The Jazz Congress conference returned to Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City as an in-person gathering for the first time since 2020. The conference, which gathers together jazz artists and professionals in a series of panels, conversations and tributes, took place as a one-day event on Thursday, January 11 and was attended by people from around the world. Produced by the staff of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Congress this year paid tribute to legendary figures in the music such as Sarah Vaughan, Wayne Shorter and Eddie Palmieri.
Dee Dee Bridgewater was presented with the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award for her efforts as a mentor and leader in the jazz community. Known for her virtuosity and dynamism as a vocalist, Bridgewater also is the co-founder of The Woodshed Network, a mentoring organization (and event) that has supported the career development of dozens of young women in the jazz community. Indeed, at the ceremony in which she was given the award by her daughter China Moses and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, she brought up on-stage several of the graduates of her program.
The ceremony was followed by a keynote panel paying tribute to the life and legacy of Wayne Shorter. In a session moderated by longtime Shorter collaborator Terri Lyne Carrington, panelists Marcus Miller, esperanza spalding, John Patitucci, Buster Williams and Jon Fine spoke about the unique vision and gifts of the influential composer and saxophonist. In addition, filmmaker Fine showed some clips of his upcoming documentary on Shorter.
The unique legacy of Sarah Vaughan, whose March 27 birthday will mark her centennial, was discussed by a panel moderated by Rene Marie, featuring fellow vocalists Bridgewater and Jazzmeia Horn, as well as the singer’s former drummer Harold Jones and road manager Larry Clothier. The contributions of Latin jazz pioneer Eddie Palmieri were recounted in a session that included the great pianist, along with WBGO’s own Bobby Sanabria, longtime bandmember Conrad Herwig, author and journalist Ed Morales and radio host Marysol Cerdeira-Rodriguez. NY1’s Philip Klint moderated the discussion of Palmieri’s life and music.
For several years, Jazz Congress and its predecessor Jazz Connect presented a mentoring and networking session called Ask the Experts or Ask the Pros, in which emerging artists and professionals met with industry veterans speed-dating style to receive informed input on career development. This year the session pivoted to a panel called Ask Us Anything (a reference to the Ask Me Anything format on Reddit) in which the audience could query a group of experienced professionals with expertise in various areas, such as social media, marketing, recording, booking, publicity and promotion. Moderated by Sunny Sumter of the DC Jazz Festival, the session featured a lively give-and-take with panelists Monifa Brown (WBGO and Shanachie Entertainment), record producer Al Pryor, booking agent Chris Mees (B-Natural), record label executive Ken Druker (Verve) and publicist Madelyn Gardner (Jazz at Lincoln Center).
In another new approach to sharing ideas and resources, the conference presented a unique session called My Year in Jazz, in which several artists and professionals briefly shared their success stories and lessons learned during the past year. Participating in this inaugural show-and-tell panel were: manager Matt Pierson, who talked about his client Samara Joy; drummer Rodney Green, who recently opened Brvsh Cul7ur3 Jazz Club, known and pronounced as Brush Culture, in Teaneck, N.J.; pianist and music director Mark G. Meadows (no, not the former White House Chief of Staff), who has been involved in numerous successful musical theater productions during the last few years; Regina Bain from the Louis Armstrong House, which has expanded its program and physical space; and saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith, formerly with the late Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and now a member of The Roots. Former WBGO host Keanna Faircloth moderated this session, which resembled a series of T.E.D. talks.
WBGO’s president and CEO Steve Williams participated in the longstanding needle-drop session called Jukebox Jury in which several noted radio hosts and programmers listen to short unidentified snippets of jazz tracks and share their “blindfolded” perspective on airplay and programming. Longtime jazz radio host Brad Stone has hosted this very lively panel for many years, gathering as many as 18 tracks from new and upcoming releases. In addition to Williams, this year’s panel featured Susan Brink (Jazz Sanctuary/WOOC), Mary Foster Conklin (A Broad Spectrum/WFDU), Willard Jenkins (WPFW) and Derrick Lucas (WGMC).
The contributions of Brice Rosenbloom and Winter JazzFest, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, were honored with both a panel session (featuring Shabaka, esperanza spalding and Nduduzo Makhathini and Mike Bindraban) and a special proclamation from the Mayor’s Office during the cocktail party and reception held at the conference’s end.
Among the topics of other panels and discussions were gender and justice, the role of mentoring and apprenticeship, the effect of technology in jazz, the secrets of international touring, leading your own organization and AI in digital jazz studies.
During the hours after the conference’s end, Dizzy’s Club offered sets of music by Sean Mason and Joe Lovano & Shabaka.
"This conference is produced by and for the global jazz community," said Georgina Javor, Vice-President, Concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center. "It was such a thrill to be back in person this year after being shut down by the pandemic in 2020, and later hosted virtually. You could feel a palpable energy throughout Frederick P. Rose Hall—the gathering felt like a family reunion. As Dee Dee Bridgewater accepted the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award, she celebrated the women who came before her and shared the spotlight with the next generation of women leaders. I was really pleased by the turnout and the way people responded to the panels, new topics of discussion, the live music in the Atrium and the opportunities to connect and plan for collaborations in the future."
For more information about the event, go to jazzcongress.org.