Jimmy Heath Rails About Potential NEA Jazz Masters Cuts
By Frank Alkyer (Downbeat)
Jimmy Heath leads his powerful big band during the Litchfield Jazz Fest.
Jimmy Heath was hopping mad. On Aug. 7, during the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Kent, Conn., the 84-year-old saxophonist and band leader joined saxophonist Joe Lovano and drummer Matt Wilson for a freewheeling conversation. He was at the fest to lead his mighty big band that night, but during the live interview, Heath railed against potential cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters program.
“They’re talking about cancelling that,” Heath said incredulously. “Everybody should write their congressman.”
Heath, who was named a Jazz Master in 2009, noted that the award wasn’t a great deal of money to begin with, but to simply cut the program is not acceptable.
“Now, I pay a whole bunch of taxes, and I expect that they give some money to Joe Lovano as a jazz master because he hasn’t received it, and my brother [Tootie Heath] hasn’t received [the award].
“Now, when Dizzy [Gillespie] and Ornette Coleman and those guys got it, I think it was about $5,000,” he said. “When Roy Haynes got it, it may have been $10,000. When I got it, it was $20,000. I told them people, ‘This is ludicrous. You give me $20,000 for a life achievement award? Get outta here.’ [laughs] So the next year, they went up to $25,000. So, last year, everybody who got it, got $25,000. But just the respect is what we want. We gonna work for our money. But it’s nice if you get the respect from your government as an artist.”
Lovano added that funding from sources such as the NEA are essential to high art.
“I think that’s why there are things happening around the world because there is more support for the arts and for this amazing music all over Scandinavia and all over the European countries,” he said. “That’s what funds a lot of these tours that sustain us through the years.”
Wilson agreed, noting that the NEA gets pennies from the average person’s tax dollars. “So, how much of that goes to the NEA Jazz Masters, if you divide that up?” he asked. “I think [the Jazz Masters] should get $20,000 a year for every year they’ve been doing this.”
Wilson then turned to Heath and asked, “Did you get back pay when they raised it?”
“I asked the ‘Can I get five grand retroactive?’” Heath chuckled. “He said, ‘No, Mr. Heath.’”
Beyond the initial grant, the NEA does help Jazz Masters tour. For example, the Jimmy Heath Big Band’s performance at Litchfield was partially funded by a grant from the NEA. (11/2011)
