Four stellar jazz-beyond-jazz musicians — orchestra composer-leader Darcy James Argue, trumpeter Etienne Charles, saxophonist Steve Lehman and scholar-composer/improviser-electronics innovator-trombonist George E. Lewis, all practiced stretching the definition of “jazz”without breaking it — have been named 2015 fellows of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, among 175 “scholars, artists, and scientists [a]ppointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise . . .chosen from a group of over 3,100 applicants.”
The “prior achievement and exceptional promise” of these fellows is clear from their musical accomplishments, and also certified by previous honors. Argue was on April 2 announced as a recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artists Award (it should be noted that Guggenheim fellowships are not given to “performing artists,” but the Foundation “understands the performing arts to be those in which an individual interprets work created by others”). Lehman is also a DDPAA recipient, in the class of 2014. Lewis has received a MacArthur Fellowship, an Alpert Award in the Arts, aUnited States Artists Walker Fellowship, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Trinidad-born Charles was given a 2013 Caribbean American Heritage  Trailblazer Award.
The size of the monetary Awards to Guggenheim fellows, according to the Foundation “varies and will be adjusted to the needs of Fellows, considering their other resources and the purpose and scope of their plans.” As reported in Wikipedia, “The average grant in the 2008 Canada and United States competition was approximately US $43,200,” but in 2012 (according to Blouinartinfo) it was approximately $37,000.
Such funds can go a long way to underwriting ambitious projects. These fellows launch ambitious projects. Work away, gents. I’m far from alone in being eager to hear the creative results.
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