Apr 2, 2024 12:59 PM
Saxophonist, Sonic Explorer Casey Benjamin Dies at 45
Casey Benjamin, the alto saxophonist, vocalist, keyboardist and producer who stamped his distinctive sounds on the…
Trombonist Craig Harris of New York is among this year’s class of JJA Jazz Heroes.
(Photo: Courtesy JJA Jazz Awards)The Jazz Journalists Association has announced its 2022 class of Jazz Heroes — 28 activists and advocates from 26 U.S. communities — to be celebrated for their energy, imagination and resilience in supporting and sustaining jazz artists and audiences in their local communities and beyond.
Simultaneously, the JJA has debuted The Buzz: The JJA Podcast, available at all common podcast sites, with new episodes dropping every two weeks. The Buzz is produced by a JJA committee led by Rick Mitchell of the nationally syndicated radio show Jazz in the New Millennium, and will feature jazz journalists discussing critical issues regarding music, from their professional perspectives.
Jazz Heroes and The Buzz represent efforts by the non-profit JJA to stimulate appreciation and enjoyment of jazz in alignment with the NEA’s Jazz Masters broadcast, Jazz Appreciation Month and International Jazz Day. The JJA’s 2022 Jazz Heroes, in particular, represent the breadth and depth of jazz in American culture. They include:
· Alina Bloomgarden of New York City, who brought jazz to Lincoln Center and now directs Music on the Inside for people impacted by incarceration.
· Terri Lyne Carrington of Boston, heralded drummer-composer-bandleader and founding director of the Berklee Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice.
· Sara Donnelly of Washington, D.C., whose Jazz Road program for South Arts supported musicians during COVID-19 with residencies and tour grants.
· Craig Harris, trombonist and producer of community-based salon concerts in churches, social centers throughout Harlem, New York City.
· Jim Nadel of the San Francisco Bay Area, founder and director of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, now in its 50th year.
This year’s Jazz Heroes include broadcasters, educators, festival presenters, concert producers, a publicist, an independent scholar and the publisher of The Syncopated Times, chronicle of traditional jazz. The JJA’s Jazz Heroes initiative dates to 2001, when founders of the Jazz Foundation of America were recognized for their good works. Jazz Heroes are now nominated by grass-roots fans to gain the international profile afforded by the JJA’s online media efforts, and receive JJA Awards at events where they live, with the public invited.
The JJA is planning Super-Zoom livestream productions featuring Heroes, musicians and journalists cited as winners in the 27th annual JJA Jazz Awards. Jazz Awards winners will be announced May 4. Dates for the Super-Zooms to follow.
For further information on the 2022 JJA Jazz Heroes, The Buzz, the JJA Jazz Awards or the JJA, a membership organization for writers, photographers, broadcasters, videographers and other media professionals engaged with jazz, contact Howard Mandel (president@jazzjournalists.org).
To see full portraits and profiles of the Heroes, click HERE. DB
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