WVAS-FM is radio partner of the very first Jazz Music Awards

Montgomery, AL – WVAS 90.7FM, the “Voice of Alabama State University”, serves as the radio partner for the inaugural Global Awards Ceremony, The Jazz Music Awards: Celebrating the Spirit of Jazz. The first awards ceremony to focus exclusively on jazz announces a lineup of acclaimed artists who will perform live under the musical direction of NEA Jazz Master and three-time Grammy Award-winning musician, composer and educator, Terri Lyne Carrington. Grammy and Tony Award-winning recording artist Dee Dee Bridgewater and multi-award-winning British-American stage and film actor Delroy Lindo will co-host the Jazz Music Awards, which will will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at Cobb Energy Performing. Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Confirmed musical performers are a cast of multiple Grammy winners, including NEA jazz masters Dianne Reeves, Kenny Garrett and Dee Dee Bridgewater; singer Ledisi; husband-and-wife team Marcus and Jean Baylor of The Baylor Project; and prominent jazz, gospel and blues singer Lizz Wright. The following Jazz Music Award nominees are also confirmed: singers Jazzmeia Horn, Somi and Lindsey Webster; guitarist Brian Bromberg; harpist Brandee Younger; and pianist Orrin Evans.

Two-time Jazz Music Award nominees Kenny Garrett and Orrin Evans are also featured artists during the evening, in honor of McCoy Tyner, who is posthumously awarded the Jazz Legend Award. There will also be a Lifetime Achievement Tribute to Laureate Wayne Shorter. bRay Angry, Mark Whitfield and Marcus Strickland will perform in a special medley honoring the late Joey DeFrancesco (Jazz Music Award nominee), Ramsey Lewis and Pharoah Sanders. Along with other performances, Lizz Wright will perform a beloved classic to close out this unique program.

Jazz Music Awards musical director Terri Lyne Carrington has brought together some of the best jazz musicians for the occasion, including bassist James Genus, trumpeter Milena Casado, drummer Nikki Glaspie, pianist Orrin Evans, organist Ray Angry, guitarist Mark Whitfield and DJ and percussionist Kassa Overall.

ABOUT HOSTS

Dee Dee Bridgewater is a veteran actor, singer and broadcaster. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Flint, Michigan, she was inspired by listening to Ella Fitzgerald to pursue a career in music. She launched a successful jazz vocal career in New York, singing with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, then with a string of notable jazz bands before landing a recording contract. She migrated to musical theatre, winning a Tony Award in 1975 for her portrayal of Glinda the Good Witch in the Broadway musical. The Wiz. The show’s cast album also earned Bridgewater its first Grammy Award. She performed as part of the international touring company of sophisticated ladies and received accolades for her performance in the Off-Broadway production of lady’s daythe story of Billie Holiday at the Little Shubert Theater in New York, as well as performances by Lady Day in Paris and London. She also played a lead role in Cabaret. She recorded a series of tribute albums in the 1990s, winning another Grammy Award for Dear Ella in 1997 and his third Grammy Award in 2010 for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love by Dee Dee Bridgewater. Among her many accolades are a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Maria Fisher Founder’s Award. In 2017, Bridgewater was named the 2017 NEA Jazz Master.

Delroy Lindo is a critically acclaimed stage and film actor. Born in London to Jamaican parents, he has also lived in Toronto, Ontario, and San Francisco, California. He made his big screen debut in the 1976 comedy find the lady. He recently appeared as Bass Reeves in the 2021 Western The more they fall. Lindo starred in Spike Lee Da 5 Bloods, which earned him Best Actor awards from the Hollywood Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, and National Society of Film Critics. He also appeared in a trio of Lee’s other highest-grossing films: Clocker, Crooklyn, and Malcolm X. He had memorable movie roles in Congo, The rules of the cider house, Get Shorty, and Flight, among others. He’ll star in Marvel Studios’ upcoming reboot of Blade with Mahershala Ali. On the television side, Lindo appeared in four seasons of CBS’s “The Good Fight” as Adrian Boseman; as well as “Believe”, “The Chicago Code”, “Kidnapped” and in films for television, such as The soul of the game(playing baseball legend Satchel Paige); strange righteousness (winning a Peabody Award); and Glory & Honor (playing arctic explorer Matthew Henson). He won an NAACP Award for an appearance in “Law & Order: SVU”. He will also star in Neil Gaiman’s upcoming limited series. Anansi Boys for Amazon Studios. Lindo made her Broadway debut in Athol Fugard’s play Master Harold and the boys with James Earl Jones. He received a Tony Award nomination playing Herald Loomis in August Wilson’s Come and Gone by Joe Turner. He directed the plays blue door and Come and Gone by Joe Turner critically acclaimed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Lindo holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts and Humanities from Virginia Union University; a BFA (cum laude) degree from San Francisco State University; and an MFA from the Gallatin School of New York University.

ABOUT THE JAZZ MUSIC AWARDS

The inaugural Jazz Music Awards will establish a new platform to recognize the rich history, musical innovation and vital artistry that continue to inform America’s truly original art form – jazz music. As an essential component of the vast tapestry that weaves together African American contributions to the arts, jazz is culture. It’s a unique sound and style that is loved around the world. The Jazz Music Awards and its creators recognize and amplify jazz as a dynamic cornerstone of all American music that has profoundly influenced American language, style, traditions and sounds, producing heroes and cultural phenomena. The Jazz Music Awards is a non-profit division of Jazz 91.9 WCLK at Clark University in Atlanta, owner of HBCU and licensee of WCLK.

Event and ticket information is available by entering one of the following links in your browser.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/wclk-jazz-music-awards-atlanta-georgia-10-22-2022/event/0E005D0FD4B25105

https://www.cobbenergycentre.com/events/detail/jazz-music-awards