Christian McBride has publicly endorsed Justice for Jazz Artists.

The celebrated jazz bassist has performed and recorded with a huge number of jazz legends and ensembles, including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Wynton Marsalis, Hank Jones, Lewis Nash, Joshua Redman, and Ray Brown’s “Superbass” with John Clayton, as well as with pop, hip-hop. soul, and classical musicians like Sting, The Roots, Kathleen Battle, Carly Simon, Bruce Hornsby, and James Brown.

McBride was heralded as a teen prodigy having joined saxophonist Bobby Watson’s group at age 17. From age 17 to 22, he played in the bands of older legends such as Watson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson and Hank Jones as well as his peers such as Roy Hargrove, Benny Green and Joshua Redman. In 1996, jazz bass legend Ray Brown formed a group called “SuperBass” built around McBride and fellow Brown protégé, John Clayton. The group released two CD’s: “SuperBass: Live at Scullers” (1997) and “SuperBass 2: Live at the Blue Note” (2001).

McBride began leading his own groups in 1995 after his debut CD Gettin’ To It (Verve Records) was released. Saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianists Charles Craig and Joey Calderazzo, and drummers Carl Allen and Greg Hutchinson are just a few of the musicians who played in McBride’s early groups. From 2000 to 2008, McBride fronted his own acoustic /electric fusion and funk ensemble, “The Christian McBride Band” with saxophonist Ron Blake, pianist/keyboardist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Terreon Gully.

Welcome Christian!

In partnership with the Bronx Music Heritage Center, Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum presents jazz trumpeter and Justice for Jazz Artists supporter Jimmy Owens. In 2012, he was awarded the highest honor in his field, NEA Jazz Master, by the National Endowment for the Arts. The trolley makes a continuous hourly loop from the #6 Pelham Bay Park subway station to BPMM to City Island starting at 5:25 p.m.

WHAT: First Friday! Music + Bronx Seaside Trolley
WHEN: Friday, June 7, 5:30–8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Bartow-Pell Museum, 895 Shore Road, Pelham Bay Park Bronx, New York 10464

RSVP requested (to RSVP email: info@bpmm.org). Cost: $10 adults, $8 seniors & students; members free

Visit the BPMM’s calendar of events HERE

We’d like to take a moment to remember the great jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller, who we lost on Wednesday at the age of 57.

Mr. Miller began performing as a young child, and embarked upon a professional career playing in the Duke Ellington Orchestra and other storied musicians like Betty Carter, Woody Shaw and Art Blakey. Miller appeared on more than 400 recordings, with the likes of Tony Williams, Kenny Garrett, Joe Lovano, Freddie Hubbard and scores more. He also recorded fifteen albums under his own name for Landmark, Novus and Maxjazz. A respected mentor and educator, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of performing arts at Lafayette College, where he was an artist in residence. Mr. Miller was a musicians’ musician, imposing on the bandstand but with possessing an inviting charisma. He had a lasting impact on many of today’s leading players. Two-time Grammy nominee Geoffrey Keezer had this to say of his influence:

Rest in peace Mr. Miller.

On May Day we marched with labor and immigrant groups to celebrate the International Workers’ Day. Thanks to all those who showed up in support.

There’s one more way you can help. Please make a very short trip to our support page and send a letter to club owners letting them know that jazz musicians deserve more security!

April was a great month for Justice for Jazz Artists! We would like to thank everyone who showed up—in person and digitally. The weeks leading in to our big “Jazz Built This!” and May Day actions were phenomenal:

Welcoming New Supporters
The campaign has received a flood of new supporters in the last few weeks, and we are grateful that all of these talented artists cared enough about what we are fighting for to add their prestigious names to our list of endorsers. Our newest endorsers include:

Mala Waldron, Michael Abene, Gaudencio Thiago de Mello, “Sweet” Sue Terry, Lakecia Benjamin, Bobby Sanabria, Ron Jackson, Steven Bernstein, Douglas Purviance, Ras Moshe, Billy Kaye, and Andrew Lamb.

Many thanks to all of you for standing with us!

50,000 Followers and Facebook Love!
The Justice for Jazz Artists homepage has exceeded 50,000 followers! We are humbled by the superb quality and amount of supporters we have online. You all generate fabulous debate and reaffirm our collective belief that musicians out there who are suffering deserve financial and workplace security. Your words of kindness sustain and embolden us on a daily basis and help spread the word to more people in New York City and all over the world. Here is a sampling of some the kind words and ideas our generous followers have voiced in the last month:

Stay tuned for more ways to support the cause! Thanks again to everyone for doing what you do!

Fairness. Dignity. Respect. Now’s the Time!

Ras Moshe has been playing in various groups throughout New York City for almost twenty years, with William Hooker, Sabir Mateen, Steve Swell, Marc Edwards and others. His style has been compared to post-1965 John Coltrane and Frank Wright, among others. Born and raised in New York, and with a family history rich in the jazz tradition, Ras has uniquely positioned himself to bring the lineage of free jazz into the present day. Welcome Ras!

The winners of the Jazz Journalist Association Awards have been announced, and Justice for Jazz Artists Supporters Wycliffe Gordon, Regina Carter and Bobby Sanabria all took home prizes this year!

Trombonist of the Year:
Wycliffe Gordon

Violinist/Violist/Cellist of the Year:
Regina Carter

Percussionist of the Year:
Bobby Sanabria

Jazz lovers,

This year on May 1st Justice for Jazz Artists will once again be taking to the streets for the yearly May Day protests, where we will march proudly with a wide coalition of groups for solidarity and against rampant and ever-growing inequality.

May Day 2012 was a great success both for J4JA and actions as a whole. With momentum from Occupy Wall Street’s success, awareness of the international labor movement was at an all-time high. Thanks to those successes, inequality now has a greater place in the national dialogue than in years past.

We will carry that enthusiasm through May Day 2013, and with your presence Local 802 and Justice for Jazz Artists will come together with labor groups and workers of all stripes to make our voices echo through the City once again.

Justice for Jazz Artists asks for simple and achievable improvements for the lives of musicians who are or will be suffering in the future; fair pay scales, modest pension contributions, protection of recording rights. These are not monumental challenges, but will provide suffering musicians with some desperately needed security.

So we invite you to join us—musicians, music lovers and humanitarians! Make a sign, bring an instrument, and join us for a day of revelry and justice.

What: Justice for Jazz Artists May Day rally and march

Where: Meet at the southwest corner of Union Square. We will play music and march to City Hall park

When: May 1st, meet at 3:30 PM; march lasts to about 6 PM

Why: Solidarity and justice!

Fairness. Dignity. Respect. Now’s the Time!

The avant garde saxophonist Andrew Lamb has endorsed Justice for Jazz Artists.

A saxophonist and flautist, Lamb was raised in Chicago and South Jamaica, Queens. After studying with AACM charter member Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Lamb came into New York City’s avant-garde community during the 1970s, and eventually became an active presence in the Bedford-Stuyvesant arts world and winning a Brooklyn Arts Council grant.

Lamb has worked with labels including Delmark Records, Kiki Records, CIMP and Jazz New York Productions, and played with artists like Wilber Morris, Andrei Strobert, and Warren Smith. He has regularly performed in the avant garde Vision Festival since 1996, and has played with acts like Alan Silva’s Sound Visions Orchestra, the Cecil Taylor Big Band and the Henry Grimes Quartet.

Lamb has marched with J4JA and supports the campaign goals.

To view archival footage of Andrew Lamb, click HERE.

Welcome Andrew!

On April 11th, Justice for Jazz Artists hit the streets of NYC to protest disparities in the lifestyles of club owners and those of NYC jazz musicians.

Our first “Jazz Built This!” demo was in front of a $15 million dollar townhouse on the Upper East Side, owned by the Bensusan family of Blue Note notoriety.

At that rally, we were joined by John Pizzarelli, Larry Ridley, Keisha St. Joan and Bob Cranshaw. That evening, we marched on the Blue Note, and spread our message to hundreds of passersby and to patrons of the club. The Blue Note has refused to return our phone calls or answer our letters. We demand a response.

If you couldn’t make it out with us you can still help by quickly sending a letter to club owners letting them know you support justice.

PENSION, Fair PAY scales, PROTECTIONS on recordings. NOW’S THE TIME!