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NEA Jazz Masters: Who's Left?


Justin V

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Despite my (and many others) many issues with William Parker (which fwiw are documented for a couple of more days on the other board), he deserves to be honored.

His legacy will be immense and his impact on the music has been much more than most realize.

and as wonderful drummers that both Billy Hart and Joe Chambers are, they cannot be honered before the *great* Andrew Cyrille

As much as I respect Mr. Larry Kart, they are simply not in the same category of musician or impact on the jazz/music/improvisational scene in general as Andrew Cyrille.

some of us might consider him the greatest living American drummer.

I prefer Chambers as a drummer and composer to Cyrille, but Cyrille is certainly worthy, and Chambers hasn't been on the scene over the years as much as one would wish -- certainly not as much as Cyrille, I believe.

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Just to show how differently people can think about these things, on another online discussion board, a member posted this list of musicians who should be honored:

Sir Charles Thompson

Dick Hyman

Bob Dorough

Dave Frishberg

Mark Murphy

Jessica Williams

I like the idea of Sir Charles. Hyman, maybe, but so much of his work has been emulative -- not that he doesn't have his own thing, but those were the gigs he found himself in or took. Dorough and Frishberg aren't much to my taste -- the former clever hip on a good day but not enough vocal ability, the latter too often too cute both as a songwriter and performer. Mark Murphy -- I'd rather be covered in honey and tied down on a pile of red ants. Williams I haven't been knocked out by but don't have enough experience to feel sure.

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Despite my (and many others) many issues with William Parker (which fwiw are documented for a couple of more days on the other board), he deserves to be honored.

His legacy will be immense and his impact on the music has been much more than most realize.

and as wonderful drummers that both Billy Hart and Joe Chambers are, they cannot be honered before the *great* Andrew Cyrille

As much as I respect Mr. Larry Kart, they are simply not in the same category of musician or impact on the jazz/music/improvisational scene in general as Andrew Cyrille.

some of us might consider him the greatest living American drummer.

My point was if you're going to bring up someone who has been mailing it in for over a decade....while Drew Gress hasn't.

My choice for greatest American drummer would be Hamid Drake (the only person that can get Parker out of his coma mode), but he's not far behind. Then Chambers.

How about Archie Shepp?

And Wadada Leo Smith?

I am on this bandwagon!

Charles Tolliver

Which once again brings up Chuck Nessa. Cuscuna only afterwards. Can anyone imagine Nessa with the resources that Cuscuna, or Keepnews had?

Edited by Blue Train
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Oh I actually think for my taste Drake, Hemingway, Peterson, Rainey, and Cyrille are among the greatest drummers alive or even ever but maybe we are splitting hairs.

I actually believe Drake on a good night is greatest jazz drummer I've ever seen or heard

but Hamid Drake is not entering that club anytime soon if Roscoe Mitchell isn't in it.

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  • 2 years later...

With the recent talk about the 2016 NEA Jazz Masters, I thought I'd start a "Who Should Be Next Honored Next Year?" thread.  But I did a quick search, and this thread was already here.  So, rather than duplicate, I'm giving this one a bump.

For me, the first person who came to mind is Andrew Cyrille. 

220px-Andrew_Cyrille.jpg

Looks like I'm far from alone in thinking this; several of you have already mentioned him.

Who else is missing?

 

An aside: It's sad to see how many artists mentioned at the beginning of this thread have already passed.  Tempus fugit.

 

EDIT: 
I just realized that neither Herbie Hancock nor Wayne Shorter has been honored yet. I think both of these guys are obvious candidates for inclusion. [Note: I was mistaken. They're in. See post below.]

Edited by HutchFan
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On 6/28/2013 at 4:33 PM, Steve Reynolds said:

Oh I actually think for my taste Drake, Hemingway, Peterson, Rainey, and Cyrille are among the greatest drummers alive or even ever but maybe we are splitting hairs.

 

I actually believe Drake on a good night is greatest jazz drummer I've ever seen or heard

 

but Hamid Drake is not entering that club anytime soon if Roscoe Mitchell isn't in it.

Cyrille is the only one who's been on the scene long enough to fit the bill. Plus, he's had a significant and lasting influence on the others you mention.

I guess Shepp is getting the nod this year, which is cool.

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I realized that the page with photos did not include all those who have received the award.   Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Cecil Taylor have all been honored.  You can use this link to check by last name: https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz.

There is a web cast of tonight's program starting at 8pm.   Broadcast starts at 7pm.  https://www.arts.gov/lifetime-honors/nea-jazz-masters/2016-nea-jazz-masters-tribute-concert-webcast

A play bill for tonight: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/2016-nea-jazz-masters-tribute-concert-playbill.pdf

And here is the complete list: 

NEA JAZZ MASTERS 1982-2016

Muhal Richard Abrams
Jamey Aebersold
Toshiko Akiyoshi
Mose Allison
George Avakian
David Baker
Danny Barker
Ray Barretto
Kenny Barron
Count Basie
Louie Bellson
Tony Bennett
George Benson
Art Blakey
Carla Bley
Anthony Braxton
Bob Brookmeyer
Cleo Patra Brown
Ray Brown
Dave Brubeck
Kenny Burrell
Gary Burton
Donald Byrd
Candido Camero
Benny Carter
Betty Carter
Ron Carter
Kenneth Clarke
Buck Clayton
Jimmy Cobb
George Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Chick Corea
Miles Davis
Richard Davis
Buddy DeFranco
Jack DeJohnette
Lou Donaldson
Dorothy Donegan
Paquito D'Rivera
Harry "Sweets" Edison
Roy Eldridge
Gil Evans
Art Farmer
Ella Fitzgerald
Tommy Flanagan
Frank Foster
Von Freeman
Curtis Fuller
Rudy Van Gelder
Dizzy Gillespie
Benny Golson
Dexter Gordon
Lorraine Gordon
Charlie Haden
Jim Hall
Chico Hamilton
Lionel Hampton
Slide Hampton
Herbie Hancock
Barry Harris
Roy Haynes
Jimmy Heath
Percy Heath
Joe Henderson
Luther Henderson
Jon Hendricks
Nat Hentoff
Billy Higgins
Andrew Hill
Milt Hinton
Bill Holman
Shirley Horn
Freddie Hubbard
Bobby Hutcherson
Milt Jackson
Ahmad Jamal
Keith Jarrett
J.J. Johnson
Elvin Jones
Hank Jones
Jonathan "Jo" Jones
Quincy Jones
Sheila Jordan
Orrin Keepnews
Andy Kirk
Lee Konitz
Hubert Laws
Yusef Lateef
John Levy
John Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
David Liebman
Abbey Lincoln
Melba Liston
Charles Lloyd
Johnny Mandel
The Marsalis Family (Ellis Jr., Wynton, Delfeayo, Jason, Branford)
Tom McIntosh
Jackie McLean
Marian McPartland
Carmen McRae
Jay McShann
James Moody
Dan Morgenstern
Anita O'Day
Jimmy Owens
Wendy Oxenhorn
Eddie Palmieri
Sun Ra
Max Roach
Sonny Rollins
Annie Ross
George Russell
Pharoah Sanders
Gunther Schuller
Jimmy Scott
Joe Segal
Artie Shaw
Archie Shepp
Jimmy Smith
Horace Silver
Wayne Shorter
Billy Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Clark Terry
Toots Thielemans
McCoy Tyner
Sarah Vaughan
Cedar Walton
George Wein
Frank Wess
Randy Weston
Joe Wilder
Joe Williams
Gerald Wilson
Nancy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Phil Woods
Snooky Young

 

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54 minutes ago, alankin said:

I realized that the page with photos did not include all those who have received the award.   Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Cecil Taylor have all been honored.  You can use this link to check by last name: https://www.arts.gov/honors/jazz.

My bad, alankin. Thanks for catching that mistake and posting the correct list of honorees.

I've deleted the link in my post. 

Edited by HutchFan
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I know my tastes are more mainstream, but looking over that list of past honorees, some of the names notable by their absence for me were:

Ernie Andrews

Dr. Lonnie Smith

Junior Mance

George Cables

Bucky Pizzarelli

Bob Wilber

(I find it utterly inexcusable that they never got around to honoring Tito Puente while he was with us.)

Edited by duaneiac
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I am going to the concert in DC tonight.

I made my first nomination this year. I nominated Joe Chambers. He stays in the system 5 years.

If I am up to doing the paperwork again next year, some cats on my radar are Gary Bartz, Dr. Lonnie, and two wild cards: Grachan and Freddie Redd.

You can only make one nomination a year.

Bertrand.

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On 6/28/2013 at 10:34 AM, Larry Kart said:

I like the idea of Sir Charles. Hyman, maybe, but so much of his work has been emulative -- not that he doesn't have his own thing, but those were the gigs he found himself in or took. Dorough and Frishberg aren't much to my taste -- the former clever hip on a good day but not enough vocal ability, the latter too often too cute both as a songwriter and performer. Mark Murphy -- I'd rather be covered in honey and tied down on a pile of red ants. Williams I haven't been knocked out by but don't have enough experience to feel sure.

I saw this post earlier today, but did not have time to respond then.  Since the original post discussed was one of mine made back on the AAJ board, I'll state a case for the artists i mentioned.

Sir Charles Thompson -- Still with us at age 98!  I don't know if he performs at all anymore.   An excellent pianist with a lengthy and varied career.  If Dorothy Donegan was deserving of this honor, certainly Sir Charles is as well.

Bob Dorough -- I disagree with the "not enough vocal ability" sentiment.  As the saying goes, "Tain't whatcha use, it's the way that cha use it" and mr. Dorough uses his vocal limitations to suit the purposes of his songs, whether singing his own material (like his classic version of "Yardbird Suite") or others.  He's also a good pianist and has recorded some as an instrumentalist.  For a coulple of generations, at least, Vince Guaraldi and Mr. Dorough have been the first introduction to jazz for American kids.  Mr. Dorough's work as musical director of the Schoolhouse Rock series, made education fun and memorable with songs like "Conjunction Junction", "Three Is a Magic Number" and "Electricity" (plus the series also introduced kids to the singing of Blossom Deaire, Jack Sheldon and Grady Tate).  Plus, it's an axiom in jazz that any one who spent more than six and a half minutes in the recording studio with Miles Davis automatically qualifies as a "living legend"!

Dave Frishberg -- Another good pianist and, once again, his vocal abilities suit his material quite well.  I disagree with the "too cute" sentiment.  Some of his songs are perhaps "clever", but "You Are There" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written about the loss and memory of a loved one and "Sweet Kentucky Ham" says a lot without ever quite saying it directly.  He's had a long and varied career (he also wrote one of the more memorable Schoolhouse Rock songs, "I'm Just A Bill") and if Mose Allison deserved this honor, so does Mr. Frishberg, IMO.

Mark Murphy -- Is now RIP, so he's not longer eligible for this award.  Pity they didn't see fit to honor him.

Jessica Williams -- I have been "knocked out by" her playing many times, both in concerts and on recordings.  She is one of may all-time favorites and it's very inexplicable to me that she has yet to receive this honor.

A couple of other names I would add, but I know they will never be considered as they are too West Coast/Hollywood for the East Coast jazz establishment:

Terry Gibbs

Lennie Niehaus

Lalo Schifrin

Guitarist Martin Taylor I would add, but I don't know if he ever became a US citizen.

 

 

Edited by duaneiac
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