After a hiatus due to the pandemic, Jazz at Lincoln Center has announced plans to present Jazz Congress, a conference that brings together members of the international jazz community, for a day of panels, workshops and special events on Thursday, January 11, 2024, at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
The conference dovetails with and leads into both the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference and Winter JazzFest, which are held in New York City immediately following Jazz Congress.
As part of the proceedings, Jazz Congress will present Dee Dee Bridgewater with the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award, that recognizes someone who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and vision in expanding the audience for jazz and who has made a real difference for the artists, the music and the audience. Bridgewater has distinguished herself as more than a gifted vocalist, through the founding and organizing The Woodshed Network, a mentoring program for women in jazz, as well as through other activism in the jazz community.
Previous recipients include Danilo Perez, Barry Harris, Darlene Chan, Terri Lyne Carrington, Christian McBride, Brice Rosenbloom and Randall Kline. Bridgewater’s daughter China Moses and her mentee and colleague Lakecia Benjamin will present the award.
In addition, the conference’s keynote event will honor the legacy of Wayne Shorter with a panel hosted by author Michelle Mercer and featuring several of his collaborators and colleagues discussing his music and life. Past keynote events honoring jazz legends have featured Betty Carter and Art Blakey, the latter featuring a rare gathering of more than 30 of his former sidemen.
Among the panel topics scheduled for the one-day event are: “Leading Your Own Organization: How to Bring Jazz to Your Community through Education and Performance”; “Winter Jazz Festival 20th Anniversary Panel”; “Eddie Palmieri and Latin Jazz”; “Innovation, A.I., and Jazz”; “Reconsidering Innovation, Transformation and Genius, through the lens of Jazz, Gender and Justice”; “Jukebox Jury” and others.
