NEA 2005 Jazz Masters

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NEA names seven Jazz Masters

By BILL WHITE

SPECIAL TO THE [sEATTLE] POST-INTELLIGENCER

The National Endowment for the Arts came to town yesterday to name big band leader Artie Shaw, vocalist Shirley Horn, guitarist Kenny Burrell, clarinetist/composer Paquito D'Rivera, keyboardist Jimmy Smith, trombonist/arranger Slide Hampton and promoter George Wein as its 2005 Jazz Masters.

NEA Chairman Dana Gioia announced the honorees yesterday afternoon at a gala event at On the Boards that featured a performance by Jazz Master Benny Golson with the Garfield High School Jazz Band.

Gioia said the awards were presented in Seattle because it's "important to spread around our events in the places they belong. With three of our past masters performing at the Earshot Jazz Festival this year, Seattle seemed the right place to name next year's recipients."

The seven new Jazz Masters will receive their awards in January at a gala concert held in Long Beach, Calif., during the annual convention of the International Association for Jazz Education. Since 1982, the NEA has honored 80 musicians and jazz advocates as Jazz Masters, an honor that includes a one-time fellowship of $25,000.

Shaw rose to prominence in the 1930s as a swing band leader, master clarinetist and boundary-crossing artist, who infused jazz with the influences of modern European composers.

Burrell pioneered the guitar-led trio with bass and drums in the late 1950s. Known for his harmonic creativity, lush tones and lyricism on the guitar, he is also a prolific and highly regarded composer.

D'Rivera is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer.

Horn, who began leading her own group in the mid-1950s and in 1960 recorded her first album, "Embers and Ashes," which established her reputation as an exceptional and sensitive jazz vocalist.

A charismatic figure, master arranger and formidable trombonist, Hampton holds a place of distinction in the jazz tradition. His distinguished career spans decades in the evolution of jazz. Smith raised the Hammond B3 organ from a novelty instrument in jazz to primary status.

Wein is renowned for his work in organizing and booking music festivals and in particular for creating the Newport Jazz Festival, an event that in the words of the late jazz critic Leonard Feather started the "festival era."