Many forms of music have their own unique awards shows: rock ‘n’ roll, soul, R&B and pop. But one exception is jazz, a form of music that is uniquely American and Southern. But when it comes to awards shows, jazz music is either ignored or relegated to the non-televised portion of the show.
That will change Oct. 22 when the Jazz Music Awards show debuts at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. The ceremony will feature an impressive line-up of artists scheduled to perform: Dianne Reeves, Jazzmeia Horn, Kenny Garrett, Ledisi and a host of others. Garrett and pianist Orrin Evans will pay tribute to McCoy Tyner, who will receive the inaugural Jazz Legend Award.
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Tony Award-winning artist Dee Dee Bridgewater and actor Delroy Lindo will serve as hosts.
The event is the brainchild of Wendy Williams, the general manager of the Clark Atlanta University jazz station WCLK-FM. Williams sat down with ArtsATL to discuss the upcoming awards show, what motivated her to pursue the idea and her hopes for its future.
Q: What inspired you to create the Jazz Music Awards?
A: It was a lofty idea, to see jazz musicians honored on stage like other award shows. I watch all the award shows, the Grammys, the Tonys, the shows for hip-hop and country music; I love the fanfare of it all. The artists know there will be a wonderful event where they can all gather and celebrate their genre. As a public radio executive for 28 years here in Atlanta, and before that in Baltimore, those two things were resonating in my spirit, and I didn’t see that for jazz.
I had instituted a jazz legacy award at our station about 15 years ago. We’d honor the musicians at an annual benefit: Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Freddy Cole. We also honored the High Museum of Art, which has visibly contributed to jazz, to furthering the genre. They had been our partner for quite some time, for 10 years sponsoring our Friday jazz programming. We wanted to recognize individuals helping to push jazz forward, elevate it, and keep it out there.
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Q: How did you move it from a “lofty idea” to an actual awards program?
A: It still wasn’t happening in 2020, and then there was that long pause with COVID. I realized how substantially impacted the musicians and venues were all around the world, a deafening silence. When we came back to work, I began talking about it to Dave Linton, our program director, and he introduced me to Rushion McDonald, the producer behind the Neighborhood Awards and Steve Harvey’s early success. We asked Rushion if he wanted to work with us and he said yes.
We began to map out a strategy in February 2021, including a lot of the initial groundwork, like trademark searches, progressing bit by bit. We brought on our chief jazz awards consultant, Gwendolyn Quinn, a public relations expert who helped us come up with an application and music submission system. Over the next year we received 327 submissions from all around the world for eight competitive categories: best mainstream artist; best contemporary artist; best duo, group, or big band; best new jazz artist; best vocal performance; best mainstream album; best contemporary album; and song of the year. That was the first really good sign that we were on the right track, all those submissions.
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Q: How did you get the word out to all those musicians?
A: Our assistant station manager, Eugenia Ricks, reached out to the (record) labels. Arts and entertainment writer Ray Cornelius had press releases going out to Billboard and other music media. James Locklin, WCLK’s corporate sales director, and Shed Jackson, our global marketing chief, were on the team, then we added three-time Grammy winner Terri Lyne Carrington as our musical director. That rounded out the core team. We’ve had team meetings at least twice a week since the original group met in February 2021.
Q: I understand you’re keeping the names of the awards winners under wraps until the evening of the show. But can you tell us how they were selected?
A: We had to come up with a voting platform. They had to be musicians, composers, educators, radio people, magazine journalists. But not the record labels; we didn’t want them pushing their people. We wound up with 28 judges and by June 30, we had our nominees for the eight competitive categories. For the second round, a completely different panel of about a dozen judges was given the names of the nominees and the music selections they had submitted, and they chose the winners. And for our awards of distinction we had six judges, also noted scholars and creators. Our original team selected McCoy Tyner to receive the Jazz Legend Award.
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Q: You’ve put together quite a star-studded cast of performers under the direction of Carrington for the show: Dianne Reeves, Kenny Garrett, Ledisi, Lindsey Webster, Brian Bromberg, Jazzmeia Horn, hosted by Dee Dee Bridgewater and Delroy Lindo, an opening by The Baylor Project and closing by Lizz Wright. And more.
A: Yes, we want this to be known as not just as an awards program, but a concert with awards.
Q: How has the public responded?
A: Reception has been slow. Maybe people don’t understand what a jazz awards show is, what we’re doing, a concert with awards. It was tough getting sponsors, coming out of COVID and they didn’t quite know what they were getting, the biggest night for jazz when it comes to celebrating the genre. We have to go through the launch and have the show happen, then touch every corner, every local, regional, national, and global jazz musician with a project worthy of submitting. And to bring in other creators and scholars as judges. Clark University shares that vision.
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Credit: Courtesy of the Jazz Music Awards
Q: What’s the plan for after Oct. 22, that is, the future of the Jazz Music Awards?
A: We want to build on the success of this show. You will see nine great performances by artists at the top of the jazz charts, a main stage, public show of musicians who have been satisfying audiences and performing in front of hundreds of thousands of people and are now here on our stage, performing and being honored.
Our purpose is to elevate the art to be recognized like other art forms. Jazz is America’s art and there was no award ceremony for our genre. Our hope is to elevate the Jazz Music Awards to the status of a TV broadcast like the other major award shows.
EVENT PREVIEW
Jazz Music Awards
7 p.m. Oct. 22. $50-$250. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 770-916-2852, cobbenergycentre.com.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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ArtsATL (www.artsatl.org), is a nonprofit organization that plays a critical role in educating and informing audiences about metro Atlanta’s arts and culture. Founded in 2009, ArtsATL’s goal is to help build a sustainable arts community contributing to the economic and cultural health of the city.
If you have any questions about this partnership or others, please contact Senior Manager of Partnerships Nicole Williams at nicole.williams@ajc.com.
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