JAZZ : 3 New American Jazz Masters Named

Jazz has had its share of reputed halls of fame over the years, but they’ve been mostly promotional gimmicks that quickly faded. The only one that carries any weight is the American Jazz Masters series, an unofficial Jazz Hall of Fame sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The 1992 honorees, to be announced today in Washington, D.C., are trumpeter Harry (Sweets) Edison, pianist Dorothy Donegan and singer Betty Carter. Each will receive a $20,000 award. Edison and Donegan are longtime Los Angeles residents.

The prizes are given to living U.S. citizens who, in the words of NEA Chairman John E. Frohnmayer, “helped write the history of jazz through their musical gifts and increased America’s understanding of this U.S.-born musical genre.”

Today’s honorees bring to 34 the number of artists who have been cited since the program was started in 1982. They range from jazz superstars Miles Davis, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald to such formidable but lesser-known talents as pianist Barry Harris, L.A. bandleader Gerald Wilson and trombonist-arranger Melba Liston.

Edison, 76, has a sound so personal that he can play eight quarter-notes in a row (as he sometimes does) and be immediately recognizable. He’s best known for the bare-bones style he established during his years in the Count Basie band (1937-50) and later on countless Frank Sinatra records.

Donegan, 67, is a superbly equipped pianist whose reputation has been somewhat mitigated by her tendency to indulge in visual antics. Nevertheless, she is so gifted that no less a giant than Art Tatum took her under his wing.

Carter, 61, has been praised widely for her idiosyncratic tone quality and phrasing, though some musicians have been critical of her overstylized mannerisms. Whether she belongs in the company of such noted vocalists as, say, Carmen McRae (who has not yet been honored as a jazz master) or Fitzgerald is debatable.

So how good a job has the NEA done over the years in deciding whom to honor?

The list of 34 honorees shows little cause for complaint. Nobody should dispute the singling out of Davis, Fitzgerald, Clark Terry and others of similar caliber.

Yet the omissions are startling.

While Sun Ra, a keyboardist known for his comic costumes and gimmicky names (Sun Ra and His Myth-Science Solar Arkestra) was chosen for the very first award, true keyboard giants--Tommy Flanagan, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith--have not been honored.

The awards are also unbalanced, instrumentally speaking. No fewer than 10 pianists have won, while clarinetists have been ignored (even the two undisputed giants, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman), as have male singers (Joe Williams, Ray Charles, Mel Torme).

Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, the pioneers of modern jazz drumming, were rightfully recognized, but Buddy Rich and the still-active Louie Bellson were not.

Lionel Hampton deserved his award, but Red Norvo, his predecessor as a mallet-instrument ground breaker, has been bypassed. Woody Herman, whose contributions spanned 50 years, did not live to see himself honored; neither, incredibly, did Stan Getz.

And on it goes.

So who makes the selections?

Of the panelists, two are widely known jazz musicians--trumpeter Jimmy Owens and pianist-composer Amina Claudine Myers. The others are mainly educators and ethnomusicologists from campuses around the country.

Does this group of judges in fact constitute the ideal jury to pass on such vital matters? Not having talked to the jurors, one cannot arrive at a conclusive answer, yet it is arguable whether a jury leaning more heavily in favor of the jazz artists’ peers, and less weighted with academics, might arrive at an even-less-debatable series of verdicts.

Whatever one’s views on the admissions and omissions, the jazz world must rejoice in the mere fact that a government-sponsored organization has to date spent $680,000 to recognize the contributions of men and women who, for decades, were kept (figuratively and literally) in the deep shadows of America’s art community.

Asked what she would do with her award, Donegan laughed and said: “The timing was great--I just lost two pocketbooks at the airport! Seriously, though, I’d like to find two deserving children--one white and one black--and help finance their education. So many kids nowadays need that kind of assistance.”

Edison’s response was more pragmatic: “I’m going to put it in a savings account and keep it for some lean days. Or I may use it to help me stay home more.

“I spend 250 days a year out of the country, and the last tour really did me in. . . . So maybe now I can take it a little easier.”