Jazz Foundation of America
Encyclopedia
The Jazz Foundation of America (JFA) is a non-profit organization
based in Manhattan
, New York
founded in 1989. The JFA’s programs help jazz
and blues
musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunities in schools and the community. The organization works to bridge the gap between social and medical resources and the jazz legends whose careers did not ensure this kind of support.
The Jazz Musicians' Emergency Fund and Housing Fund, established with the help of E-Trade Financial, specifically helps freelance musicians who don’t have standard benefits, a pension plan or health insurance to cover one-time expenses. Often, the musicians grow older and due to life tragedies or health problems, can no longer work steadily and find themselves unable to make ends meet. Musicians can apply to JFA social workers for assistance with rent, housing, mortgage payments, healthcare, and more. The Jazz Foundation of America has also created a volunteer network of other professionals (and caring jazz enthusiasts) throughout the United States who provide free legal, dental, and other health services when needed.
The JFA’s Agnes Varis
/Jazz in the Schools program extends through eight states and operates as both a tool for educational outreach and as an employment service. Jazz in the Schools offers free hour-long performances by jazz quartets
of accredited musicians, incorporating lessons about instrumentation and jazz music history. In return, the musicians are paid fair wages by the JFA made possible by grants and "Saint" Agnes Varis, President of Agvar Chemicals, Inc. The Agnes Varis/Jazz in Schools program employs over 120 musicians throughout New York City and hundreds throughout the south, reaching dozens of public schools and hospital schools each month and touching the daily lives of hundreds of school children.
in 1989. Mr. Storfer housed the Foundation in his Manhattan Loft, and funds to support it were raised through tickets to Jam sessions in the loft. Shortly after incorporation in 1990, the newly-titled Jazz Foundation of America held a fundraising event at Town Hall, raising over sixty thousand dollars to establish the Jazz Emergency Fund. Shortly after, two established jazz musicians, Jamil Nassar and Jimmy Owens
, became the organization’s outreach network, connecting musicians in need of rent money or medical payments to the organization’s founder. The committee of founders began to network with other service organizations who shared similar objectives—the Actor’s Fund and MusiCares
provided part-time social workers for the JFA’s substance abuse programs.
From 1997 to 2000, a new executive director, Susan Cipollone, worked up one or two assessments a day and helped about 35 musicians in a year. The JFA offered substance abuse programs and began their Monday night jam sessions as a way of recruiting musicians in need. This took place in the basement of St. Peter’s Church, and the jam sessions continue to take place to this day at the Local 802 building in midtown Manhattan
.
When the Jazz Foundation became official in 1990, they recruited a 26 member Board of Directors and associates made up of friends and supportive acquaintances who offered in-kind services, gave advice and volunteered time. When jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie
died in 1993, one of his last requests was that any jazz musician in need of medical care be treated for free at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
. His initial request was that doctors would provide free treatment to one musician per year. This evolved into a pro bono network of physicians at Englewood Hospital & Health Center to treat a growing number of musicians. Dr. Frank Forte and Dr. Bob Litwick headed up the Dizzie Gillespie Memorial Fund, and the JFA referred clients to the hospital for treatment. The organization’s growing network of generous pro bono doctors continues to grow and now serves uninsured veteran jazz musicians to the tune of $300,000 a year in pro bono medical care and operations.
The organization moved into an office in the Local 802 branch of the American Federation of Musicians
. In 2000, Wendy Oxenhorn accepted the position as Executive Director and immediately took the organization from assisting 35 musicians a year to over 150 in a matter of months. Ms. Oxenhorn revived the JFA’s waning accounts by creating a fundraising gala at the Apollo Theater
in Harlem, "A Great Night In Harlem." The fundraiser took place 13 days before September 11, 2001 and, with backing from E-Trade COO Jarrett Lilien, it was a raging success. "A Great Night in Harlem" has become an annual spring event at the Apollo Theater. Wendy worked to shift the organization’s strategy from solution-based to prevention-based methods: instead of offering last-resort funds for musicians in dire straits, she began to create a supportive network that would prevent them from reaching that point. She sought ways to provide employment for these living jazz legends, as well as a sense of purpose and meaning in their everyday lives.
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
, many musicians found it exponentially more difficult to find work in a community and the afflicted economy. The JFA assisted musicians in the New York community, helping to pay mortgages and utilities and finding new venues of employment for the artists. Oxenhorn got $100,000 from the Music Performance Trust Fund with the help of the Local 802 Union and created school gigs for over 400 musicians whose gigs and tours had been canceled, since no one was able to fly, and who could now not pay their mortgages or rents anymore. This benefited both the morale of lower Manhattan
and the musicians and their families who needed money. As word of the services spread, the JFA's case load expanded from 35 cases in a year to over 500.
After Hurricane Katrina
, Ms. Oxenhorn met Dr. Agnes Varis
at a JFA event that Dick Parsons was hosting and told Dr. Varis about the dire need to help the musicians in New Orleans as she had helped the musicians in New York after 9/11. Dr. Varis agreed to give $250,000 to create a Jazz in the Schools program in which musicians were paid fair fees to play one-hour educational performances in local schools. In this mutually beneficial relationship, students receive a live musical education at no cost to the school, and the musicians are able to earn their own income and share their gifts with the younger generation.
," held each May for the past seven years. This gala event features a sponsor dinner and all-star concert at the Apollo Theater
, and has been hosted by celebrities such as Danny Glover
, Bill Cosby
, Gil Noble
, and Danny Aiello
. Past performers include Odetta
, Dr. John
, Henry Butler
, Dr. Michael White
, Regina Carter
, Elvis Costello
, Arturo O'Farrill
, Candido Camero
, Sweet Georgia Brown
, Whoopi Goldberg
, Chevy Chase
, Joe Piscopo
, Elvis Costello
, Norah Jones
, Hank Jones
, Dave Brubeck
, Jimmy Heath
, Paul Shaffer
, Jimmy Norman
and more.
*Honorary Founders Board member
Richard Parsons
, Chairman
Jarrett Lilien, President
Dr. Agnes Varis
, Vice-Chairwoman
Michael Pietrowicz, Treasurer
Wendy Oxenhorn, Executive Director
Glen Barros
Michael Curcio
William Douglass
Steven Edwards
Dr. Frank Forte*
Ben Giordano
Danny Glover
Nat Hentoff
Peter Low
L. Londell McMillan
Geoffrey D. Menin
Gil Noble
Robert Opatrny
Lee Richards
Marc Roth
Ann Ruckert*
Stephen Siegel
Marlisa Vinciguerra
Bill Wurtzel*
Honorary Founders Board
** Honorory Founders only (not on current board)
Cy Blank**
Dr. Leo Corbie**
Bob Cranshaw
Hon. David Dinkins
Dr. Frank Forte
Phoebe Jacobs**
Sandy Jordan
Quincy Jones
**
Stella Marrs**
Hank O'Neal
Jimmy Owens
Ann Ruckert
Herb Storfer**
Dr. Billy Taylor
Dr. Ron Tikofsky
Advisory Board
Robbin Ahrold
Arthur H. Barnes
Joslyn Barnes
Cephas Bowles
Thurston Briscoe
Ron Carter
Chevy Chase
Elvis Costello
Archibald Cox
Michael Devins
Jim Eigo
Jay Fishman
Lois Gilbert
Charles Hobson
Michael Imperioli
Victoria Imperioli
Phyllis Lubarsky
Bruce Lundvall
Howard Mandel
Wynton Marsalis
Jacques Nordeman
Michael Novogratz
James Polsky
Bob Porter
Fran Richard
Sandra Priest Rose
Phil Schaap
Steve Shapiro
Lew Tabackin
George Wein
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
founded in 1989. The JFA’s programs help jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musicians in need of emergency funds and connect them with performance opportunities in schools and the community. The organization works to bridge the gap between social and medical resources and the jazz legends whose careers did not ensure this kind of support.
The Jazz Musicians' Emergency Fund and Housing Fund, established with the help of E-Trade Financial, specifically helps freelance musicians who don’t have standard benefits, a pension plan or health insurance to cover one-time expenses. Often, the musicians grow older and due to life tragedies or health problems, can no longer work steadily and find themselves unable to make ends meet. Musicians can apply to JFA social workers for assistance with rent, housing, mortgage payments, healthcare, and more. The Jazz Foundation of America has also created a volunteer network of other professionals (and caring jazz enthusiasts) throughout the United States who provide free legal, dental, and other health services when needed.
The JFA’s Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis was founder and president of Agvar Chemicals Inc. and Aegis Pharmaceuticals....
/Jazz in the Schools program extends through eight states and operates as both a tool for educational outreach and as an employment service. Jazz in the Schools offers free hour-long performances by jazz quartets
Modern Jazz Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet was established in 1952 by Milt Jackson , John Lewis , Percy Heath , and Kenny Clarke . Connie Kay replaced Clarke in 1955...
of accredited musicians, incorporating lessons about instrumentation and jazz music history. In return, the musicians are paid fair wages by the JFA made possible by grants and "Saint" Agnes Varis, President of Agvar Chemicals, Inc. The Agnes Varis/Jazz in Schools program employs over 120 musicians throughout New York City and hundreds throughout the south, reaching dozens of public schools and hospital schools each month and touching the daily lives of hundreds of school children.
History
The organization began with founder Herb Storfer and friends Ann Ruckert, Phoebe Jacobs and Dr. Billy TaylorBilly Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
in 1989. Mr. Storfer housed the Foundation in his Manhattan Loft, and funds to support it were raised through tickets to Jam sessions in the loft. Shortly after incorporation in 1990, the newly-titled Jazz Foundation of America held a fundraising event at Town Hall, raising over sixty thousand dollars to establish the Jazz Emergency Fund. Shortly after, two established jazz musicians, Jamil Nassar and Jimmy Owens
Jimmy Owens (jazz)
Jimmy Owens is a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, lecturer, and music education consultant. He has played with Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Hank Crawford, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Herbie Mann, among many others. Since 1969, he has led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus ... .In the 1960s,...
, became the organization’s outreach network, connecting musicians in need of rent money or medical payments to the organization’s founder. The committee of founders began to network with other service organizations who shared similar objectives—the Actor’s Fund and MusiCares
MusiCares
The MusiCares Foundation, Inc., was established in 1989 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Meant for musicians to have a place to turn, in times of financial, personal, or medical crisis, its primary purpose is to focus the resources and attention of the music industry on human...
provided part-time social workers for the JFA’s substance abuse programs.
From 1997 to 2000, a new executive director, Susan Cipollone, worked up one or two assessments a day and helped about 35 musicians in a year. The JFA offered substance abuse programs and began their Monday night jam sessions as a way of recruiting musicians in need. This took place in the basement of St. Peter’s Church, and the jam sessions continue to take place to this day at the Local 802 building in midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
.
When the Jazz Foundation became official in 1990, they recruited a 26 member Board of Directors and associates made up of friends and supportive acquaintances who offered in-kind services, gave advice and volunteered time. When jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
died in 1993, one of his last requests was that any jazz musician in need of medical care be treated for free at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is an "acute care teaching hospital affiliated with Mount Sinai School of Medicine" in Englewood, New Jersey, United States....
. His initial request was that doctors would provide free treatment to one musician per year. This evolved into a pro bono network of physicians at Englewood Hospital & Health Center to treat a growing number of musicians. Dr. Frank Forte and Dr. Bob Litwick headed up the Dizzie Gillespie Memorial Fund, and the JFA referred clients to the hospital for treatment. The organization’s growing network of generous pro bono doctors continues to grow and now serves uninsured veteran jazz musicians to the tune of $300,000 a year in pro bono medical care and operations.
The organization moved into an office in the Local 802 branch of the American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
. In 2000, Wendy Oxenhorn accepted the position as Executive Director and immediately took the organization from assisting 35 musicians a year to over 150 in a matter of months. Ms. Oxenhorn revived the JFA’s waning accounts by creating a fundraising gala at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in Harlem, "A Great Night In Harlem." The fundraiser took place 13 days before September 11, 2001 and, with backing from E-Trade COO Jarrett Lilien, it was a raging success. "A Great Night in Harlem" has become an annual spring event at the Apollo Theater. Wendy worked to shift the organization’s strategy from solution-based to prevention-based methods: instead of offering last-resort funds for musicians in dire straits, she began to create a supportive network that would prevent them from reaching that point. She sought ways to provide employment for these living jazz legends, as well as a sense of purpose and meaning in their everyday lives.
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, many musicians found it exponentially more difficult to find work in a community and the afflicted economy. The JFA assisted musicians in the New York community, helping to pay mortgages and utilities and finding new venues of employment for the artists. Oxenhorn got $100,000 from the Music Performance Trust Fund with the help of the Local 802 Union and created school gigs for over 400 musicians whose gigs and tours had been canceled, since no one was able to fly, and who could now not pay their mortgages or rents anymore. This benefited both the morale of lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
and the musicians and their families who needed money. As word of the services spread, the JFA's case load expanded from 35 cases in a year to over 500.
After Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, Ms. Oxenhorn met Dr. Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis was founder and president of Agvar Chemicals Inc. and Aegis Pharmaceuticals....
at a JFA event that Dick Parsons was hosting and told Dr. Varis about the dire need to help the musicians in New Orleans as she had helped the musicians in New York after 9/11. Dr. Varis agreed to give $250,000 to create a Jazz in the Schools program in which musicians were paid fair fees to play one-hour educational performances in local schools. In this mutually beneficial relationship, students receive a live musical education at no cost to the school, and the musicians are able to earn their own income and share their gifts with the younger generation.
A Great Night in Harlem
Besides major donors Agnes Varis, E-Trade Financial and TimeWarner, the JFA derives much of its funding from its annual fundraiser, "A Great Night in HarlemA Great Night in Harlem
The Jazz Foundation of America is a 501 non-profit organization that created A Great Night in Harlem Benefit Concert in 2001 to raise money for the Jazz Foundation's Musician Emergency Fund.-History:...
," held each May for the past seven years. This gala event features a sponsor dinner and all-star concert at the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
, and has been hosted by celebrities such as Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Gil Noble
Gil Noble
Gil Noble is an American television reporter and interviewer. He was the producer and host of New York City television station WABC-TV's weekly, Like It Is, originally co-hosted with Melba Tolliver...
, and Danny Aiello
Danny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
. Past performers include Odetta
Odetta
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, Henry Butler
Henry Butler
Henry Butler is an American jazz pianist.He is known for his technique and his ability to play in many styles of music. Referred to by Dr...
, Dr. Michael White
Michael White (clarinetist)
Michael White is a jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, jazz historian and musical educator...
, Regina Carter
Regina Carter
Regina Carter is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter.-Early life:...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Arturo O'Farrill
Arturo O'Farrill
Arturo O'Farrill is a pianist, the son of Latin jazz musician and bandleader Chico O'Farrill. He formerly worked with Carla Bley and eventually took over his father's band. Arturo went on to form the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, which played at Lincoln Center. Under his direction the group recorded...
, Candido Camero
Candido Camero
Candido de Guerra Camero, also known simply as Candido is a Cuban percussionist who backed many Afro-Cuban jazz and straightforward jazz acts since the 1950s...
, Sweet Georgia Brown
Sweet Georgia Brown
"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard and pop tune written in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard and Kenneth Casey .The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925 by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week No. 1 for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra...
, Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, Joe Piscopo
Joe Piscopo
Joseph Charles John "Joe" Piscopo is an American comedian and actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Hank Jones
Hank Jones
Henry "Hank" Jones was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award...
, Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath
James Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
, Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
, Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman
Jimmy Norman was an American rhythm and blues and jazz musician and a songwriter. In his early career, Norman had a charting single of his own, "I Don't Love You No More ", as well as performing session work with Jimi Hendrix, but he is better known as a lyricist and songwriter...
and more.
Members of the Board
Board of Directors*Honorary Founders Board member
Richard Parsons
Richard Parsons
Richard Dean Parsons is the current chairman of Citigroup and the former Chairman and CEO of Time Warner. He stepped down as CEO of Time Warner on December 31, 2007.-Early life:...
, Chairman
Jarrett Lilien, President
Dr. Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis
Agnes Varis was founder and president of Agvar Chemicals Inc. and Aegis Pharmaceuticals....
, Vice-Chairwoman
Michael Pietrowicz, Treasurer
Wendy Oxenhorn, Executive Director
Glen Barros
Michael Curcio
William Douglass
Steven Edwards
Dr. Frank Forte*
Ben Giordano
Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....
Peter Low
L. Londell McMillan
L. Londell McMillan
L. Londell McMillan is an entertainment attorney based in New York City. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1983 and Cornell University in 1987....
Geoffrey D. Menin
Gil Noble
Gil Noble
Gil Noble is an American television reporter and interviewer. He was the producer and host of New York City television station WABC-TV's weekly, Like It Is, originally co-hosted with Melba Tolliver...
Robert Opatrny
Lee Richards
Marc Roth
Ann Ruckert*
Stephen Siegel
Stephen Siegel
Stephen B. Siegel is the Chairman of Global Brokerage at CB Richard Ellis NYSE: CBG , the world's largest commercial real estate services company....
Marlisa Vinciguerra
Bill Wurtzel*
Honorary Founders Board
** Honorory Founders only (not on current board)
Cy Blank**
Dr. Leo Corbie**
Bob Cranshaw
Bob Cranshaw
Melbourne R. "Bob" Cranshaw is an American jazz bassist. His career spans the heyday of Blue Note Records to his recent involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long association with Sonny Rollins...
Hon. David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
Dr. Frank Forte
Phoebe Jacobs**
Sandy Jordan
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
**
Stella Marrs**
Hank O'Neal
Hank O'Neal
Hank O’Neal is an American music producer, author and photographer. He is equally well known in all these disciplines.- Youth :...
Jimmy Owens
Jimmy Owens
Jimmy Owens may refer to:*Jimmy and Carol Owens, songwriting team*Jimmy Owens , jazz trumpet player*Jimmy Owens , race car driver...
Ann Ruckert
Herb Storfer**
Dr. Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
Dr. Ron Tikofsky
Advisory Board
Robbin Ahrold
Arthur H. Barnes
Joslyn Barnes
Cephas Bowles
Thurston Briscoe
Ron Carter
Ron Carter
Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
Archibald Cox
Michael Devins
Jim Eigo
Jay Fishman
Lois Gilbert
Charles Hobson
Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli
James Michael Imperioli , commonly known as Michael Imperioli, is an American actor and television writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He also...
Victoria Imperioli
Phyllis Lubarsky
Bruce Lundvall
Bruce Lundvall
Bruce Lundvall, is an American record company executive, most known as being the President/CEO of the Blue Note Label Group, reporting directly to Eric Nicoli, the Chief Executive Officer of EMI Group.- Career :...
Howard Mandel
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
Jacques Nordeman
Michael Novogratz
James Polsky
Bob Porter
Fran Richard
Sandra Priest Rose
Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap
Phil Schaap is an American jazz disc jockey, historian, archivist and producer. He hosts a daily morning radio program on 89.9 FM New York, WKCR, the radio station of Columbia University, his alma mater, in New York City. The show, called Bird Flight, is broadcast from 8:20 am–9:30 am on weekdays...
Steve Shapiro
Lew Tabackin
Lew Tabackin
Lew Tabackin is a jazz flautist and a tenor saxophonist. He is married to Toshiko Akiyoshi, who is a jazz pianist and a composer/arranger.-Biography:...
George Wein
George Wein
George Wein is an American jazz promoter and producer who has been called "the most famous jazz impresario" and "the most important non-player... in jazz history"...