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…
Wayne Shorter, Kris Davis and Danilo Peréz
(Photo: Courtesy Doris Duke Award)Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Kris Davis and pianist Danilo Peréz have each received the 2021 Doris Duke Artist Award, with a prize of $275,000 intended as an investment in their artistic potentials and a celebration of their ongoing contributions to jazz.
The prize consists of $250,000 in completely unrestricted funding and an additional $25,000 dedicated to encouraging savings for retirement. Rather than being tied to specific projects, these awards are available to recipients to use in the manner they determine will best support their ability to create and thrive, according to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
“Art is the antidote to crisis,” said Sam Gill, president and CEO of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “These exemplary artists demonstrate that a time of unprecedented disruption in the arts and across society cannot stifle the power of great art to persevere. We are proud to support these outstanding creators and accelerate their phenomenal contributions to society.”
The Doris Duke Artist Awards are the largest national awards offered in the performing arts and are targeted to the fields of jazz, contemporary dance and theater. Since it began in 2012, the program has delivered more than $35.4 million in funding to 129 artists. A variety of jazz musicians have benefitted from the prize, including last year’s recipients Andrew Cyrille and Cécile McLorin Salvant; 2019 recipients Terri Lyne Carrington and George Lewis; and 2018 recipients Dee Dee Bridgewater, Regina Carter and Stefon Harris. 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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