SHORT TAKES : Abrams Wins 1st Jazzpar Prize

American jazz pianist, clarinetist and composer Muhal Richard Abrams has won the first international Jazzpar Prize.

Abrams, 60, of Chicago was given the $30,000 prize Saturday for “the diversity and accessibility of Abrams’ music, its striking originality and the composer’s equal devotion to craftsmanship and pleasure principle.”

Founder of the Assn. for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Abrams was the unanimous selection of the award committee composed of jazz experts from the United States, Britain, Poland and Denmark.