THE ARTSRaising Jazz Status: New York’s esteemed...

THE ARTS

Raising Jazz Status: New York’s esteemed Lincoln Center is elevating its jazz program to the same stature as the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic, making the Jazz at Lincoln Center artistically and financially independent as of July 1. The move marks the first time in more than 25 years that the Lincoln Center’s board has created a so-called “constituent organization”--the last were the Film Society and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which were formed in 1969. It also marks the first time that jazz, an American art form, has been fully embraced by one of the nation’s premier performing arts centers, which focuses the bulk of programming on European art forms. Trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which was created as an internal department in 1991, said the action “places the uniquely American legacy of swing and blues as a history to be valued, an artistic achievement that is on par with the most magnificent works of Western classical music, dance, theater and film.”

*

Salonen’s Budget Fiasco?: Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is the focus of a controversy in his native Finland over a financial fiasco involving that nation’s largest cultural festival. Finland’s largest newspaper reported that Salonen, the Helsinki Festival’s artistic director, acknowledged in a letter to the festival’s board that he felt “morally and ethically” responsible for the financial fiasco, which left the event more than $2 million in the red when it ended in September. Salonen told the board that he alone bears the responsibility for the festival’s “complexity and newness [which] took the organizers by surprise,” the Helsingin Sanomat reported. However, Jorn Donner, Finnish consul general in Los Angeles, defended Salonen saying that he was not responsible for the festival’s administration, and will return as artistic director next year. Salonen was on vacation Tuesday and unavailable for comment.

*

Clinton Vetoes NEA Cuts: President Clinton has vetoed the interior appropriations bill that includes the National Endowment for the Arts--a bill that targeted the federal arts funding agency for a funding cut of nearly 40% in 1996. In his veto statement issued Monday, Clinton said that the massive cuts, which would reduce the NEA budget from $162 million to $99.5 million, would affect the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities “so deeply as to jeopardize their capacity to keep providing the cultural, educational and artistic programs that enrich American communities, large and small.” The NEA, which laid off 89 staffers in October, now awaits a revision of the bill.

MOVIES & VIDEO

Pryor’s Life on the Screen: Richard Pryor and his ex-wife and close associate Jennifer Lee are among those working on a movie about the comedian’s life, from his childhood to recent years, Lee confirmed Tuesday. Damon Wayans is set to star as Pryor, and the movie will be based on Pryor’s autobiography, “Pryor Convictions,” as well as additional material not in the book, Lee said. It is being produced through Martin Scorsese’s association with Universal Pictures, although Scorsese is waiting to see a completed screenplay before deciding whether he will personally direct the project. Subjects to be tackled in the film include Pryor’s rise to fame as a stand-up comedian, his near-death after igniting himself while high on cocaine, his battle with multiple sclerosis and the many women in his life. Although no timetable for the project is set, production is likely to start in a year, Lee said.

*

Video Notes: “The Aristocats,” Walt Disney’s 20th full-length animated feature, will make its home video debut on April 24. The 1970 hit, which has grossed more than $130 million, was the last animated feature to be selected for production by Walt Disney, who died in 1966. “The Aristocats” will be released for a limited time at a price of $27. . . . Bruce Willis’ “Die Hard With a Vengeance” has sold 735,000 units to video stores and other rental retailers, setting a new industry record, according to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The company said the action sequel has outpaced previous top rental releases, including “Pulp Fiction” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”

POP/ROCK

Dead Members to Join Symphony: The Grateful Dead may have split up, but three of its members--Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bob Weir--will reunite in June to perform with the San Francisco Symphony under new music director Michael Tilson Thomas. The trio will join the full orchestra to perform two John Cage works--”Renga” and “An Apartment House 1776”--on June 14 and 15, then will play with selected symphony members on June 16 in a series of improvisations in “An Afternoon With America’s Musical Visionaries.” The engagements are part of a two-week, 10-concert event at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall titled “An American Festival 1996.”

TELEVISION

Return of ‘The Mommies’: Caryl Kristensen and Marilyn Kentz, who starred in the defunct NBC prime-time sitcom “The Mommies,” will star in a new daytime show for ABC, tentatively titled “The Mommies Talk Show.” The program is set to debut in the spring, replacing the canceled “Mike & Maty.” ABC said the new program will include interviews with celebrity guests and focus on “real-life topics” and “uplifting human interest stories.” The “Mommies” show will include taped reports and live satellite remotes.