May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Each year, The Jazz Journalist Association—a nonprofit that supports mediamakers in jazz—offers up a list of notable advocates of the genre who have worked to better their local scenes. This year’s honorees, which were announced Saturday, are below.
Ann Arbor, Michigan: Deanna Relyea
Atlanta: Gwen Redding
Baltimore: Sean Jones
Bay Area, California: Richard Hadlock
Birmingham: Leah Tucker
Boston: Ran Blake
Brooklyn, New York: Matthew Garrison & Fortuna Sung
Capital Region, New York: Susan Cohen Brink
Charlotte, North Carolina: Lonnie & Ocie Davis
Chicago: Harriet Choice
Cleveland: Terri Pontremoli
Denver, Colorado: Norman Provizer
Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Dr. Ronald B. Weber
Hartford, Connecticut: Ed Krech
Indianapolis: Albert Coleman
Los Angeles: Billy Mitchell
Minneapolis: Patty Peterson
New York: Roberta Alloway
Philadelphia: Anthony Tidd
Portland, Oregon: Ron Steen
Seattle: Jay Thomas
St. Louis: Gene Dobbs Bradford
Tallahassee, Florida: Jan & Mark Pudlow
Washington, DC: Sunny Sumter
JJA’s full announcement can be read here. DB
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
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Ava Preston, from Cleveland, Ohio, was named the winner of the ninth annual Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition on…
