Neil Tesser is a Recording Academy/GRAMMY.com contributor.
Celebrating its 11th anniversary in 2012, Jazz Appreciation Month is the brainchild of Dr. John Edward Hasse, renowned jazz author and curator of the Smithsonian Institution's division of culture and the arts. In describing the idea behind the April celebration, Hasse says, "It occurred to me that jazz's biggest challenge was not a lack of talented, but a lack of…
Touring the world with his quartet; consulting with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the Carolyn and Bill Powers creative chair for jazz; serving as chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz; and producing major project albums such as The Imagine Project and River: The Joni Letters, the latter of which won the GRAMMY for Album Of The Year in…
When charismatic jazz bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding edged Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence & The Machine, and Mumford & Sons to win the GRAMMY for Best New Artist at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2011, it sent a shockwave through the music industry. In fact, it might have been the biggest GRAMMY surprise since … 2007, when jazz legend Herbie Hancock's…
