[JPL] National Endowment for the Arts Announces the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters

[Jazz Promo Services]

National Endowment for the Arts Announces the

2009 NEA Jazz Masters

NEA Partners with Jazz at Lincoln Center for NEA Jazz Masters Awards
Ceremony and Concert 



Washington, DC ­ The National Endowment for the Arts today announced the
recipients of the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters Award‹the nation¹s highest honor in
this distinctly American music. The six recipients will each receive a
$25,000 grant award, and will be publicly honored in an awards ceremony and
concert on Friday, October 17, 2008.

The six 2009 NEA Jazz Masters are: George Benson (vocalist and solo
instrumentalist, guitar), Jimmy Cobb (rhythm instrumentalist, drums), Lee
Konitz (solo instrumentalist, saxophone), Toots Thielemans (solo
instrumentalist, harmonica and guitar), and Snooky Young (solo
instrumentalist, trumpet). Recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder will receive
the 2009 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.

For the October presentation, the Arts Endowment will partner with Jazz at
Lincoln Center in New York City. The awards ceremony and concert at
Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, will feature the
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in a program dedicated
to the honorees¹ works. Past collaborations between the NEA and Jazz at
Lincoln Center include the NEA Jazz in the Schools curriculum‹available free
of charge to high school teachers nationwide‹and the media announcement
event for the 2008 NEA Jazz Masters class.

 ³Jazz is a vital part of our nation¹s history and cultural heritage,² said
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, ³and I am delighted to announce the artists of the
class of 2009, whose bodies of work have had, and continue to have, a
decisive and enduring impact on the development of this art form.²

Each member of the 2009 class fulfilled the selection criteria of being a
distinguished artist whose excellence, impact, and significant contributions
have helped to keep the important tradition of jazz alive:

A winner of ten Grammy Awards, George Benson created the innovative practice
of playing a florid guitar melody accompanied by an identical, scatted vocal
line.
An accomplished soloist and outstanding accompanist, jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb
has worked with such renowned musicians as Billie Holiday, Miles Davis,
Dizzy Gillespie, and Sarah Vaughan.
A pioneer of ³cool jazz,² saxophonist Lee Konitz was part of Miles Davis¹s
famous nonet performances and recordings in the 1940s, before working with
Lennie Tristano and Stan Kenton and eventually emerging as a highly
acclaimed band leader.
Toots Thielemans has been credited with bringing the harmonica to jazz. The
mastery of his instrument is evident in his performances with Dizzy
Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Billy Joel, and Paquito D¹Rivera.
Arguably the greatest recording engineer in jazz history, Rudy Van Gelder¹s
crystal-clear recordings have defined the sound associated with the
legendary Blue Note record label since the early 1950s.
A master of the plunger mute, Snooky Young¹s distinctive sound made him the
trumpeter of choice for the great jazz big band leaders Count Basie, Jimmie
Lunceford, and Lionel Hampton, among others.  He is currently a member of
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

Profiles and downloadable high resolution photos of the 2009 NEA Jazz
Masters can be found on the NEA¹s Web site:
http://www.arts.gov/national/jazz/jazz09/index.html

Each year since 1982, the Arts Endowment has conferred the NEA Jazz Masters
Award on a handful of living legends who have made major contributions to
jazz. With this new class, the award has been given to 106 great figures in
American music. Other NEA Jazz Masters include Count Basie, Art Blakey, Dave
Brubeck, Betty Carter, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Roy Eldridge, Ella
Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, Elvin Jones,
Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Cecil Taylor, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy
Wilson, and Teddy Wilson.

About NEA Jazz Masters: NEA Jazz Masters are selected from nominations
submitted by the public. Musicians selected as NEA Jazz Masters receive a
one-time grant award of $25,000, are honored at a public awards ceremony,
and may be offered opportunities for participation in NEA-sponsored
promotional, performance, and educational activities under the NEA Jazz
Masters National Initiative program. Only living musicians or jazz advocates
may receive the NEA Jazz Masters honor.

The National Endowment for the Arts has supported jazz artists and
organizations since 1969, providing millions of dollars in grants and
awards. In 2004, the NEA significantly expanded its NEA Jazz Masters program
and in 2005 created the NEA Jazz Masters Initiative, a comprehensive program
of jazz support that includes the NEA Jazz Masters Award; NEA Jazz Masters
Live, a series of multiple event engagements in selected communities,
featuring NEA Jazz Masters; radio programming featuring NEA Jazz Masters; a
compilation CD produced by Verve Music Group; educational resources through
the NEA Jazz in the Schools program produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center; and
publications and reports.For more information on NEA Jazz Masters, the
public is invited to visit the web site, at www.neajazzmasters.org.

About Jazz at Lincoln Center: Jazz at Lincoln Center is dedicated to
inspiring and growing audiences for jazz. With the world-renowned Jazz at
Lincoln Center Orchestra and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at
Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the
art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education and
broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include
concerts, national and international tours, residencies, hall of fame
induction ceremony, weekly national radio and television programs,
recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and
festival, a band director academy, jazz appreciation curriculum for
students, music publishing, children¹s concerts, lectures, adult education
courses, student and educator workshops and interactive websites. Under the
leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis Jazz at Lincoln Center will
produce nearly 3,000 events during its 2008-09 Season in its home in New
York City, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and around the world.  Please visit our
website at www.jalc.org.

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