Honors
National Endowment for the Arts names Morgenstern "jazz master"
Jazz historian, writer, and educator are three of the hats that Dan Morgenstern has worn over the years as well as director of the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies on the Newark campus. Now, Morgernstern can add one more – “jazz master,” an honor bestowed by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) upon those who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.
Come January, Morgenstern will stand alongside other jazz luminaries – the only non-musician in the group – to be recognized by the NEA during a ceremony and concert in New York. He will receive the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. The award includes a one-time fellowship of $25,000. The New York Times calls the “jazz master” designation “the nation’s highest jazz honor.”
The other 2007 jazz masters are pianist-bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi, alto saxophonist Phil Woods, saxophonist and flutist Frank Wess, trombonist Curtis Fuller, vocalist Jimmy Scott, and pianist Ramsey Lewis.
“Traditionally, until four years ago, only musicians were named, but that year NEA added a slot for what they call jazz advocates,” Morgenstern said. “[Jazz writers] Nat Hentoff, George Wein, and John Levy are my predecessors.”
As delighted as Morgenstern is about receiving the award, he is equally happy about the attention it will shine on the jazz institute, which he has directed since 1976. The institute, housed in the John Cotton Dana Library on the Newark campus, is the world’s most extensive jazz archive.
Morgenstern is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2006 Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for “Living With Jazz “(Pantheon Books, 2004), which chronicles more than five decades of his jazz writings. In June 2005, the Newark Museum honored Morgenstern’s jazz contributions as part of its celebration of 40 years of “Jazz in the Garden,” and in 2001 Morgenstern received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.
Morgenstern’s extensive knowledge of jazz led documentarian Ken Burns to ask Morgenstern to act as senior adviser to his 10-part PBS series, “Jazz.” Morgenstern co-produces and co-hosts the institute’s “Jazz From the Archives,” on WBGO-FM, co-hosts the monthly Jazz Research Roundtable, and has earned six Grammy awards for best album notes.