Jazz Congress returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC

The Jazz Congress conference returned to Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City as an in-person gathering for the first time since 2020. The conference, which gathers together jazz artists and professionals in a series of panels, conversations and tributes, took place as a one-day event on Thursday, January 11 and was attended by people from around the world. Produced by the staff of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Congress this year paid tribute to legendary figures in the music such as Sarah Vaughan, Wayne Shorter and Eddie Palmieri.

Dee Dee Bridgewater was presented with the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award for her efforts as a mentor and leader in the jazz community. Known for her virtuosity and dynamism as a vocalist, Bridgewater also is the co-founder of The Woodshed Network, a mentoring organization (and event) that has supported the career development of dozens of young women in the jazz community. Indeed, at the ceremony in which she was given the award by her daughter China Moses and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, she brought up on-stage several of the graduates of her program.

The ceremony was followed by a keynote panel paying tribute to the life and legacy of Wayne Shorter. In a session moderated by longtime Shorter collaborator Terri Lyne Carrington, panelists Marcus Miller, esperanza spalding, John Patitucci, Buster Williams and Jon Fine spoke about the unique vision and gifts of the influential composer and saxophonist. In addition, filmmaker Fine showed some clips of his upcoming documentary on Shorter.

The unique legacy of Sarah Vaughan, whose March 27 birthday will mark her centennial, was discussed by a panel moderated by Rene Marie, featuring fellow vocalists Bridgewater and Jazzmeia Horn, as well as the singer’s former drummer Harold Jones and road manager Larry Clothier. The contributions of Latin jazz pioneer Eddie Palmieri were recounted in a session that included the great pianist, along with WBGO’s own Bobby Sanabria, longtime bandmember Conrad Herwig, author and journalist Ed Morales and radio host Marysol Cerdeira-Rodriguez. NY1’s Philip Klint moderated the discussion of Palmieri’s life and music.

For several years, Jazz Congress and its predecessor Jazz Connect presented a mentoring and networking session called Ask the Experts or Ask the Pros, in which emerging artists and professionals met with industry veterans speed-dating style to receive informed input on career development. This year the session pivoted to a panel called Ask Us Anything (a reference to the Ask Me Anything format on Reddit) in which the audience could query a group of experienced professionals with expertise in various areas, such as social media, marketing, recording, booking, publicity and promotion. Moderated by Sunny Sumter of the DC Jazz Festival, the session featured a lively give-and-take with panelists Monifa Brown (WBGO and Shanachie Entertainment), record producer Al Pryor, booking agent Chris Mees (B-Natural), record label executive Ken Druker (Verve) and publicist Madelyn Gardner (Jazz at Lincoln Center).

In another new approach to sharing ideas and resources, the conference presented a…