Detroit International Jazz Festival Announces Recipients of the 2009 Jazz Guardian Award
Detroit—Today festival organizers announced that trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, pianist Hank Jones, festival founder Robert McCabe and educator Ernie Rodgers will receive Detroit Jazz Fest Guardian Awards.
The Jazz Guardian Award, presented annually by the Detroit International Jazz Festival, recognizes individuals with Michigan ties who through advocacy, teaching, philanthropy or musical achievement have made an extraordinary contribution to the elevation and perpetuation of jazz.
Marcus Belgrave, 2009 Jazz Guardian Award for Artistry
Marcus Belgrave was born in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, PA in 1936. But over the course of a distinguished career that has spanned six decades and included performances with many of the greats of jazz and R&B, the trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator has established himself as a true Detroit legend.
Belgrave, who began playing the trumpet when he was six-years old, came into prominence at age 18 when he joined the Ray Charles Orchestra. He toured with Charles for five years (1954-1959) and can be heard on such hits as “Night Time is the Right Time,” “Stella by Starlight,” and “What’d I Say.”
Belgrave is a charter member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (1988). More recently (2006), he was featured in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s concert series, “Detroit: Motor City Jazz,” with Yusef Lateef, Curtis Fuller, Charles McPherson and Ron Carter.
Currently serving as Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Oberlin University (Ohio), Belgrave is co-founder of the Jazz Studies program at the Detroit Metro Arts Complex, an original faculty member of the Oakland University Jazz Studies program, and founder of the Jazz Development Workshop in Detroit. He has also received numerous honors including the Arts Midwest Jazz Master Award (1991), the Michigan Governor’s Arts Award (1994), and the Louis Armstrong Award (1995).
Robert E. McCabe, Founder of the Detroit International Jazz Festival, 2009 Jazz Guardian Award for Advocacy
Bob McCabe attended public school in Detroit and Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. He received a Bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan College, and a Masters degree in Sociology and Urban Planning from the University of Chicago. After three years of service in the Asiatic-Pacific theater during World War II, he served in various capacities of federal urban development in San Francisco and Washington D.C. In 1971, he returned to Detroit at the behest of Henry Ford II, and became the first president of Detroit Renaissance. During that time, he became part of the family of musicians, club owners, fans and teachers who wanted to bring jazz back to the city. He and Don Lupp at Henry Ford Community College got the BIG IDEA to talk to representatives in Montreux, Switzerland, who were looking for an American sister city. The Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival was started in 1980 under his leadership.
Among his numerous awards are the Detroit City Council Award (1982) and Michiganian of the Year (1982). He is an honorary member of the Detroit Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Hank Jones, 2009 Jazz Guardian Award for Artistry
For more than 70 years, pianist Hank Jones has embodied the essence of mainstream Jazz – sophisticated and timeless. Now in his 90s, this NEA Jazz Master is still working hard, adding to an already legendary career as a leader and sideman. The eldest surviving member of a prolific Detroit-area jazz family that included his famous brothers – drummer Elvin and trumpeter/composer Thad – Jones has played and recorded with a virtual Who’s Who of jazz history while developing a distinctive style that embraces the best of the swing and bebop traditions.
Influenced by legendary pianists Fats Waller, Earl Hines and Art Tatum, Jones made his initial mark in the 1940s working with Hot Lips Page, Andy Kirk, Billy Eckstein, John Kirby, Coleman Hawkins and Howard McGhee, and later with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic series. In the ‘70s, he made several notable recordings with his Great Jazz Trio, which featured a variety of players ranging from Ron Carter and Tony Williams to Jimmy Cobb and Christian McBride.
In addition to his continuing accomplishments on record, he was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2008 “for his exemplary artistry as a jazz pianist and composer spanning well over a half century,” and was recently inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame.
Hank Jones appeared at the inaugural festival in 1980 and returns 30 years later to represent the Jones family.
Ernie Rodgers, 2009 Jazz Guardian Award for Education
Woodwind player Ernie Rodgers has been a major contributor to the Detroit music scene as both a musician and educator. Born in Monroe, Michigan, Rodgers moved to Detroit in 1947, where he studied saxophone with renowned musician and educator Larry Teal. He went on to graduate from Detroit's famed Cass Technical High School and earn a Bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University and a Masters from Eastern Michigan University.
A respected educator, Rodgers taught in the Detroit Public Schools for forty years and founded the Northwestern High School Jazz Ensemble, which toured Michigan, Ohio, Canada and Europe. His former students include bassists Ralphe Armstrong and Marion Hayden and saxophonist James Carter. Rodgers is currently an adjunct professor at Wayne State University in the Jazz Studies Program.
All 2009 Jazz Guardians will be honored at the 30th Annual Detroit International Jazz Festival, September 4-7, 2009. The Northwestern High School 1980 Alumni Band, celebrating their performance at the inaugural Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival, will pay special tribute to their founding director Ernie Rodgers.
For updates and information on how to become a member, donor or volunteer visit
www.detroitjazzfest.com.
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