NEA Jazz Masters

The National Endowment of the Arts honors four Jazz Masters each year, and this year gave awards to Kenny Garrett, Regina Carter, Louis Hayes and Sue Mingus.

Although we didn’t have tickets, I hopped on a city bike and rode 27 minutes from our house to the Kennedy Center to wait for standby tickets. A fun group of earnest jazz fans began filling the line at 5:30 for a 7:15 ticket release. My patience was rewarded with two great front-row balcony seats, and Audrey soon joined for the concert.

Regina Carter stole the show with the local String Queens, a trio of cello, viola and viola. Audrey exclaimed “that was fun!” and seconds later, Regina Carter took the mike and exclaimed “that was fun!”

Kenny Garrett was also fabulous, turning the Eisenhower Auditorium into a dance floor with a rousing rendition of “Happy People.” He closed out the show with a mind-blowing solo.

Sue Mingus, alas, had passed away. She was represented by her son, and her teenage granddaughter who accepted the award with grace. Before her death, Sue arranged for most of the music manuscripts written by her husband, Charles Mingus, to be deposited with the Library of Congress.

Louis Hayes was honored for his intense drumming talent. At age 85, he could still swing hard.

The program was really fun, with a mix of speeches, short movies honoring the artists, and live music sets. The artists came to together to close the show with a rousing rendition of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free.”

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