During a ceremony to be held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris on July 22, Herbie Hancock will be designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Recognizing Herbie Hancock’s “dedication to the promotion of peace through dialogue, culture and the arts,” the UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has asked the jazz musician “to contribute [...]

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey will release their 21st album, Race Riot Suite (Kinnara Records/Royal Potato Family), on August 30th. Conceived, written and arranged by the band’s lap-steel guitarist Chris Combs, the recording is a long-form conceptual piece that tells the tragic story of the 1921 Tulsa race riot. JFJO’s core [...]

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) today announced the recipients of the 2012 NEA Jazz Masters Award — the nation’s highest honor in jazz. The five recipients will receive a one-time award of $25,000 and be publicly honored at the annual awards ceremony and concert, produced by Jazz at [...]

Trombone Shorty (pictured above) and his band Orleans Avenue will be among the headliners at the 22nd San Jose Jazz Summer Fest, which will unfold from August 12-14 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, California. Some 100,000 people are expected in town to see and hear [...]

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has name the John Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, New York, to its 2011 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. This annual list highlights important examples of the nation’s architectural, cultural and natural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable [...]

In the decade between the end of World War II and the advent of rock ’n’ roll, Tony Bennett emerged as one of the premier pop singers of his generation — the heir apparent to figures like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and other iconic balladeers whose versatile and engaging vocal [...]