John Gilbreath photo by Bill Uznay
As the acknowledged center of the jazz universe, New York City is always awesome, but when the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference shows up in mid-town Manhattan each January, the amount of arts and jazz-related activity in the city is staggering. This year, I rolled into New York for eight days of jazz concerts, jazz conferences, and jazz conversations, and returned to Seattle with a broader perspective and renewed respect for our own vibrant jazz scene.
The main jazz events, more or less adjunct to APAP this year, were the tenth and largest NYC Winter Jazz Fest, which offered an insane number of performances by important NY artists all around the Village, and the two-day “Jazz Connects” conference, which drew over 750 participants to consider issues and opportunities for the larger jazz “industry.” Between Winter Jazz Fest, scheduled APAP showcases, and typical NYC jazz activity, there were literally hundreds of performances between January 8 and 13.
The following week, in advance of their conference, Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, who now channel the most robust financial support into the jazz world, convened two days of discussions on exhaustive new audience studies on trends in jazz participation.
Nestled into the center of this activity was the annual NEA Jazz Masters Awards, hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center, and billed as “our nation’s highest achievement in jazz.” Honored this year were saxophonist/publisher Jamie Abersold and musicians Anthony Braxton, Richard Davis, and Keith Jarrett. The evening featured a lot of music, as well as extended vocal improvisations (couched as acceptance speeches) by the honorees. It ended with a sweet duo performance of a Keith Jarrett composition by pianist Jason Moran and our own Bill Frisell.
It is no surprise that Seattle was well represented in all of this New York activity, with current and former Seattleites in evidence on concert stages, and in meeting rooms and conference halls. Seattle is also well respected by artists and administrators on the national jazz scene for the quality of our jazz education programs and the breadth of our local scene.
The activities of the Earshot Jazz organization are important in this light. We’d like you to take some time to consider the valuable work being done right here in our community, and how we can all best support it. This month, we’re asking you to help honor our own jazz masters with a thoughtful vote for the 24th annual Golden Ear and Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame Awards. The ballot is included in this issue.
We look forward to hearing from you.
– John Gilbreath, Executive Director
