arrangement, instruments and vocals. Jon Batiste, Alan Ferguson, Alex P. Willson, "Freedom" from We Are (Verve, 2021)—best music video;

Also, Dae Bennett, Josh Coleman, Billy Cumella, Greg Calbi and Steve Fallone, Love For Sale (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga) (Streamline, Columbia, Interscope, 2021)—best engineered album, non-classical; Ricky Riccardi, The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 (Mosaic, 2021)—best album notes; Vince Mendoza, for Vince Mendoza, Julia Bullock and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, To the Edge of Longing (edit version) (Modern, 2021)—best arrangement, instruments and vocals.

LATIN GRAMMYS: There were several jazz-related winners at the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards on November 17 in Las Vegas. The winners by category were: Eliane Elias with Chick Corea and Chucho Valdes, Mirror Mirror (Candid, 2021)—best Latin jazz album; Hamilton de Holanda, Maxixe Samba Groove (Brasilianos, 2021)—best instrumental album; and Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Aymée Nuviola, Live in Marciac (5 Passion, 2022)—best traditional tropical album. Reed player Paquito D'Rivera and bassist Abraham Laboriel received the Trustees Award, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to Latin music. The event was held at Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

JAZZ MUSIC AWARDS: The inaugural edition of the Jazz Music Awards was held October 22 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta , Georgia. It included tributes to jazz influencers and innovators, competitive awards in eight categories, and live performances. Late pianist McCoy Tyner was honored with the jazz legend award Wayne Shorter was honored with a lifetime achievement award. Bassist Christian McBride won two awards for best mainstream artist and best group. Flutist Ragan Whiteside was honored as best contemporary artist; Bob Baldwin won best contemporary album honors for The Stay at Home Series, Volume 1 (CSII, 2022), Norman Brown, song of the year, for "Back at Ya." Stacey Kent and Somi tied for best vocal performance. Pianist Orrin Evans' The Magic of Now (Smoke Sessions, 2021) and saxophonist Kenny Garrett's Sounds From the Ancestors (Mack Avenue, 2021) tied in the best mainstream album category. A mid-show medley of "Songs of Social Justice" teamed singers Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, co-host Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jazzmeia Horn and Ledisi in a round robin medley of anthems of struggle and overcoming adversity. The event, created by broadcaster Wendy Williams, was produced by WCLK-FM, the campus radio station at Clark Atlanta University. They billed it as the first full-scale awards ceremony devoted solely to celebrating jazz music and the artists who create it.

JUNO AWARDS: The 2022 edition of Canada's Juno Awards, the dominion's version of the Grammy Awards, were held May 15 in Toronto. The winners by category were: Will Bonness, Change of Plans (Will Bonness Music, 2020 )—solo jazz album of the year; Avataar, Worldview (Sundar Music, 2021)—group jazz album of the year ;and Caity Gyorgy, Now Pronouncing: Caity Gyorgy (La Reserve, 2021)—best vocal jazz album.

Charlotte Cardin, a pop, electro and jazz singer-songwriter-pianist from Montreal, dominated the night with four Juno wins. They were artist of the year, album of the year and pop album of the year for Phoenix (Atlantic, 2021) and single of the year {"Meaningless") from that debut album. The outdoor setting at the Budweiser Stage was the Juno's first in-person gala in three years because of the pandemic.

CREATIVE INFLECTIONS AWARDS: The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation awarded nearly $1 million to seven jazz artists to collaborate with five arts presenters through its new Creative Inflections program. These awards, up to $200,000, involve experimental, multi-disciplinary work exploring social justice themes and expanding audiences for jazz. The foundation said the projects push jazz beyond its current limits and "allow artists the flexibility to expand their creative exploration in ways that have great potential to resonate with younger audiences that are increasingly drawn to hybrid artistic work."

The selected projects included "The Healing Project," a multi-disciplinary abolitionist project by pianist Samora Pinderhughes in partnership with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, exploring resilience, healing, incarceration, policing, violence and detention in the United States; "In the Green Room: Layering Legacies of Asian and Black American Women in Jazz," a collaboration by composer-performers Jen Shyu and Sumi Tonooka with the Asia Society in New York. Also, ... " (Iphigenia)," the Wayne Shorter-Esparanza Spalding operatic collaboration that premiered in November 2021 at ArtsEmerson in Boston; drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's "Jazz Without Patriarchy Project" at the Carr Center in Detroit to explore how gender inequity has affected the jazz genre, envisoning a more equitable jazz future; and "Ogresse: Envisioned" at The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The latter project features a multimedia, animated song cycle from singer-composer Cécile McLorin Salvant's exploration of the story of Sara Baartman, a 19thcentury South African woman who became a symbol of colonialist, racist and sexist exploitation.

GUGGENHEIM FELLOWS: Four jazz-related recipients are among the 180 individuals receiving Guggenheim Fellowships in 2022. They are flugabonist and educator David Dominique, guitarist Rafael Rosa, and drummer and educator Marlon Simon, all in the music composition category; and pianist, producer, bandleader, historian and author Guthrie Ramsey for music research. The Guggenheim awards range from $30,000 to $45,000.

SASSY AWARDS: Lucía Gutiérrez Rebolloso, a 21-year-old singer from Veracruz, Mexico, took first place in the 11th annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. It was held on November 20 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark as the final event of the TD James Moody Jazz Festival. Singer-songwriter Ekep Nkwelle of :Washington, DC, a past member of Howard University's vocal jazz ensemble Afro Blue, finished second. Harlem-based jazz veteran Allan Harris finished third. They received cash awards of $5,000 (first place), $1,500 (second place) and $500 (third place). The competition received more than 200 submissions from 25 countries.

ELLA AWARDS: Julia Danielle (Smulson) of Chicago won the fifth annual Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition in Washington, DC on April 23. Becky Alice of ((jny:London}} was the second-place finisher at the competition, held at Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown. In addition to her cash prize, the winner sat in with the Tierney Sutton Band at Blues Alley that night. The three other Ella Awards finalists, Dominique Bianco of Staten Island, New York, Alicia Lindborg of Jarna, Sweden and Decyo McDuffie of Miami, shared third place. The competition is sponsored by the Blues Alley Jazz Society.

ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON: The Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, Florida took top honors in Jazz at Lincoln Center's 27th annual Essentially Ellington High School Band Competition on May 7. Foxboro High School from Massachusetts and the Orange County School for the Arts from Santa Ana, California finished second and third respectively, among the 15 finalists invited to the week-long competition and festival. The 2020 and 2021 editions were held virtually because of the pandemic. Skylar Tang from Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, California won Essentially Ellington's 10th annual J. Douglas White Student Composition and Arranging Contest. The trumpeter's piece, "Kaleisoscope," was recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at its May 4 festival-related recording session.

SPARTANS WIN JACK RUDIN YEAR TWO: The Michigan State University jazz band won the second annual Jack Rudin Jazz Championship on April 20 at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Top honors for the band, directed by Rodney Whitaker, included a $10,000 prize. Temple University's jazz band won second place and $7,500. North Carolina Central University took third and a $5,000 award. Ten university jazz programs competed in the two-day invitational.

BMI JAZZ COMPOSERS WORKSHOP: Pianist Helen Sung won the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize at BMI's 2022 Jazz Composers Workshop's Summer Showcase on June 13. Sung's "Jazz Portraits: II. Wayne Shorter" was among eight new compositions written for the workshop and performed by the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra. Sung was also awarded the Manny Albam $3,000 commission to write a piece for next year's Summer Showcase. The performing rights organization's event was held at Dizzy's Club in New York.

ROYAL HONOURS: Pianist and composer Nikki Iles was awarded the British Empire Medal for "services to music "on Queen Elizabeth II's 2022 New Years Honours List. Iles, a founding member in the early 1990s of the Creative Jazz Orchestra in London and busy freelance musician, is also a professor of jazz piano at them Royal Academy of Music and Middlesex University. Trombonist, composer and arranger Bill Geldard was awarded the British Empire Medal on the Queen's Birthday Honours List on June 1. He was a founding member of the George Evans Orchestra, played in the Ted Heath and John Dankworth big bands, and in the 1970s led his own tentet and big band.

LETTERONE RISING STARS: Paris-based pianist Yessaï Karapetian and American guitarist Dan Wilson were 2021-22's winners of the LetterOne Rising Stars Awards, which were announced in January. Wilson, the North American winner, will perform at 10 major jazz festivals in the U.S. and Canada. European winner Karapetian, from Armenia, will perform at seven major jazz festivals across Europe. Additionally, each will receive a full year of PR/marketing support through the Air Artist talent agency. International businessman Mikhail Fridman, founder of the Leopolis Jazz Festival in Lviv, Ukraine, sponsors the award to help young jazz musicians realize their true potential.

LUMINARTS FELLOWS: The Chicago-based Luminarts Cultural Foundation named its 2022 class of Jazz Fellows in April. The four recipients, saxophonist Isaiah Collier, trumpeter Andrew Egizio, flutist Kenthaney Redmond and guitarist Kenny Riechert were given $10,000 awards, as well as access to professional and creative resources and additional project grants for 10 years," The winners were chosen from a pool of eight finalists who performed live in February at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago.

SWR JAZZ PRIZE: Swedish-born bassist Petter Eldh,who has lived in Berlin since 2009, was 2022's recipient of Germany's oldest jazz prize. The 15,000 euro award was presented October 10 at the Enjoy Jazz festival in Ludwigshafen. Eldh, the 42nd annual winner, was cited for his influence on the internationally networked improvisation scene and his innovative work as a composer, arranger, bandleader and producer. The SWR Jazz Prize (Southwest Germany Radio Jazz Award), was started by jazz journalist and producer Joachim-Ernst Berendt, who died in 2000.

GERMAN JAZZ PRIZE: SaxophonistErnst-Ludwig Petrowsky was honored with the lifetime achievement award at the 2022 edition of the German Jazz Prize awards on April 27 at Bremen's Metropol Theater. Petrowsky's honor was accepted by his wife and longtime musical duo partner, Uschi Brüning. Saxophonist and composer Charlotte Greve was voted artist of the year (national). Singer Michael Mayo was vote artist of the year (international).

Bassist Sebastian Gramss' international collective Hard Boiled Wonderland and its album Music Resistance (rent a dog, 2021), featuring Ukrainian singer Tamara Lukasheva, received a special award for critically examining current political, social and ecological issues. The 31-category German Jazz Prize program is sponsored by the Commissioner for Culture & Media and Initiative Musik, the federal government's central funding institution for the German music industry.

ERTEGUN JAZZ HALL OF FAME: Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and bassist Paul Chambers were the 2022 inductees into Jazz at Lincoln Center's Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame. They gained the most popular votes cast by jazz fans around the world.

LIVING LEGACY: Drummer Roger Humphries was honored October 28 with the PECO and Mid Atlantic Arts' 2022 Living Legacy Jazz Award. The Pittsburgh native performed with Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Nancy Wilson, Stanley Turrentine and Freddie Hubbard, among others. The award celebrates living jazz master artists residing in the Mid-Atlantic region. It includes a $10,000 honorarium. Humphries was honored at the third annual Jazz Philadelphia Summit.

NATIONAL HERITAGE FELLOW: New Orleans drummer and stilt dancer Shaka Zulu, the Big Chief of the Golden Feather Hunters, was named one of 10 National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts. The $25,000 fellowships are the highest honor in folk and traditional arts awarded in the U.S. Zulu has toured internationally with saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. as a masking performing artist and percussionist in Harrison's band Congo Nation.

GILMORE ADDS JAZZ: The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Gilmore organization has added a jazz component to its long-running programs that previously just focused on classical pianists through its Gilmore International Piano Festival and Gilmore Artist Awards. Through an $8 million gift, the organization will award $300,000 to a jazz pianist every four years.

The Larry J. Bell Jazz Artist Award includes a $50,000 cash grant to be used at the artist's discretion plus $250,000 disbursed over four years for projects that will enhance the recipient's musicianship and career. The first recipient will be announced in 2026.The award is named after the president of the Gilmore Piano Festival's board of trustees and founder of Bell's Brewery. In addition, the Gilmore will award two emerging jazz pianists a Gilmore Young Jazz Artist Award of $25,000 every two years. Gilmore jazz award recipients will be chosen by an anonymous panel of judges who will tour the world for four years listening to pianists playing in concert.

Jazz venue ups and downs...

CLASSIC JAZZ DIVE SHUTTERED: New York City's 55 Bar closed its doors for good on May 23 after a final performance by the Paul Jost quartet. The West Village basement venue, located at 55 Christopher Street, presented jazz and blues bands seven nights a week since the mid-1980s—until a 14-month pandemic closure. The prohibition-era dive bar, dating to 1918, became a key place for live jazz and a musical home for both developing talent and world-class players who could workshop new compositions before going on the road.

WHEN THERE"S SMOKE: There's musical fire again on stage at Smoke. The Upper West Side jazz venue in New York City was closed to audiences for more than two years because of the pandemic. It reopened July 21 with four nights of performances by saxophonist George Coleman. Coleman performed when the club first opened in 1999, and again after its closure for the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. The pandemic lull enabled owners Paul Stache and Molly Sparrow Johnson to redesign and expand the space to include room for more patrons and a larger stage.

ARTHUR'S IS BACK: Arthur's Tavern, a former speakeasy jazz bar founded in 1937 in New York City's West Village, reopened after a two-year pandemic closure and a renovation to retain its vintage look with modern touches. Blue Note Entertainment had owned the small club since the 1980s but let others operate it. With the grand reopening in July featuring Kermit Ruffins, the Bensusan clan brought Arthur's into the Blue Note family of venues.

MUSIC FLIES WITH ROYALTIES: New York City's Birdland Jazz Club announced a virtual streaming partnership with Flymachine. It livestreams Thursday night main stage performances and Frank Vignola's weekly guitar night on Wednesdays downstairs in the Birdland Theater, with streaming tickets starting at $5. The best news for performers: it includes prompt, equitable, and transparent royalty payments for composers and performers. Birdland managing partner Ryan Paternite said those payments had become "a key issue as we worked with artists to refashion our live music experience in a changing world."

BLUES ALLEY: Washington, DC's historic jazz club Blues Alley closed after an October 25 fire in its attic caused some water damage in the venue. The club, housed in an 18th century red brick carriage house in Georgetown, reopened on November 1 with performers Dave Kline and Jon Carroll after what club owner Harry Schnipper called "this bump in the jazz road."

OUT WITH PANDEMIC, IN WITH NEW NAME: The Playboy Jazz Festival, which was held annually in Los Angeles from 1979 until its 2020 pandemic cancellation, got a new name in 2022. The Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was held June 25-26 with a lineup featuring The Roots, Gregory Porter, Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science, Cory Wong, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, José James, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, Azar Lawrence and Gerald Clayton, among others.

NORTH BEACH UPLIFT: Pianist and educator Simon Rowe opened a new venue, Keys Jazz Bistro in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The November 10 gala opening featured singers Clairdee and Mary Stallings. Keys Jazz Bistro is located in the 498 Broadway building that once housed the club El Matador. The 4,000 square-foot space accomodates up to 125 patrons. North Beach was home to a variety of iconic venues in the 1950s through 2008 when Jazz at Pearl's closed. The bohemian area lost its last jazz-dedicated venue in 2018 when Doc's Lab shut down suddenly.

TAC JAZZ FEST: Jazz in the Neighborhood, a local nonprofit fighting for fair wages for musicians in Oakland, California teamed with the Temescal Art Center to sponsor a TAC Jazz Fest in April. It featured two concerts a night and a free afternoon jam session on three successive Saturdays. The event is programmed to turn TAC into a showcase for the East Bay jazz scene. The event opened with tenor saxophonist Raffi Garabedian's octet and singer Clairdee with the Ken French trio.

JAZZ ON THE MENU: Emma Rue's cafe in downtown Spokane, Washington opened its doors in early January and by early June featured live jazz three nights a week. Local jazz singer and consultant Heather Villa helped owners Aaron Hein and Alyssa Agee expand the live jazz concept. It includes a Tuesday program featuring college student and faculty musicians. It also hosts once-a-month Saturday jazz nights. Emma Rue's is located in the former Observatory and Blue Spark space at 17 S. Howard St.

BIRD'S EYE UPHEAVAL: Basel, Switzerland's iconic Bird's Eye jazz club resumed operations and performances in March after a six-month closure and the departure of founding artistic director Stephan Kurmann and artistic director René Pilloud. Pharmaceutical family heiress Beatrice Oeri, the downtown basement club's patron since its 1994 founding, remains at the helm witih fresh faces among the programming and management team. The club was in hot water with the city in 2021 for resisting coronavirus control measures. It had to repay some of its substantial government subsidy funds.

NO MORE JUNCTION: The Junction, a jazz venue in South London's Brixton district, closed its doors for good on August 31, after the landlord refused to extend its lease unless it paid a 70 percent increase in rent. The landlord, Manlon Properties Ltd., is linked to Asif Aziz, a multi-millionaire landlord with a reputation for closing pubs and redeveloping the buildings into luxury housing. The Junction, an independent venue, offered live jazz six to seven nights a week.

GYPSY JAZZ VENUE GONE: Le QuecumBar, a London brasserie featuring gypsy swing jazz for 19 years, locked its doors in April. Owner Sylvia Rushbrooke attributed the closure to administrative, judicial and financial hassles, including a new landlord doubling the rent for the 42-44 Battersea High Street building.

SYDNEY LOSES 505: After a 15-year run at three different locations, one of Australia's most important jazz clubs shut down on March 18. The small jazz club 505 in Sydney was a creative space named for its original street number. Pianist Steve Barry's quartet finished the club's final performance with an appropriate choice—Thelonious Monk's tune "Bye-Ya." The venue operators, Sydney Fringe theater director Kerrie Glasscock and bassist Cameron Undy, said closing 505 was a personal choice, though the space was under increasing financial pressure due to the real estate market.

FLEMISH JAZZ: City officials in Antwerp, Belgium announced in December that Jazz and Music, the non-profit group that has staged the Jazz Middleheim festival since 1969, had liquidated because of heavy debts. Antwerp's Deputy Mayor Nabilla Ait Daoud, who also serves as alderman of culture, said she would do everything possible to ensure that the next edition of Jazz Middleheim takes place next August in collaboration with VRT, the public service broadcaster for Belgium's Flemish community.

On the record...

BLUE NOTE AFRICA: Blue Note Records and Universal Music Group Africa created a new imprint to focus on African jazz artists. Blue Note Africa's first release, on May 27, was pianist Nduduzo Makhathini's In the Spirit of Ntu. "African music has been a major creative tributary for nearly every album in Blue Note's extensive catalog," Blue Note President Don Was said. "It's a great honor for us to partner with (Universal Music Africa CEO) Sipho Dlamini and his talented team in this new endeavor. Together, we will shine a global light on the incredible music emanating from Africa today."

CENTENNIAL FOR A NOTABLE FIRST: In May 1922, Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band made the first recording by a Black New Orleans jazz band. It happened far from the Crescent City in a Santa Monica, California recording studio. The 1811/Kid Ory Historic House in LaPlace, Louisiana marked the recording's centennial with a performance by drummer Hal Smith's On the Levee Jazz Band, which is patterned after the Ory group. The May 4 centennial concert was documented in vintage fashion—by a mechanical recording without microphones directly onto a wax cylinder using a century-old Edison phonograph.

Jazz on film and TV...

HARGROVE: A documentary about late trumpeter Roy Hargrove premiered June 12 at New York's Tribeca Film Festival. Hargrove, directed by Elaine Henri, was filmed in Greenwich Village, Los Angeles and European jazz clubs during his final tour. In addition to performance footage, it includes insights from jazz, hip hop and R&B greats about his multi-genre musical legacy. Hargrove died of cardiac arrest related to kidney disease on November 2, 2018 at age 49.

JAZZ FEST AT 50: The documentary Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story (Sony Pictures Classics, 2022) premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 16. The Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern-directed film used live performances and interviews to explore the festival's 50-year legacy and the rich culture of the Crescent City. It included performances by Bruce Springsteen, Al Green, Herbie Hancock, Aaron Neville, Jimmy Buffett, Earth, Wind & Fire, Trombone Shorty, Gregory Porter, Irma Thomas and many more.

NOLA FOCUS: Martin Shore's documentary Take Me to the River: New Orleans< (360 Distribution Inc., 2022), celebrating the musical history of New Orleans and Louisiana, premiered April 22 at the Crescent City's Broad Theater. Actor John Goodman narrates the film, which features a wide range of area musicians. Jazz-related performers included the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Jon Batiste, Jon Cleary, Davell Crawford, Donald Harrison Jr., Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, New Breed Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band and Galactic, among others. Shore's first Take Me to the River Project in 2014 focused on the music of Memphis.

MUSIC PICTURES: The documentary Music Pictures: New Orleans premiered June 12 at the Tribeca Film Festival, streaming globally two days later. The project directed by Ben Chace explores the lives and craft of four Crescent City music legends: singer Irma Thomas, blues man Little Freddie King, pianist Ellis Marsalis and Treme Brass band founder Benny Jones Sr.

BLACK & BLUES:Director Sacha Jenkins' documentary Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues premiered September 8 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released October 28 by Apple Original Films. Drawing on Louis Armstrong's extensive audio diaries, Jenkins revisited the trumpeter and singer's music and reappraised his legacy, examining the politics and times in which he worked. Viewers hear Satchmo singing, playing, talking, joking, complaining, and leaving a record of his life. The documentary traces his jazz predecessors, contemporaries and disciples, and includes new music composed by Terence Blanchard.

ELLIS HITS THE SCREEN: Filmmaker Sascha Just premiered her long-awaited documentary ELLIS, chronicling the life and music of pianist Ellis Marsalis, at Manhattan's Doc Now NYC showcase on November 10. The story is told by Marsalis, his colleagues, family members, and musical disciples as the film chronicles growing up in a segregated society, pursuing his love for bebop in a city devoted to traditional jazz, raising a family, building university jazz programs, and eventually retiring. Marsalis died April 1, 2020. He was 85.

SKIN TO SKIN: A documentary celebrating the life and work of conguero, educator, historian and San Francisco Bay-area community activist John Santos premiered March 12 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Santos—Skin to Skin (Searchlight Films, 2022) was directed and produced by Searchlight founding partners Kathryn Golden and Ashley James. Their 10-year project explored the seven-time Grammy Award nominee's use of music to navigate the politics of culture, global migration and his Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean heritage while juggling the daily challenges of life.

CANADIAN OSCAR: Barry Avrich's 81-minute film Oscar Peterson: Black + White (Melbar, 2020) made its streaming debut on Hulu on February 8. While exploring the overwhelming talent of the Canadian musical giant, critics universally criticized the film's over-use of repetitive comments from musicians that Peterson influences, and not examining in more-depth his life and issues he overcame.

OMARA SOSA'S PIANO MAGIC: Filmmaker Sioren Sorensen's documentary Omar Sosa's 88 Well-Tuned Drums, had its world premiere April 23 at the USA Film Festival in Dallas. The 99-minute film explores the Cuban-born pianist, composer and bandleader's life and music.

DIGGING AN ENIGMA: Greg Mallozzi's 55-minute documentary The Key Man: Dave McKenna (Qwest TV, 2022) explores the monumental talent and marginal notoriety of the swing pianist, who died in 2008. His staggering technique, with a formidable left-handed bass line and fondness for thematic medleys, was overshadowed by modesty, shyness and a preference to play in saloons and small clubs rather than make extensive tours. As a result, he didn't share the general recognition afforded many other jazz keyboard giants.

RONNIE SCOTT'S LEGACY: Oliver Murray's documentary Ronnie's (Greenwich Entertainment, 2021) opened in North American select theaters and for on-demand streaming on February 11. The film track's the history of London's iconic jazz club Ronnie Scott's and digs into the life of its tenor sax-playing owner, who died in 1996. It includes previously unseen and unheard footage of performances captured at the Soho club by Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan and others. The film premiered at DOC NYC and was shown in some UK theaters in 2021.

GETTING HIS DUE: Ethiopian jazz keyboardist Hailu Mergia and his Wailias band began touring in the early 1980s and sought asylum in the United States because of the Red Terror, an oppressive regime back home. Virtually unknown outside the small Ethiopian diaspora, he continued to make music for more than 30 years while driving a taxi in Washington, DC to support himself. He started getting recognition in 2014 after his music was discovered in a cassette shop in Addis Ababa and re-released by a young American music publisher. The Lorena Alvarado and Adam Golfer documentary "IT IS A SOUL: A Portrait of Hailu Mergia" (Vimeo), released in January, explores the pianist's journey from iconic Addis Ababa bandleader in the 1970s to his public re-emergence as a performer a decade ago.

BATISTE COLORING PURPLE: Fresh off his five Grammy wins, Jon Batiste was cast as the sweet-talking pianist Grady, in the Warner Bros. remake of the musical The Color Purple. Batiste's character is the husband of blues singer Shug Avery, who is played by Taraji P. Henson. The Blitz Bazawule-directed film, produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones, is based on the 2005 Broadway musical adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning1982 Alice Walker novel. The film is scheduled for release in theaters on December 20, 2023.

Jazz in the classroom...

ON THE MOVE: Canadian jazz saxophonist, composer and big bandleader Christine Jensen has moved south of the border to join the Eastman School of Music's jazz faculty. Jensen said the 300-mile move from Montreal to Rochester, New York will enable to share her passion for jazz composition "at the highest level" and lead the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. She said she will still maintain some presence in Montreal, where she led her jazz orchestra and taught at McGill University.

FREE JAZZ RESIDENCY: The 577 Records label and Berklee College of Music started a new residency program---"Sounds of Freedom"---that is focused on experimental music, or free jazz. Five musicians worked with drummer Francisco Mela and other Berklee faculty members in an intensive four-week experience in October in Sutri, Italy. The initial recipients were alto saxophonist Jeff Pearring, trumpeter Diego Hedez, pianist Hidemi Akaiwa, bassist Ledian Mola and drummer Olivia Kelly. The project included performances in Oriolo Romano and Rome. In addition to project management by 577 Records owners Federico Ughi and Polly Barnes, the new program is supported by musician, scientist and author Matthew Putman, who is executive producer.

Historic preservation ups and downs...

SUN RA HOUSE: The three-story building that has been a cradle for late bandleader Sun Ra's evolving Arkestra since the 1960s has been listed as a historic landmark in the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The building at 5626 Morton Street, also known as the Arkestral Institute of Sun Ra, still houses a number of band members. Current leader Marshall Allen has lived in the house since 1968. The Philadelphia Historical Commission's protected status designation in May will ensure any adjustments to the building meet historic preservation standards. The panel will also provide advice on its restoration and maintenance.

BUDDY BOLDEN HOUSE: A dilapidated shotgun house where cornetist Buddy Bolden lived was seized by New Orleans' government on October 25 and is scheduled for public auction on February 16, 2023. The property at 2309-2311 First St. has been vacant for years and needs significant maintenance. New Orleans-born R&B star P.J. Morton presented a plan several years ago to renovate the property into a museum and community recording studio, but the project hasn't gotten off the ground. The city said if Morton is interested in this property, he can bid on it, unless the church that bought the property after Hurricane Katrina pays off delinquent debts and recovers the property. Bolden's fiery style inspired a generation of early jazz musicians, but no recordings are known to exist.

LANDMARK COLLAPSES: The bygone New Orleans jazz venue Perseverance Hall, damaged in 2021 by Hurricane Ida, collapsed into rubble after two days of heavy rain in August. was all that was left intact of the bygone jazz venue on Wednesday afternoon. Preservationists had warned that the wooden building at 1644 N. Villere St. in New Orleans' 7th Ward was at risk. Members of the Perseverance Benevolent Mutual Aid Association built hall in 1880 as a meeting place and concert venue. Historian and architectural preservation advocate Frederick Starr said it was a "home base for a Who's Who of early jazz musicians," including Sidney Bechet, Buddy Bolden, Johnny Dodds and others.

CUSTOMS BACK ON PARADE: The House of Dance and Feathers, a New Orleans Black cultural site and museum, reopened Tuesday, December 6. The Ninth Ward space had closed as one of the first New Orleans casualties of the pandemic after the March 2020 death of founder Ronald W. Lewis. He had documented parading customs like Mardi Gras Indians, Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs and Skull & Bone gangs. Lewis had been involved with Mardi Gras Indians since age 13, and was a member of the Krewe du Jieux since its formation in 1996. His wife, Charlotte "Minnie" Lewis, and anthropologist Rachel Breulin's Neighborhood Story Project, restored the museum.

OWNERSHIP CHALLENGE: John Coltrane's two sons Oran and Ravi Coltrane have filed suit claiming they are the rightful owners of historic, but deteriorating John Coltrane House in Philadelphia, not relatives of a jazz lover who bought it from Coltrane's cousin, Mary L. Alexander ("Cousin Mary") in 2004. Norman Gadson died in 2007, before he could fulfill his dream of turning it into a jazz venue. Saxophonist Coltrane bought the house at 1511 N. 33rd St. in1952 as a home for himself, his mother, aunt and cousin, and lived there until about 1958. The property in Philly's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood is a National Historic Landmark.

The lawsuit contends that Gadson "allegedly paid a third party for a sham deed to the Coltrane House." The sons allege Alexander did not have the right to sell the property because she only held a "lifetime estate" interest in the house, meaning she had a legal right to live there until her death, but not to sell it. The document noted that the 2004 deed that Gadson filed contains misspellings of the Coltrane name.

Significant commemorations...

MINTING A LEGEND: A $1 coin commemorating piano great Oscar Peterson went into circulation on his birthday, August 15. The Royal Canadian Mint issued the coin to honor the Montreal native's "extraordinary talent and enduring musical legacy." It features Peterson playing musical notes from the last two bars of his composition "Hymn to Freedom," which became an anthem for the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The mintage is limited to three million coins, two million of them featuring a purple accent, Peterson's favorite color. He is first the Black Canadian to be featured on a circulation coin.

STAMP OF APPROVAL: Singer, actress and television host Eleanor Collins, known as Canada's "First Lady of Jazz," was honored January 21 with a commemorative stamp. Canada Post honored Collins' life and legacy as a lead-up to Black History Month. Collins turned 103 on November 21. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Collins got her start as a singer after winning a local talent show at age 15. In the late 1930s, she relocated to Vancouver and immersed herself into the jazz scene. Turning down opportunities to take her talents to the U.S., Collins in 1955 became the first Black woman to headline a TV show in North America, starring in "The Eleanor Show."

THEATER HONOR: Singer, actress and civil rights activist Lena Horne become the first Black woman to have a Broadway theater named in her honor. The former Brooks Atkinson Theater in New York was renamed by the Nederlander Organization. The theater operator, producer and presenting organization had agreed with Black Theater United and two landlords to name at least one of their theaters for a Black artist as part of a collective commitment to diversity and anti-racism. Horne died on May 9, 2010 at age 93.

SQUARE FOR SEKELES: A city square in Frankfurt, Germany was renamed in honor of composer and educator Bernhard Sekles, who founded Europe's first jazz class in 1928 at Dr. Hoch's Conservatory. He became conservatory director in 1924, serving until the Nazis relieved Sekles of his office shortly after they seized power in 1933. He died of pulmonary tuberculosis in a Jewish retirement home in Frankfurt a year later.

WAY TO GO, WAYNE: Newark, New Jersey has renamed part of the city's Park Place as Wayne Shorter Way in honor of the saxophonist who was born and raised in Newark. The new street sign was unveiled April 29 by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, City Council members and WBGO CEO Steven A. Williams. Students from Newark's Arts High, Shorter's alma mater, performed in a livestreamed tribute. WBGO proposed the renaming, which was approved unanimously by the City Council. As a result, WBGO and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center are located at the intersection of Wayne Shorter Way and Sarah Vaughan Way.

HONOR BLOOMS IN INDIANA: The Indiana University Board of Trustees voted to rename the university-owned portion of Jordan Avenue in Bloomington between 17th Street and North Fee Lane, commonly known as the Jordan Avenue extension, as David Baker Avenue. The trombonist, cellist, bandleader and NEA Jazz Master founded the university's jazz studies program, chairing it from 1968 to 2013.

IRA'S WAY: The Miami-Dade County Commissioners renamed a section of Southwest 76th Avenue in Miami as Ira Sullivan Way in honor of the late instrumentalist and educator who moved to south Florida in the early 1960s and with trumpeter Red Rodney helped build the area's jazz scene. The street passes the Unitarian Church where Sullivan hosted weekly Monday and Friday jazz evenings for 14 years. Sullivan died September 21, 2020 at age 89.

JIMMY'S WAY: Late saxophonist Jimmy Heath was honored May 20 when James Edward Heath Way was unveiled at114th Street and 34th Avenue in Corona, New York. The community is part of Queens, the New York City borough where Heath lived for much of his life. The NEAJazz Master and educator also was a board member of the Louis Armstrong House Museum in the same neighborhood. He died January 19, 2020.

ONAJE'S WAY: Late pianist, composer and educator Onaje Allan Gumbs was honored July 5 when the street where he lived in the Bronx, New York was co-named Onaje Allan Gumbs Way. The sign on De Kruif Place was installed ed at its intersection with Dreiser Loop in the Co-Op City neighborhood. Gumbs performed in jazz, pop, R&B and others genres for nearly five decades, working with Norman Connors, Phyllis Hyman, Kenny Burrell, Betty Carter, Woody Shaw and many others. He died in April 2020.

FIVE MILES FOR LOU: A five-mile stretch of State Highway 740, which runs through Badin, North Carolina, was renamed Lou Donaldson Boulevard on October 14. The alto saxophonist was born in Badin in 1926. The renaming event took place at nearby Cedar Grove AME Zion Church, where Donaldson's father was a preacher. "Sweet Papa Lou"' was grand marshal for the town's centennial parade in 2013 and has returned several times over the years to perform for local audiences.

MORE NOLA RECHRISTENINGS: The New Orleans City Council voted January 6 to honor two more local musical heroes as part of its effort to rechristen landmarks originally named for Confederates, slave owners and segregationists. A boulevard in the Lakeview neighborhood named in honor of Gen. Robert E. Lee was renamed for late rhythm-and-blues icon Allen Toussaint. Slidell Street in Algiers, named after John Slidell, the Confederacy's ambassador to France, was rechristened Red Allen Way in honor of the Swing-era jazz trumpeter who was born in the neighborhood.

Jazz and art...

SCULPTING SOUND: The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas brought in a dozen jazz players over six nights in February to interact with some of artist Harry Bertoia's sounding sculptures. Bertoia (1915-1978) created hundreds of pieces consisting of metal rods of different sizes and materials that can be manipulated to produce tonal sounds and vibrations. Each instrument-themed concert featured a duo plus the Bertoia sounding sculptures. The series included guitarists Nels Cline and Ben Monder, trumpeters Ambrose Akinmusire and Nate Wooley, saxophonists Ingrid Laubrock and JD Allen, string players Jen Shyu and Brandon Seabrook, percussionists Marcus Gilmore and Dan Weiss and pianists Kris Davis and Craig Taborn.

ARMSTRONG'S ART: The Red Wall Art Gallery in Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York opened an exhibit of trumpeter Louis Armstrong's collage collection. The Louis Armstrong House Museum in nearby Corona curated the June exhibit. Museum executive director Regina Bain said the entertainer's collages, created on the covers of 500 reel-to-reel tape boxes, "reveal the trumpeter's whimsical nature as well as his unique social commentary."

Crime log...

MOURNING MURRAY: New Orleans trumpeter and educator Brian Murray, 60, was shot and killed on January 31 inside his home during the attempted kidnapping of his grandson in a domestic violence dispute. Edmond Ramee Sr. surrendered to police that night after fleeing the scene with his 1-year-old son. The child was released unharmed. Ramee was charged with second-degree murder. Murray led the Brian Murray Traditional Jazz Band and The New Orleans Horns, and worked with singer Deacon John Moore for more than 10 years.

SENSELESS ATTACK: Renowned Broadway vocal coach Barbara Maier Gustern died of a traumatic brain injury March 15, five days after the 87-year-old grandmother was pushed to the ground from behind just steps from her apartment building in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. The singer and sought-after vocal coach was rushing to Joe's Pub at the Public Theater to watch one of her students perform when the attack occurred. Suspect Lauren Pazienza, 26, was charged with manslaughter after surrendering to police on March 22. Gustern once coached rock singer Debbie Harry and the cast of the 2019 Broadway revival of the musical Oklahoma!

JOPLIN SITE DAMAGED: A 38-year-old man was charged with causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage done to the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri on October 2. Police said Kevin Daley-Bey was charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage for allegedly breaking windows and damaging furniture and historic artifacts. Investigators said he also wrote several suicide notes and briefly barricaded himself inside the historic home. Joplin, known as "The King of Ragtime," lived in a flat at 2658 Delmar Boulevard from 1901 to 1903. The site includes museum exhibits of his life.

Miscellaneous...

THE BASS PLACE: Bassist Ron Carter celebrated his 85th birthday six days late but with great fanfare at a May 10 Carnegie Hall concert in New York City. History's most-recorded jazz bassist performed with his Golden Striker trio, Foursight quartet and the Ron Carter Octet before concluding the evening with a solo piece. The celebration also featured tributes from fellow bassists Stanley Clarke and Buster Williams.

JAZZY ARIAS ABOUND: Singer Kat Edmonson made her theatrical debut January 7 in the off-off Broadway jazz opera, The Hang, at the Here Art Center. The work by playwright-actor-singer Taylor Mac celebrates the life and death of Greek philosopher Socrates. The opera about the philosopher's long hemlock-induced demise recalls a New Orleans jazz funeral complete with a marching brass band, with Matt Ray's jazz score detouring at times into the blues and gospel music, plus soaring scat arias from Edmonson and Synead Cidney Nichols. The band included Ray on keyboards, bassist Gary Wang, drummer Joel Mateo, trombonist J. Walter Hawkes, trumpeter Greg Glassman, and saxophonists Jonathan Beshay, Jessica Lurie and Lisa Parrott. The sold-out show ran through March 6.

ONE TO CALL ITS OWN: The Canadian National Jazz Orchestra premiered April 28 in Calgary, where it was conceived by the collaborative JazzYYC. The Christine Jensen-led orchestra showcases jazz musicians, composers and arrangers hailing from throughout Canada. The CNJO performed new works inspired by the Canadian experience from Jensen and fellow composers Marianne Trudel, Philippe Cote, Brian Dickinson, Darcy James Argue, Derrick Gardner and Jaelem Bhate. Vancouver-based drummer, composer and conductor Bhate was the inaugural Canadian National Jazz Orchestra-Hugh Fraser Emerging Composer Award recipient. The 18-member orchestra plans to tour across Canada and internationally.

TWO TWISTS ON THE NUTCRACKER: A reimagining of "The Nutcracker" based on Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's collaborative The Nutcracker Suite, premiered October 19 at the Benedum Center in Strayhorn's Pittsburgh home town. Sugar Hill—The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker is set to the timeless music of Ellington and Strayhorn with a libretto by Jessica Swan. After the two-week Pittsburgh run, the performance moved to the New York City Center from November 15-27, just in time for the holidays. Sugar Hill was directed by Joshua Bergasse and produced by David Garfinkle.

Drummer and bandleader Joe McCarthy and saxophonist Vince Norman went back to Tchaikovsky's original1892 ballet score for inspiration in crafting a Latinized version of the suite. McCarthy's New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band recorded this version, and performed it at Dizzy's Club in New York City on December 14 and at Blues Alley in Washington, DC five nights later. The Pan American Nutcracker Suite (Origin, 2022), was released in September.

FREDA HONORS ELLA: Singer and actress Freda Payne starred in Ella, First Lady of Song, a musical about Ella Fitzgerald that ran from August 18 through September 11 at Malloy University's Madison Theatre in Rockville Center on Long Island, New York. Director Lee Summers collaborated with Maurice Hines to create the musical in 2004, when it premiered in New Jersey with a later run in 2018 in Alexandria, Virginia. This version co-starred Harriett D. Foy and Debra Walton.

JAZZED TO BE SISTER CITIES: Mayors LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans and Jean Leonetti of Antibes Juan-les-Pins, France, signed a sister city agreement July 14 to formalize the musical bond between the Cresecent City and the Mediterranean resort community. It occurred during the 61st annual International Jazz à Juan Festival. The event has featured French and New Orleans-based bands over the years. "With this new sister city agreement, Mayor Leonetti and I look forward to increased possibilities for cultural, educational and economic exchanges between us," Cantrell said. New Orleans musician Sidney Bechet married and settled in Antibes in 1951.

FINAL ROUNDUP: Trumpeter Doc Severinsen retired after his final performance on August 27 at Universal Preservation Hall in Sarasota Springs, New York. He performed with his longtime touring band, the San Miguel 5, and in a duet segment with his wife, trumpeter Cathy Leach. The event was billed as "The Final Roundup: Doc Severinsen's Last Show." Severinsen turned 95 on July 7. Known for his loud, eccentric clothing and high-note playing, he led NBC's "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" orchestra for 25 years.

WHITE HOUSE TO N'AWLINS: Pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste performed at the White House on December 2 for President Joe Biden's first state dinner, which welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron. It was the first time a New Orleans artist has played in the White House since George W. Bush invited the Preservation Hall Jazz Band while hosting India's prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2005. The next day, Macron capped his U.S. visit with a full day in New Orleans, where he promoted clean energy and toured the French Quarter. That night, he visited Frenchmen Street, checking out the live music in the Blue Nile, d.b.a., and Royal Frenchmen Hotel and Bar, as well as by several street musicians.

STREET KINGS: Kings of Brass bested three other New Orleans brass bands on September 24 to win the third Red Bull Street Kings competition. It defeated Sporty's Brass Band, Big 6 Brass Band and Young Pinstripe Brass Band in a lively event scored on stage appearance, material, energy, musicality, and innovation. After the head-to-head third round, Sporty's Brass Band and Kings of Brass took to the stage one last time in an unanticipated throwdown for the crown. The event was held at Music Box Village in Bywater. Red Bull Street Kings began in 2010 under the Claiborne Avenue bridge in 201 and was held there again in 2013, with sponsorship by the energy drink maker Red Bull.

Tragic losses

Five of the many deaths of jazz musicians during 2022 were tragedies, four of them highway deaths. The other involved a SWAT standoff in a small mountain town near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Two German jazz musicians, guitarist Jörg Teichert and drummer Christian Huber, were on the way to studio rehearsals in Stuttgart on February 28 when car transporter pushed their car into the braking semi-trailer in front of them. They died instantly. Both were members of the Black Project jazz band and taught at Mannheim's Pop Academy Baden-Württemberg.

Trumpeter, guitarist, singer, songwriter, music therapist and educator Sara Rogers died June 17 in Buffalo, New York after she was struck by a car while bicycling. She was 29. Rogers was one of three cyclists struck near the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino. The other two women were seriously injured. Police said the driver may have suffered a medical emergency. On August 26, the day Rogers' band Girl Crush+ had been scheduled to perform at the Northwest Jazz Festival in nearby Lewiston, the festival's Peace Garden Stage was renamed as the Sara Rogers Peace Garden Stage.

Saxophonist and educator Andrew Speight died December 1 after his car got stuck at a commuter railway crossing near Broadway Station near his home in Burlingame, California and was struck by two trains. Speight was 58. The Sydney, Australia native moved to the United States in the early 1990s to teach music. He was a jazz lecturer at San Francisco State University. His album Andrew Speight Quartet (ABC Jazz,1998) won an Aria Award, which is Australia's equivalent to the Grammys.

Trumpeter Tony Lujan died July 27 during a 12-hour standoff with police at his Yrisarri home in the East Mountains area near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Investigators said Lujan, 65, killed himself rather than surrender. Police went to the home after the New Mexico Hall of Fame musician allegedly shot at a man and teenager riding an ATV in the area the day before. Lujan began playing trumpet at age 10. He studied at New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico before being mentored by Clark Terry.

2022 Final Bars

The jazz world lost many musicians and industry-related people during 2022, including three of its NEA Jazz Masters:

Here's a comprehensive compilation:

Accordionist Mario DeLeon;

B-3 player, trumpeter, saxophonist, singer, composer and broadcaster Joey DeFrancesco; B-3 player, pianist, composer, bandleader, conductor and educator Braňo Hronec; B-3 player, pianist and composer Benon Hardy;

Bandoneonist and educator Juan-José Mosalini;

Banjoists Mike Currao, Stan Huddleston;

Bassists Hank Bartels, Eddie de Haas, Reggie Dennis, Yvan Desouter, Ntwa Dulema (Anthony Chatman), Bill Fairbanks, Wolfgang Fernow, Hans Hartmann, Charnett Moffett, Nick Poveromo, Georg Smelik, Isao Suzuki, Mibbit Threats, Paul Warburton; bassist and singer Michael Henderson; bassist and trombonist Joe Santiago; bassist, tubaist and educator Ike Harris; bassist, conductor and educator Jorma Katrama; bassist, saxophonist, educator and tambura maker Roy Kudrin; bassist, filmmaker, photographer, poet and educator Maurice Martinez; bassists, composers and educators Mickey Bass, Miguel Ángel Chastang, Perry Lind, Adelhard Roidinger, Kelly Sill; bassist and composer Ruslan Khain; bassist and Hot Club of Portugal former director Bernardo Moreira; bassist, educator and music store owner Bob Petteruti; bassists and educators Don Coffman, Chuck Deardorf, Wolfgang Güttler, Michael Pfeuti; bassist and instrument repairman Silvio "Mike Z" Zavarella;

Bassoonist and pianist Rino Vernizzi;

Cellist and composer Abdul Wadud;

Clarinetist Tom Owen; clarinetists, composers and bandleaders Rolf Kühn, Pavel Smetáček; clarinetist and bandleader Skip Parsons; clarinetist, saxophonist and harmonica player Max Geller;

Composers Hans-Joaquim Hespos, Chumei Watanabe; composer, arranger, pianist and trombonist Dave Wolpe; composer and singer José Enrique "Chelique" Sarabia; composer, pianist and educator Angelo Badalamenti; composers and educators Volker Bräutigam, Michael Cunningham;

Conductor Eric Knight; conductor, composer, arranger, pianist and producer Bill Walker;

Cornetist, Night Blooming Jazzmen founder and Society for the Preservation of Dixieland Jazz founding member and past president Chet Jaeger; cornetist and Cornet Chop Suey co-founder Tom Tucker; cornetist, educator and historian Charlie DeVore; cornetist and cartoonist Lee Lorenz; cornetist, bandleader and club owner (Bayard's Jazz Alley in New Orleans) Eddie Bayard;

Drummers Poumy Arnaud, Lawrence Batiste, Allen Blairman, Oscar Bolão, Montez Coleman, Dino Danelli, George Davidson, Bob Demeo, Clifton "Fou Fou" Eddie, Phil Faieta, Anton Fier, Oliver Gattringer, Dane Hassan, Hempo Hildén, Christian Huber, Marvin Jones, John Kessell, Sandy Nelson, Philip Paul, Fredy Studer, Eddie Taylor, Peter Turrre, Leroy Williams; drummer and composer Wolfgang Reisinger; drummer, composer, arranger and bandleader Gaston Bogaert; drummer and bassist Marty Roberts; drummer and percussionist Christos Yermenoglou; drummer, pianist and singer Len Bryant; drummers and singers Carlo Nuccio, George English Greene; drummer, trumpeter and educator Chuck Wackerman; drummer, educator and Malta Jazz Festival founder & longtime artistic director Charles "ic-City" Gatt; drummer, educator and studio engineer Reid Jorgensen; drummer, composer and educator Ralph "Yohuru" Williams; drummers and educators Emmanuel Abdul-Rahim, Clarence Becton, Bill Bianchi, Wolfram Dix, Frank Katz, Billy Kaye, Jeremy Noller, Gary Rissmiller, Trevor Tomkins, Tom Walling; drummer, jazz advocate and diplomat Madeleine Albright; drummers and writers Kevin O'Day, Dago Vötter; drummer and record collector Dominic Parisi; drummer, promoter, writer, broadcaster composer, artistic director (Portugal's Seixal Jazz Festival) and longtime jazz club board member (Lisbon's Hot Club) Paulo Gil; drummer, educator, union executive and drum shop owner Russ Moore;

Educator Bud Rhymes; educator, author, musicologist and flutist Jane Bowers;

Electronic music composer, inventor and educator Herb Deutsch;

Flutist Brian Dunning; flutist, composer and bandleader José Luis Cortés (El Tosco); flutist, singer, educator and broadcaster John Oberbrunner; flutist, guitarist and singer Osayomore Joseph; flutist and singer Shelly Torman;

French hornists Dale Clevenger, Vince DeRosa, Dave Piecka;

Guitarists Mark Anderson, Dennis Cahill, Darrell Crooks, Albert Cubero, Capriel Dedeian, Bill De Kuiper, Judson Franklin, René Mailhes, Clyde McPhatter Jr., Joe Messina, Bill Pittman, Keith Stoddart; guitarist and producer Ramon Stagnaro; guitarist, singer and educator Nick Colionne; guitarist, singer, composer, producer, writer and former pro hockey player Wädi Gysi; guitarists, singers and composers Monty Norman, Monnette Sudler; guitarist, composer and big band leader Tony Carpio; guitarists and composers Aquiles Báez, Ilkka Niemeläinen, John P. Varkey; guitarist and bassist Mike Tanaka; guitarist, singer and educator Michael Marx; guitarist and singer Leo Boni; guitarist, educator, and former director of Barcelona, Spain's Association of Jazz Musicians and Modern Music of Catalonia Joan Vinyals; guitarists and educators Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Joe Diorio, Marvin Falcon, Mick Goodrick, Woody Mann, Hans Ottsen, Roy Sainsbury, Manolo Sanlúcar, Donny Suhendra, Jörg Teichert, Kenneth Tucker; guitarist, arranger and producer Evariste Yacé; guitarist and producer Guayo Cedeño; guitarist and record store owner (Record Town in Fort Worth, Texas) Sumter Bruton;

Keyboardist and singer Bernard Wright; keyboardist and guitarist Tyrone Downie; keyboardist, electronic music pioneer and educator Don Lewis;

Lyricist Marilyn Bergman.

Multi-instrumentalist Fritz Moßhammer; multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator David Ornette Cherry; multi-instrumentalist, musical glasses player, composer and bandleader Gloria Parker; multi-instrumentalist, singer, producer and broadcaster James Mtume; multi-instrumentalists, composers and educators Roberto Lecaros, Yuri Markin; multi-instrumentalist, singer, electronics engineer and educator Don Lewis; multi-instrumentalists and composers Dick Halligan, Klaus Schulze; multi-instrumentalists and singers Dave Bergman, Della Griffin; multi-instrumentalist, poet and storyteller Madosini;

Organist, producer and engineer Jens-Peter Abele;

Oud player, guitarist and composer Roman Bunka;

Percussionists Djalma Corrêa, Pepe Ébano, Ernesto Tito Garcia, Zaharis Kalaitzis, Humberto "Pupi" Menes; percussionist, vibraphonist, composer and conductor Guillermo Rifo; percussionist and bandleader Henry "Pucho" Brown; percussionists, composers and educators Rubén Alavarez, Eli Fountain, William Kraft; percussionist and educator Tito Matos;

Pianists Tom Andrews, Piero "Peter" Angela, Eddie Baccus Sr., Vernell Brown Jr., Allan Chapple, Junior Gomes, Polo de Haas, Frank Hailey, Paul Hefner, Sidney Kirk, Tony Kovach, Romy Posadas, Frank Puzzollo, Étienne Richard, David Rumpler, Terry Shannon, Willie Sotelo, Butch Thompson, Grace Valdez, Jean-Lou Vanderborght, Dave Venn, Gustavo Villegas, Alan Watson; pianist, composer, producer, curator (Jazz at Ravinia), broadcaster and NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis; pianist, composer, arranger, trombonist and educator Mark Levine; pianists, composers, arrangers and producers Sonny Burke, Kenny Clayton, Yves Roche; pianists, composers and arrangers Warren Bernhardt, Nils Lindberg, César "Pupy" Pedroso, Muziki Duane Roberson, Jordi Sabatés, Atilio Stampone; pianists, composers and conductors Artur Grigoryan, Eric Knight; pianist, accordionist, software developer and educator George Mancini; pianist, bassist and cellist Betty Green Ajces; pianist, drummer singer and TD Niagara Jazz Festival co-founder Peter Shea; pianist and drummer Ollie Soden; pianist and reed player Pete Sokolow; pianist and trumpeter Henry "Thins" Francis; pianist, vibraphonist and co-founder of Vancouver, Canada's New Orchestra Workshop Society Paul Plimley; pianist, vibraphonist, composer and broadcaster Jure Robežnik; pianist, writer, producer and archivist Al Sutton; pianist and producer George Newall; pianist, composer, arranger and broadcaster Andrzej Korzyński; pianist, composer, arranger, writer and photographer Sy Johnson; pianists, composers and educators Beegie Adair, Joe Baque, Doug Caldwell, Neal Chandek, Giuseppe Finocchiaro, Donato Fornuto, Jim Odrich, John Petrone, Tobias Reinsch, Paris Rutherford, Alan Swain, Fred Van Hove, Jack van Poll; pianist, composer, educator and writer Oleg Molokojedov; pianists and composers Johannes Bjerregaard, Joseph Horovitz, Artie Kane, Béla Szakcsi Lakatos, Mike Lang, Pierre Papadiamandis, Jessica Williams; pianist, arranger and conductor Bernard Arcadio; pianists, singers, songwriters and producers John Barnes, Timmy Thomas; pianist, songwriter, producer and educator Reggie Andrews; pianist, singer and bandleader Mal Fitch; pianist, singer, educator and Seattle Jazz Society co-founder Joni Metcalf; pianists and singers Sandy Dillon, Danny Long, Ellyn Rucker, Donald Smith; pianist, bandleader and kaiso jazz originator Clive "Zanda" Alexander; pianist and steamboat calliopist Dan Forman; pianist, historian, writer, broadcaster and educator Rhodes Spedale; pianist, historian, writer, broadcaster and educator Dave Jasen; pianist, broadcaster and Boogie-Woogie International Festival of La Roquebrou creator and programmer Jean-Paul Amouroux; pianist, educator and broadcaster Tony Gulizia; pianists and educators Melanie Latzko Bradley, Charles Eubanks III, Nat Phipps, Rudi Wilfer; pianists and writers Robert Merlin Davis, Khalid Moss;

Saxophonists Bob Abramo, Julio Arnedo, Gabe Baltazar, Johnny Barnes, Ben's Berlenga, Billy Briggs, Ray Carless, Gene Cipriano, Ronnie Cuber, Gerd Dudek, Tuffy Epstein; Wåge Finér, Pete Gallio, Steve Giarratano, Mack Goldsbury, Terry Harrington, Uncle Willis Hickerson, Emil Mangelsdorff, Gilbert Mirande, Rune Nicolaysen, Andre Paganelli, Don Patiris, Chuck Peterson, Charlie Reedy, Byron Romanowitz, Martin Rur, Rene Sandoval, Andy Shreeves, Ben Stowers, Vitaly Vanchugov, Dick Vennik, Jabbo Ware, Andrew Woolfolk; saxophonist, composer and NEA Jazz Master Pharoah Sanders; saxophonists, composers, arrangers, bandleaders and educators Wendell Hobbs, Zbigniew Jaremko, Zbigniew Namysłowski; saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Barbara Thompson; saxophonist, composer and singer Nik Turner; saxophonist, arranger and bandleader Gunter Stotz; saxophonist, pianist, singer and composer Ray Gaskins; saxophonist and big band leader Joel Kaye; saxophonist, composer, producer and (Éditions Vévé International) label founder Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta; saxophonist, pianist, composer and educator Colin Tully; saxophonists, composers and educators Jean-Louis Chautemps, Brian Horton, Jim Langabeer, Tim Price; saxophonist, composer and arranger Frank Piscatella Jr.; saxophonist, singer, songwriter and bandleader Orlando Julius; saxophonist and bandleader Don Krekel; saxophonist and music contractor Red Press; saxophonists and educators Bob Ackerman, Lou Caputo, Milton Cooper, Roger Eckers, Arnold George, Mack Goldsbury, Jerry Greene, Ken Hitchcock, Thom Mason, Ryan Muncy, Bill Nittler, Anthony Ortega, Dan Patiris, Joel Press, Andrew Speight; saxophonist, educator and writer John Murphy; saxophonist and record producer Pat Britt; saxophonist and broadcaster Byron Morris;

Singers Ernie Andrews, Sweet Georgia Brown, Teresa Carroll, Lainie Cooke, Roz Corral, Gal Costa, Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch, Fionna Duncan, Judith Durham, Victor Evans, Maria Ewing, Núria Feliu, Ayşe Gencer, Helen Golden, Betty Johnson Gray, Lee Harold, "Big Rude Jake" Hiebert, Tennie Leonard, Marna Martin (The Last Lady of Song), Diane McNaron, Maria Mérida, Edana Minghella, Osvaldo Peredo, Willi Restarits, Lalo Rodríguez, Dorothy Rose, Elza Soares, Bébé Suong, JoAnne Tardy, Daniel Taubkin, Janet Thurlow, Joseph Zolile Tshiyembe, Yvonne Washington, Jeanette Williams, Pat Yankee; singer, songwriter and former BMI executive Bobby Weinstein; singer and songwriter Ginny Redington Dawes; singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shirley Eikhard; singer, bassist and composer Henny Vrienten; singers, guitarists and composers Erasmo Carlos, A.B. Crentsil, Marco Mattoli, Pablo Milanés, Zelito Miranda; singer, guitarist, flutist and arranger Paulo Jobim; singer, pianist and organist Al Farrell; singers, percussionists and composers Rudy Gomis, Carlos Negreiros; singer, educator and venue founder (Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center and the California Jazz & Blues Museum) Barbara Morrison; singers and educators Janiece Jaffe, Tina May; singer, conductor, choirmaster, composer and arranger Jiří Linha; singer, arts administrator and writer Sandra Turner-Barnes; singer and writer Paul Ryan; singer and vocal coach Sandra Maier Gustern; singers and actors Ana Bejerano, Helen Grayco, Linda Lawson, Lars Lönndahl, Nichelle Nichols, Lia Origoni, Jeanne Trevor, Hana Zagarová, Wiktor Zatwarski; singer, actor and nightclub owner Régine Zylberberg; singer, songwriter, French hornist and actor Julee Cruise; singer, songwriter and actor Rolando Boldrin; singer, dancer and civil rights activist Joyce Bryant; singer and club co-owner (Navarre in Denver) Louise Tobin; singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Alan Copeland;

Tabla player and percussionist Badal Roy.

Timple player, composer, bandleader and educator Totoyo Millares;

Trombonists Steve Caminer, Larry Crawford, Jack Gale, Claude Gousset, Paul Haag, Alvin Walker; trombonist and composer Grachan Moncur III; trombonist, arranger, librarian, copyist, conductor and record producer Terry Woodson; trombonists and educators Joe Dallas, Bill Hartman; trombonist, actor and gallery owner Conrad Janis;

Trumpeters Thomas Banholzer, Bob Barnard, Maffy Falay, Larry Getz, Red Lennox, Daniel Levine, Meinhard Lüning, Roger Middleton, Tom Singer, Václav Týfa, Ronnie Waters; trumpeter, composer and educator Ron Miles; trumpeter, singer, composer and record label founder (Pionic) Jaimie Branch; trumpeter, bandleader, educator and historian Dan Miller; trumpeter, guitarist and bandleader Ted Butterman; trumpeter, saxophonist and educator Bob Meeks; trumpeters and arrangers Mike Lamparello, Marty Sheller; trumpeter, educator, visual artist and broadcaster Dennis Gonzalez; trumpeter, guitarist, singer, songwriter, music therapist and educator Sara Rogers; trumpeter, broadcaster, comedian, painter and writer Jô Soares; trumpeter and singer Rich Armstrong; trumpeters and educators Jörn Anders, Kirby Jolly, Larry Jones, Tony Lujan, Brian Murray, Jarritt Sheel, Johnny Shook, Norm Sodomka, Martin Zielinski; trumpeter, educator and writer Jarritt Sheel; trumpeter and jazz festival founder (Lausanne, Switzerland's JazzOnze+) Serge Wintsch; trumpeter and mouthpiece maker Bob Reeves;

Tubaist Jim Maihack;

Vibraphonists Józef Gawrych, Khan Jamal, Harry Sheppard; vibraphonist, pianist and composer Bobby Naughton; vibraphonist and educator Gary Iseminger;

Violinists Lucas Atkinsmith, Yves Teicher; violinist and composer Toni Stricker;

Concert producer Gérard Drouot; concert producer (London's Park Lane Group) and violinist John Woolf; festival founder (Vail Jazz) and artistic director Howard Stone; festival directors Iñaki Añua (Spain's Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival), Charlie Herschbach (Corpus Christi, Texas Jazz Festival), Paul Kanitzer (France's Mulhouse Jazz Festival); Dixieland jazz events co-director (Ontario, Canada's Kitchener-Waterloo Dixieland Jazz Club and upstate New York's Alexandria Bay Ragtime/Jasstime Festival) Nancy Pauli; festival producer (Racine, Wisconsin's Tribute to Bix) Phil Pospychala jazz promoter, consultant and publisher (Spotlight News) Jim Harrison; jazz vespers producer (Philadelphia, San Francisco, Danville, California) and drummer Ed Klitsch; concert promoter (the UK's Music Now) and writer Victor Schonfield; festival founder (the UK's Lowestoft Jazz Weekend), Parliamentary Jazz Awards founder, National Youth Jazz Collective trustee, jazz advocate and politician Bob Blizzard; co-producer (Hugh and Marion's Eltham Jazz Club, London UK) Marion Ockendon; promoter Mary Ann Trainor; promoter (Frankfurt, Germany's Romanfabrik) Michael Hohmann;

Band manager, record producer, writer, publisher and NEA Jazz Master Sue Mingus; artist and band manager, and composer Keiko Jones; Detroit Jazz Festival savior and philanthropist Gretchen Valade; producer and promoter (founder, president and CEO, Revive Music Group), record label executive (Blue Note), guitarist and singer Meghan Stabile; promoter, producer and record store owner (London's Chris Wellard Records) Chris Wellard; producer and photographer Jean-Pierre Tahmazian;

Record label owners and producers Börje Ekberg (Metronome), Mark Feldman (Reservoir Music and Uptown Records), Jim Stewart (Stax), Matthias Winckelmann (enja); record label founder (Impulse! and CTI), producer and trumpeter Creed Taylor; recording industry executives Charles Koppelman (CBS, EMI Music), Tomás Muñoz (CBS International), Mo Ostin (Verve, Warner-Reprise); record label owner (Philology), jazz festival organizer (Macerata, Italy's International Jazz Festival at Sferisterio Arena and Ascona Jazz), and saxophonist Paolo Piangiarelli; record label co-founder, (Black & Blue), artist manager and photographer Jean-Pierre Tahmazian; record label co-owner Dick Rippey (Triangle Jazz LTD.); record producer (Argo, Dee Gee) Birmingham MI Jazz Festival producer and Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation supporter Dave Usher; record producer (France Musique), musicologist and broadcaster Daniel Nevers; UK record label (ECM) publicist David Fraser; recording engineers Fred Catero, Joe Tarsia; record store owners Ezrell Cooper (Coop's in Chicago), Jerry Weber (Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh); Duke Ellington Society president and record collector Morris Hodara;

Club owner (San Francisco's Jazz at Pearl's) Pearl Wong; club owner (The Matador, One Eyed Jacks and Pal's Lounge in New Orleans) and actor Rio Del Valle Hackford; club owner (Lorraine, France's Cat 4), promoter, record store owner, instrument dealer and broadcaster Jean Bémer; club owner (Berlin's Eden Saloon, New Eden, Eden Playboy Club, Keyhole and Big Eden), saxophonist and actor Rolf Eden; jazz club manager (Warsaw, Poland's Aquarium), record label executive and producer (Helicon), and Warsaw Jazz Jamboree organizing team member Henryk Górski; jazz club (Scullers in Boston) production manager Matt Hayes; jam session host and primary sponsor (London's long-running Sunday afternoon series The Jazz at the King's Head) and trumpeter Peter Jodoin;

Nonprofit board members Jerome Chazen (Louis Armstrong House and Newport Festivals Foundation), JJA Hometown Hero Tom Pierce (Schenectady NY's A Place for Jazz), Frank Gooch (Jazz Club of Sarasota), Bob Weitz (Jazz Club of Sarasota);

Anthropologist, ethnologist, educator and writer Jean Jamin; record collector, producer (Fonotone Records), roots music historian and broadcaster Joe Bussard;

Broadcasters Eric Alan, Marc Danval, George Geiger, Rosetta Hines, Sid Mark, Bill McLaurin, Jesús Quintero, Eric Alan Wannenburg; broadcaster and concert producer Brian Barlow; broadcasters and writers Michael Bourne, Michael G. Nastos, Askia Muhammad; broadcaster and educator Eric Jackson; broadcaster and recording engineer Dave Subkleve;

Cartoonist and graphic novelist Jean-Jacques Sempé;

Instrument inventor and sound engineer Dave Smith; instrument maker Hub van Laar;

Musicologists Stephan Richter, Roberta Singer, Viktor Žmegač;

Music researcher Joel Whitburn;

New Orleans brass band grand marshal Darreil Johnson;

Photographers Jörg Becker, Foster Garvin, Fred Lyon, Roberto Masotti, Giuseppe Pino, Steve Schapiro, Susanne Schapowalow, Herb Snitzer; photographer and magazine (Jazzlive) founder/longtime editor Rainer Rygalyk;

Publicist Bob Cohen (Dr. Jazz);

Writers Mark Barnett, Mary Ellin Barrett, Alexander Belyaev, Jean-Louis Comolli, Franco Fayenz, Agustín Gurza, Gene Santoro, Bob Weir; writer, publisher, broadcaster, educator and saxophonist Richard Hadlock; writer and editor John Swenson; writer and playwright Terry Teachout; writer, editor, publicist, producer and educator Arnold Jay Smith; writer, promoter and programmer Brian Blain; writers and broadcasters Marc Danval, Jean-François Picaut; magazine publisher (Black Radio Exclusive), promoter and trumpeter Sidney Miller; jazz book publisher Walter Lachenmann;

Blues, gospel and R&B artists, and industry figures Patrick Adams, Ahmed Alshaiba, Endo Anaconda, SiMan Baby, Billy Bannister, Bertha Barbee-McNeal, J.J. Barnes, Thom Bell, Bernard Belle, Ali Birra, Bill Bourne, Traci Braxton, Harpdog Brown, Johnny Brown, Vernon Burch, Jewell Caples, Irene Cara, Roderick "Pooh" Clark, Zuri Craig, Don Craine, Bettye Crutcher, Jesse Lee Daniels, Betty Davis, Chris DeProperty, Phlenoid "Jay Dee" Dismuke, Povl Dissing, Lamont Dozier, Shonka Dukureh, Alexander Dumble, Margriet Eshuijs, Inez Foxx, Deborah Fraser, Janis Hunter Gaye, Donny Gerrard, Vadim Golutvin, Sam Gooden, Robert Gordy, Manuel Göttsching, Charlie Gracie, Howard Grimes, Guitar Shorty, Lola Gulley, Cecil Harold, William "Poogie" Hart, Rosa Hawkins, Marva Hicks, Marvin Holmes, Freddie Hughes, Ivy Joe Hunter, Sam Hutchins, Mable John, James Johnson, Jimmy Johnson, Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson, Ken Johnson, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Syl Johnson, Wilko Johnson, Danny Kalb, Lew Kirton, Paul Kwami, Art Laboe, Michael Lang, Sam Lay, Kwvin Lemons, Peter Lowry, Keith Martin, Tommy McConnell, Charles McCormick, Deborah McCrary, Noel McKoy, Eric Mercury, Big James Montgomery, Ben Moore, Nicky Moore, Steve Morrell, Don Newkirk, Bobby O'Jay, Sammie Okposo, Chris Owens, LaShun Pace, Fred Parris, Kelly Joe Phelps, Anita Pointer, Greg Poulos, Jesse Powell, Richard Pratt, Del Puschert, Jürgen Queissner, David Raskin (Kal David), Archie Roach, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Art Rosenbaum, Freddie Roulette, Art Rupe, Steve Salas, Marty Sammon, Jim Schwall, Ken Shane, Tabby Shaw, Ken Simmonds, Calvin Simon, Fitzroy "Bunny" Simpson, Joyce Sims, Grandpa Elliott Small, Pervis Spann, Ronnie Spector, Willie Spence, Patrinell Staten, Sonny Turner, David Tyson, Adam Wade, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Lewis Watson, Greg Webster, John Whitehill, Ken Williams, Ron "Tubby" Zeigler.

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