APRIL 1, NEW YORK CITY — Two dozen “Jazz Heroes” — activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz — have been announced today by the Jazz Journalists Association in 
collaboration with grassroots organizations and supporters in 21 U.S. cities and Toronto, Canada. The announcement launches JazzApril, the JJA’s media campaign encouraging and enabling local jazz activists to celebrate their local music people and scenes using media especially to raise profile during Jazz Appreciation Month, culminating in International Jazz Day.
The 2014 Jazz Heroes include music educators, festival producers, venue operators and presenters, broadcasters and journalists, a municipal cultural administrator, an instrument repair angel, and musicians who have mentored up ‘n’ coming players and kept hometown audiences engaged. Jazz Heroes will be presented with engraved statuettes from the JJA during public events in Atlanta, Baltimore, Bloomington IN, Boston, Chicago, Columbia MO, Detroit, Durham NC, Kingston NY, the Litchfield CT region, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Pittsburgh, Portland OR, Santa Cruz, the SF Bay Area, Seattle, Schenectady, Tallahassee, Toronto and Washington D.C.
Organizations collaborating on Jazz Hero events include the Art of Cool, Atlanta Jazz Festival, A Place for Jazz, Berklee College of Music, B Sharp’s Jazz Café, Jazz from Bloomington, JazzBoston, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Elastic Arts, the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, JazzStock, Kuumbwa Jazz, the Litchfield Jazz Festival, the Portland Jazz Festival and Yoshi’s. New JazzApril endorsers and supporters are currently connecting with the JJA — see the www.JazzApril.com website for latest information on Media Network partners and other supporters.
Alphabetically, the heroes are:
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Harold Battiste, New Orleans-based saxophonist, composer-arranger and producer
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Peggy Stern, pianist and John Bilotti, co-founders and producers of the Wall Street Jazz Festival, Kingston NY
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Cephas Bowles, president and CEO of WBGO, Newark NJ
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Raymond Brown, trumpeter and head of jazz studies at Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, CA
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Faye Carol, vocalist and educator in the SF Bay Area
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Bill Foster, founder of Detroit’s Jazz Network Foundation
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Bobby Hill, writer and broadcaster at WPFW, Washington DC
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Joseph Jennings, saxophonist and retired educator in Atlanta
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Jennifer Johnson Washington, director of programming for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
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John Lamkin II, Ph.d., cross-genres trumpeter and educator in Maryland
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Emilio Lyons, the Sax Doctor of Boston
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Thara Memory, composer, trumpeter and educator in Portland OR
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Vita West Muir, founder and producer of the Litchfield Jazz Festival and Jazz Camp
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Thomas Pierce, activist for Schenectady-area jazz activities, including A Place for Jazz
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Jon W. Poses, founder and director of the “We Always Swing”® Jazz Series in Columbia MO
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Geraldine “Gerri” Seay, owner/operator of B Sharp’s Jazz Café, Tallahassee
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Meghan Stabile, founder of Revive Music Group
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Janis Stockhouse, trumpeter, band director, jazz education macher, Bloomington IN
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Bill Strickland, founder of Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild
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Patrick Taylor, co-founder and producer of the Toronto Jazz Festival
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Larry Reni Thomas, journalist and radio broadcaster with the Art of Cool, Durham NC
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Wayne Thompson, writer, fan, supporter of artists, scene, fests, education, Portland OR
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Jim Wilke, veteran radio show producer, Jazz After Hours among others, Seattle
Jazz Heroes were first name in 2010 as an honor conferred by the Jazz Journalists Association in consultation with its members and informally affiliated jazz supporters and organizations. The Jazz Heroes initiative is an outgrowth of the JJA’s “A Team” of “activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz,” first designated as such in 2001.
Jazz Heroes celebrations are part of the JJA’s larger JazzApril media campaign, now in its third year, and the JJA’s annual Jazz Awards, recognizing excellence in jazz and jazz journalism, begun in 1997. Winners of JJA Jazz Awards for musical excellence will be announced online at JJAJazzAwards on April 15; winners of JJA Jazz Awards for excellence in music journalism will be announced at the New York City Jazz Awards party at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Manhattan on June 11. Ticket information tba.
Sponsors of the JJA’s JazzApril, Jazz Heroes and Jazz Awards include The Jazz Cruise, North Coast Brewing Company, the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation, Berklee College of Music, Century Media Partners LLC, the Jazz Institute of Chicago, JazzBoston and the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild.
For further information, contact Howard Mandel, President@JazzJournalists.org / 212 533 9495
or Jim Eigo, jim@jazzpromoservices.com www.jazzpromoservices.com
