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2011: The Year In Jazz

Grammys: Both Sides Now
The biggest upset win of the night at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards belonged to bassist/singer

Esperanza Spalding
bassb.1984

Roy Haynes
drums1926 - 2024
Other jazz winners: Best Contemporary Jazz Album:

Stanley Clarke
bassb.1951

Dee Dee Bridgewater
vocalsb.1950

Herbie Hancock
pianob.1940

James Moody
woodwinds1925 - 2010

Chucho Valdes
pianob.1941

Kirk Whalum
saxophoneb.1958
Two jazz albums were among the winners of the 2011 Latin Grammy Awards, announced in November in Las Vegas.

Paquito D'Rivera
clarinetb.1948

Chick Corea
piano1941 - 2021

Stanley Clarke
bassb.1951

Lenny White
drumsb.1949
The awards were the first following a hue and cryand legal complaintfrom artists this year when the Latin Jazz category was among more than 30 categories axed from the traditional main Grammy Awards. Many artists and music industry protested the trimming of the number of awards but the Recording Academy has refused to restore them. The Latin jazz community has been the most visible in the battle to bring them back.
NEA Jazz Masters
President Barack Obama's 2012 budget proposal, delivered to Congress in February, proposed cutting the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Masters Award as part of a significant budget reduction for the NEA at large. Similar honors for opera and folk music would also be eliminated in deference to a new NEA American Artists of the Year honor for participants in a wide array of performing and visual arts. The changes have been controversial and could be scrapped by Congress. As of this writing, that's still up in the air.
The honor has been bestowed on 119 artists and groups since 1982 for lifetime achievement in jazz artistry or advocacy. The NEA has announced the 2012 recipients, its 30th class, without certainty whether there will be a 31st class. Those new winners, collecting their honors on January 10, are

Jack DeJohnette
drumsb.1942

Von Freeman
saxophone, tenor1922 - 2012

Charlie Haden
bass, acoustic1937 - 2014

Sheila Jordan
vocals1928 - 2025

Jimmy Owens
trumpetb.1943
Putting a Fresh Stamp on Jazz
On March 26 in New Orleans, the U.S. Postal Service paid visual tribute to the music and its makers by issuing a jazz commemorative stamp. In creating the art for the distinctive stamp, artist Paul Rogers of Pasadena, Calif., said he was inspired by the cover art from vintage jazz record albumswork that captured the music's improvisational quality while built on a clear understanding of its underlying structure.
Passing the Torch, er, Microphone
In the fall, NPR announced that pianist

Marian McPartland
piano1918 - 2013
Economic impacts
There were significant openings, closings, near-misses and consolidations in the past year because of, or in spite of, the recession. Here's a look at a few of them that crossed the desk:
New York's musicians' union revived its campaign for minimum wage and pension benefits for jazz musicians. The disagreement between the union and club owners dates to 2005, when union leaders joined the night clubs to lobby the State Legislature for a reduction in the sales tax on tickets because the extra revenue would be used to pay for pension and health benefits. The tax break was passed in 2006, but the union never hammered out a formal pact with the club owners. Five years later, none of the clubs have entered negotiations with the union to sign collective bargaining agreements. Those agreements are required before the clubs can begin paying into Local 802's pension system.


SFJAZZ Collective
band / ensemble / orchestrab.2004
Jazz at Lincoln Center announced plans to expand abroad, creating a new jazz club in Doha, Qatar, and four other cities through a partnership with the St. Regis luxury hotel chain. The new club is scheduled to open in Qatar's capital city in April. J@LC has been sending its musicians abroad on tour for years, but this is the first time the NY-based nonprofit has established a permanent subsidiary abroad. The 120-seat club in Doha will be modeled after the Dizzy's Club Coca Cola that is part of the Lincoln Center complex in Manhattan.
Trumpeter

Irvin Mayfield
trumpetb.1977
In a blow for Los Angeles jazz fans, the Van Nuys jazz club Charlie O's abruptly closed after 11 years of shows by a roster of veteran local players and touring musicians. B Sharp's Jazz Club in Tallahassee, Fla., closed in late June. Detroit jazz fans escaped a near miss after word that the venerable Baker's Keyboard Lounge, the world's oldest jazz club, in business since 1934, was up for auction. The club was sold for $395.000. New owners Hugh W. Smith III and Eric Whitaker vowed to keep the venue running as a jazz club.
After 29 years in business, Stereo Jack's Records closed last spring in Cambridge, Mass. Owner Jack Woker decided not to reopen his music store elsewhere after his landlord announced plans to open a pizza shop on the site.
The music company EMI, home to

The Beatles
band / ensemble / orchestraGibson Guitar acquired the Stanton GroupKRK Systems, Cerwin-Vega and Stanton DJ. They will become the basis for a new Gibson Pro Audio division. The acquisition marked Gibson's further expansion into the pro audio market with loudspeaker, monitor and electronics technology. distributes loudspeakers for the home and professional audio markets.
Awards Galore
In addition to the Grammy and NEA honors noted above, there were many awards impacting jazz and its makers over the past year:
Sonny Rollins
saxophoneb.1930

Ella Fitzgerald
vocals1917 - 1996

Count Basie
piano1904 - 1984

Benny Goodman
clarinet1909 - 1986

Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet1917 - 1993

Lionel Hampton
vibraphone1908 - 2002

Benny Carter
saxophone, alto1907 - 2003

Quincy Jones
arranger1933 - 2024

Dave Brubeck
piano1920 - 2012
Sonny Rollins and Quincy Jones received the National Medal for the Arts from President Obama at the White House on March 2.
ASCAP added five music greats to the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame. The 2001 inductees were

Jimmy Heath
saxophone, tenor1926 - 2020

Oscar Peterson
piano1925 - 2007

Nina Simone
piano and vocals1933 - 2003

Omer Avital
bass, acousticDrummer and composer

Dafnis Prieto
drumsb.1974
Kris Bowers won the Thelonious Monk Institute Piano Competition, with

Joshua White
pianob.1985

Emmet Cohen
pianob.1990
Singer Chiara Izzi won the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition 2011. She was chosen among singers from 21 different countries. Izzi is the first Italian winner of this competition, which was held during the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival, and is open only to singers under 35.
Saxophonist Phil Woods was honored by the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation with the BNY Mellon Jazz 2011 Living Legacy Award at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on October 14.
Herbie Hancock was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for his "dedication to the promotion of peace through dialogue, culture and the arts.

Kurt Elling
vocalsb.1967
The Dillard Center for the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Seattle's Roosevelt High School and Mountlake Terrace High School finished first, second and third respectively in the 16th annual Essentially Ellington High School Band Competition. The finals were held in May at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Pianist
Vladislav Sendecki
pianoBritish critic John Fordham was named "jazz critic of the year 2011" at the U.K.'s Parliamentary Jazz Awards .
Clarinetist

Reimer von Essen
b.1940Turkish drummer and percussionist

Okay Temiz
percussionb.1939
Other Notable Happenings During 2011:
Rivalry Continues: " data-original-title="" title="">Michael Berkowitz/Gene Krupa Orchestra drum set was donated to the Smithsonian Institution's jazz collection, joining a set used by

Buddy Rich
drums1917 - 1987
Masterful Donation: The Library of Congress has taken possession of a donation of 200,000 metal, glass and lacquer master discs covering the time from 1926-1948 from the Universal Music Group vaults, among them original recordings by

Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals1901 - 1971

Ella Fitzgerald
vocals1917 - 1996

Billie Holiday
vocals1915 - 1959
Endangered on Long Island:The final residence of

John Coltrane
saxophone1926 - 1967
Save in Buffalo: The house of trumpeter Elvin Shepherd, who until his death in 1995 performed with many of the jazz greats and who taught musicians such as

Grover Washington, Jr.
saxophone1943 - 1999
Duke Support: The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has awarded a $50,000, 29-month Arts Program grant to the Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. to support presentations by DDCF grantees at the Newport Jazz Festival from 2011 to 2013. The source of the funding is no surprise since the late Doris Duke was a regular, low-key Newport Jazz Festival attendee from the 1950s into the early 1990s. Composer/drummer/bandleader

John Hollenbeck
drumsb.1968

Miguel Zenon
saxophone, altob.1976
Yes, There's a Yellow Basket: A senior housing apartment building in Tampa, Fla., has been named after Ella Fitzgerald who supposedly wrote her 1938 hit "A Tisket, A Tasket" while living on Tampa's Central Avenue, which was known as "Harlem South" among African-American musicians.
Parking Wes:

Wes Montgomery
guitar1923 - 1968
On the Road Again: Singer

Angela Bofill
vocals1954 - 2024

Dave Valentin
flute1952 - 2017

Maysa
vocalsBlues Trail: A Mississippi Blues Trail marker was unveiled to honor the late

Jimmie Lunceford
composer / conductor1902 - 1947

Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974

Count Basie
piano1904 - 1984
Final Bars
The jazz world lost some musical heavyweights in the past year, among them: drummers

Joe Morello
drums1928 - 2011

Paul Motian
drums1931 - 2011

Frank Foster
saxophone1928 - 2011

Bob Brookmeyer
trombone1929 - 2011

George Shearing
piano1919 - 2011

Gil Scott-Heron
vocals1949 - 2011
Arranger and bandleader: Wardell Quezergue.
Bassists: Reginald Curry, Charles Fambrough, Steve Freeman, Harald Johnsen, Ned Mann, Paul Mildé, Curtis Mitchell, David Shapiro; bassist, pianist, and drummer Stanley Wright; bassist, composer, author and educator Graham Collier.
Bandleaders: Pupi Campo; bandleader, singer and saxophonist Orrin Tucker; big band leader, pianist, clarinetist, guitarist, banjo and accordion player Mickey Correa; bandleader, singer, saxophonist and drummer Edmundo Ros.
Clarinetists: Ian Wheeler; clarinetist, singer and club owner Yvonne "Dixie" Fasnacht.
Composers: Hans Ulrich Engelmann, Jerry Leiber, Jerry Ragovoy, Fred Steiner; composer, poet, spoken word performer, singer, percussionist, pianist, social and political activist, writer Gil Scott-Heron; composer and educator Milton Babbitt; composer, pianist and trumpeter John Barry; composer, poet, singer and club owner Fran Landesman; composer, lyricist, arranger and pianist Hugh Martin; composer and arranger Pete Rugolo, songwriter Ruth Roberts; composer, arranger and conductor Russ Garcia.
Drummers: Butch Ballard. Erich Bachtr?gl, Eric Delaney, Herman Ernest III, Tony Levin, Eddie Marshall, Jack Menna, Joe Morello, Paul Motian, George Reed, Reed Vaughan; drummer and percussionist Daniel Perez; drummer, percussionist and inventor Armen Halburian; drummer and educator Fred Gruber; drummer and cymbalsmith Roberto Spizzichino; drummer, bandleader, composer, arranger, educator and author Clem DeRosa; percussionist and composer Ralph McDonald.
Guitarists: Cornell Dupree, Manuel Galbán, Ladi Geisler, Ron Lopez, Russell Norkin; guitarist, bandleader (and philosopher) David Pearlman a.k.a. Poppa Neutrino, Hans Reichel; guitarist and singer Melvin Sparks; steel guitarist Buddy Charleton; guitarist, educator and writer Charles Chapman; guitarist and ukulele player Bill Tapia.
Organists: Odell Brown.
Percussionists: Ritchie Barrientos, Tito Cepeda; percussionist bandleader and club owner Vitin Santiago; percussionist and singer Eugenio Arango (Totico); percussionist and jazz band founder Bill Donahoe.
Pianists: Gordon Beck, Bess Bonnier, Velzoe Brown, Ray Bryant, Francois Cahen, Arnie Carruthers, Frans Elsen, Tom Garvin, Marty Harris, Art Hillery, Wolfgang Lauth, James Wade Mouton, Horst Mühlbradt, Walter Norris, Johnny Pearson, Johnny Raducanu, Kristian Schultze, Bill Triglia, Al Vega, Roger Williams, Tricia Woods; pianist, accordionist and kalimba player Erico Noir (Eric J. Schwarz); pianist, composer and bandleader George Shearing; pianist and Bavarian Jazz Institute founder Richard Wiedamann; pianist and musical director Morty Jacobs; pianist and composer Gy?rgy Szabados; pianist and singers Pearl Thuston Brown, Georg Kreisler, Paul West; pianist, trombonist, bandleader and educator Andy Wright; pianist and composer Don Newey; pianist, composer and educator Michael Garrick.
Saxophonists: Stanley Barber, Gil Bernal, Mike Carrick, Nelson Hernandez, Tommy Melville, Ted Nash (the uncle of saxophonist Ted Nash), Zim Ngqawana, Piet Noordijk, Bill Scarlett, Mason "Country" Thomas, David L. Williams; Saxophonist and singer Betty Smith; saxophonists and bandleaders George Botts Sr. and Sam Rivers; woodwinds player Sid Cooper; saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Frank Foster.
Singers: Mary Birt, Beryl Davis, Daniela D'Ercole, Dolores Hope, Dinah Kaye, Christiane Legrand, José Luis Moneró, Jimmy Norman, Ottilie Patterson, Jimmy Roselli, Christine Rosholt, Myra Taylor, Mae Wheeler, Margaret Whiting, Joe Lee Wilson, Amy Winehouse, Norma Zimmer; singer and documentary film producer Mary Cleere Haran; singer and bassist Bob Flanigan; actor, pianist and singer Al Israel; singer, songwriter and pianist Joe Mogotsi; singer and drummer Ross Barbour; singer, actress and educator Barbara Lea; singer and actress Milly Ericson.
Trombonists: Bill Bardin, Papa Bue, John DeMasi, Erling Kroner, Hawe Schneider; trombonist and festival director Alan Adams; trombonist, composer, writer and educator Charles Hamm; trombonist and Latin percussionist Dave Tuttle; Valve trombonist, bandleader, composer and educator Bob Brookmeyer.
Trumpeters: Roger DeVuyst, Don Ferrara, Barrie Lee Hall Jr., Jimmy (Chops) Jones, Chuck Miller, Niel Parker, Paul Phillips, Andrzej Pysbielski, Uan Rasey, Michael Elliott Ridley, Alan Rubin, Reg Service, Allen Smith, Richard Turner, Jens Winther, Snooky Young; trumpeter and bassist Gary Deary; trumpeter and band leader Dan Terry; trumpeter and former president of Local 802 of the New York City Musicians' Union Johnny Glasel.
Tubaists: and euphonium player Brad Felt.
Vibraphonist: Bosko Petrovic.
Violinists: Billy Bang and Wedeli K?hler.
Record Producers: Jack Lewis and Randy Wood; record producer and record store owner Bobby Robinson; jazz club manager Willi Geipel; club owners Kimball Allen and Larry Friedlander; producer Kym Bonython; talent agent, manager, producer and executive Harold Davison; photo archivist, historian, producer and writer Frank Driggs; musicologist and composer André Hodeir; music publisher Mickey Goldsen.
Discographers: Brian Rust and Jos Willems; sociologist and jazz researcher Heinz Steinert.
Choreographers: Choreographer and tap dancer Jerry Ames; choreographer Roland Petit.
Writers: Jean-Pierre Battestini, Charles Graham, Mike Hazeldine, Pit Huber, Joan Peyser; writer and editor Paul Blair; broadcasters Phyllis Campbell, Stan Martin, Larry Smith, Danny Stiles; poet Ira Cohen; photographer Paul Gerhard Deker, Rod Hudson, Robert Whitaker; photographer and painter T. Lux Feininger; writer and musicologist Christopher Small; jazz society founder and editor Betty Tardy Forrest; writer and jazz presenter Jack McCray; Latin music historian Ernie Ensley.
Art directors: Art director and graphic designer Alex Steinweiss; graphic designer, photographer and promoter John Haxby.
Actors/Narrators Dietmar Mues.
Audio Pioneer: Edgar M. Villchur.
Filmmakers: Brucer Ricker.
Publicity director for Blue Note, second wife of Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion, and jazz advocate Ruth Mason Lion.
Philanthropist: Agnes Varis.
78-RPM Record Collector: Alexander Loulakis ; jazz collector and expert Mike Montgomery.
Jazz supporter: Vaclav Havel.
Outside the Jazz World: Blues, cabaret, country, gospel, opera, pop, R&B, reggae, rock, soul, world music, zydeco, etc. performers and industry participants Liz Anderson, Joe Arroyo, Nick Ashford, John Atterberry, Israel Baker, Kenny Baker, David Bedford, Jimmy Bloom, Doyle Bramhall, George "Mojo" Buford, Bob Burnett, Philip Burrell, Facundo Cabral, Delois Barrett Campbell, Jeanne Carroll, John Carter, Clarence Clemons, Wilma Lee Cooper, Don DeVito, Hazel Dickens, Robert Dickey, Jessy Dixon, Slim Dunkin (Mario Hamilton); David "Honeyboy" Edwards, DJ Mehdi (Mehdi Favéris-Essadi), Esther Gordy Edwards, Cesária ?vora, Barry Feinstein, Carl Gardner, Lacy Gibson, Andrew Gold, David Gold, Luis Gonzalez, Billy Grammer, Marshall Grant, Dobie Gray, Rob Grill, Keith (Keef) Hartley, Bhupen Hazarika, Johannes Heesters, Warren Hellman, David Hess, Omus Hirshbein, Loleatta Holloway, Gladys Horton, Fred Imus, Bert Jansch, Raymond Jones, Sena Jurinac, Andrew Kazdin, Mick Karn, Trish Keenan, Sultan Khan, Eddie Kirkland, Moogy Klingman, Lloyd Knibb, Jani Lane, Jerry Leiber, Paul Leka, Barry Llewellyn, Wade Mainer. David Mason, John Maus, Gene McDaniels, Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell, Gary Moore, Heavy D (Dwight Errington Myers), Haydain Neale, Olga Norman, Carl Oglesby, Remmy Ongala, Dan Peek, Pinetop Perkins, Lee Pockriss, Poly Styrene (Marianne Joan Elliott-Said), Steve Popovich, Gerry Rafferty, Coco Robicheaux, Sylvia Robinson, Ken Russell, Lhasa de Sela, Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Cory Smoot, Phoebe Snow, Billie Jo Spears, Dan "Bee" Spears, Hubert Sumlin, Marv Tarplin, Howard Tate, Andrea True (Truden), Guus Van Hove, Sherman Washington Jr., Mikey Welsh, Jane White, Vesta Williams, Johnnie Wright.
Tags
Best of / Year End
Ken Franckling
United States
Esperanza Spalding
Roy Haynes
Stanley Clarke
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Herbie Hancock
James Moody
Chucho Valdes
Kirk Whalum
Paquito D'Rivera
Chick Corea
Lenny White
Jack DeJohnette
Von Freeman
Charlie Haden
Sheila Jordan
Jimmy Owens
Marian McPartland
SFJAZZ
Irvin Mayfield
The Beatles
Sonny Rollins
Ella Fitzgerald
Count Basie
Benny Goodman
Dizzy Gillespie
Lionel Hampton
Benny Carter
Quincy Jones
Dave Brubeck
Jimmy Heath
oscar peterson
Nina Simone
Omer Avital
Dafnis Prieto
Joshua White
Emmet Cohen
Kurt Elling
Vladislav Sendecki
Reimer von Essen
Okay Temiz
Gene Krupa's
Buddy Rich
Louis Armstrong
Billie Holiday
John Coltrane
Grover Washington, Jr.
John Hollenbeck
Miguel Zenon
Wes Montgomery
Angela Bofill
Dave Valentin
Maysa
Jimmie Lunceford
duke ellington
Joe Morello
Paul Motian
Frank Foster
Bob Brookmeyer
George Shearing
Gil Scott-Heron
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