NEA Grant to Bring Benny Golson, Eddie Palmieri and
Sheila Jordan to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival
MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton
Jazz Festival received a $15,000 grant from the NEA Jazz Masters Live grant
program to support the performances of Benny Golson, Eddie Palmieri and Sheila
Jordan.
The festival was one of six non-profit organizations to
receive a grant to support performance and educational activities featuring NEA
Jazz Masters, recipients of the nation’s highest honor in jazz.
"I am pleased the NEA will provide opportunities for
members of the public to experience performances by some of our nation's jazz
greats," said Joan Shigekawa, NEA senior deputy chairman. "These six
organizations are providing invaluable opportunities for the public to interact
with these artists and furthering the understanding of their remarkable
contributions to jazz in this country."
NEA Jazz Masters Live is funded by the National Endowment
for the Arts and managed by Arts Midwest. The program offers a unique
opportunity for the public to engage with the NEA Jazz Masters through such
activities as performances, speaking engagements, master classes, workshops,
lecture and demonstrations, panel discussions, and public interviews or speaker
forums.
“There’s nothing more validating than to have the National
Endowment for the Arts recognize – for the second time in three years – and
support the contribution the University of Idaho’s Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival
is making to the students of our region,” said Steve Remington, executive
director.
Golson is a multi-talented and internationally famous jazz
legend who has made major contributions to the world of jazz. He is the only
living jazz artist to have written eight standards for jazz repertoire. The
standards have been used in countless recordings internationally and continue
to be used in today’s recordings. He has recorded over 30 albums and has
written more than 300 compositions.
He has composed and arranged music for Count Basie, John
Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny
Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Diana Ross and many other jazz legends.
Golson also has written scores for hit television series’
and films including M*A*S*H, Mannix, Mission Impossible, Mod Squad, The
Patridge Family and The Academy Awards. Additionally, he has written music for
national radio and television spots for some of the major advertising agencies
in the country.
“Benny Golson is amazing. He hasn’t been here since 1997,
and we’ve really missed him. He’s the most eloquent man I’ve met in years. And
of course, he wrote the Ore-Ida Potatoes commercials,” said Remington.
Jordan was raised in poverty in Pennsylvania and started
singing at a young age. By her early teens, she was performing
semi-professionally in Detroit clubs. She was a member of the vocal trio
Skeeter, Mitch and Jean. The trio worked with Charlie Parker to sing versions
of Parker’s songs. In the early 1950s, she married Parker’s pianist Duke
Jordan.
In the early ‘60s, she made her first recording. Her style
encompassed jazz liturgies sung in churches and extensive club work. Throughout
her career, she worked with Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, Harvie Swartz and
Cameron Brown.
“Ms. Jordan is a well-spring of enthusiasm and joy. She
knows jazz inside and out and has really lived her art,” said Remington.
Palmieri was born in Spanish Harlem in 1936. At an early
age, he started playing piano. By age 13, he joined his uncle’s orchestra,
where he played timbales. He began his professional career in the early 1950s
with Edie Forrester’s Orchestra. He joined Johnny Segui’s band in 1955. By
1961, he had formed his own band La Perfecta, which featured a trombone section
in place of trumpets.
His musical career has spanned over 50 years as a bandleader
of Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. His musical style merged black and Latin
styles to produce a sound that had elements of salsa, funk, soul and jazz.
Throughout Palmieri’s career, he received nine GRAMMY Awards®.
“To have these three living masters come and share their
artistry with the students of the Pacific and Inland Northwest is more than
just a treat – it’s a ‘must see’ in a long line of ‘not-to-be-missed’
performances in the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival’s history,” said Remington.
The 2014 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival will take place Feb.
19-22. For more information, visit www.uidaho.edu/jazzfest
or call (208) 885-5900.
Courtesy: University of Idaho Communications
