This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music, and the arts.
The Denver Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in Arts & Culture have been announced. The Global Award goes to Museo De Las Americas, the Mile High City’s center for the broad diversity of Latin American arts and cultures, from ancient to contemporary. The Impact Award goes to Colorado Dragon Boat. The 23-year-old festival is now the largest festival of its kind in the nation, attracting more than 200,000 visitors each year to appreciate and participate in the ancient Asian competition with as many as 50 teams racing across Sloans Lake in style! The Innovation Award goes to the Museum for Black Girls at the Denver Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall. The museum inspires new ways of thinking about art and identity as they center the experiences and perspectives of Black girls in their creative programming and collaborations.
The Jedi Award goes to Courtney Ozaki, who founded the Japanese Arts Network (JA-NE) in 2018 to strengthen the visibility of Japanese artists and culture in America. Courtney also co-founded the Western Arts Alliance Asian Pacific Islander collective. The Youth Award goes to In Lak’ech Denver for their programs that serve Westwood and Southwest Denver: free weekly classes in media, Mariachi, and visual arts that allow students to delve into their ancestry and create new art. (SOURCE: Denver Center -Celebrating Excellence in Denver’s Art Scene) Photo by Bear Gutierrez
We’re wishing Eddie Palmieri the best as he’s stepping back from traveling and performing on doctor’s orders. The Latin Jazz icon and NEA Jazz Master came off the road for health reasons a few years ago for a brief time. Recently we reported on Palmieri’s October appearance at the Library of Congress for the induction of his album “Azucar Pa’ Ti” to the National Recording Registry.
Eddie plans to make this a temporary hiatus for healing so he can “return to doing what I love most—creating and sharing music, and come back stronger than ever.” (SOURCES: Facebook – EddiePalmieri; The Sun of Latin Music – Eddie Palmieri – by Claudia Morales
Average White Band’s final concert was last Friday in St. Louis at the historically black Harris-Stowe State University, revisiting a city they played back in 1977. Bassist Alan Gorrie and guitarist Onnie McIntyre were the two original members who finished the run. A couple of films are in the works to document the Scottish funk band’s influence. “Final Note” is the chronicle of their last concert. “Soul Searching” documents the band’s influence on funk, soul, and hip-hop. Both films are set for release in 2025. (SOURCE: Yahoo Entertainment – Average White Band Final Performance) – by Andreas Wiseman
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