Reggie Workman Among 2020 Guggenheim Fellows

By DownBeat I Apr. 9, 2020

Bassist Reggie Workman and choreographer Maya Milenovic Workman are among the 175 Guggenheim Fellows this year.
(Photo: reggieworkman.com)

Bassist Reggie Workman, in tandem with choreographer Maya Milenovic Workman, has been awarded a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition, the organization announced Wednesday.

The pair joins “a diverse group of 175 writers, scholars, artists, and scientists,” according to the Guggenheim website. Other performers receiving a fellowship this year are experimental composer Ellen Fullman, and musician and filmmaker Robert Millis.

The fellowship is intended to support already-proven talents in their development of new projects and research.

“Not only is he such a creative musician, but he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever known in my entire life,” bassist Christian McBride said, while discussing his time as a 17-year-old student in Workman’s orbit.

Workman, who teaches at The New School in New York City, might be best known for his work with John Coltrane, but the bassist’s discography also includes albums by Art Blakey, Bobby Hutcherson and Cedar Walton.

The Guggenheim honor follows another recent accolade as Workman was named a 2020 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. The April NEA ceremony, which had been slated for the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For additional information about the Guggenheim Fellowship, visit the foundation’s website. DB