[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 137 (Monday, September 12, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1252-E1253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING JIMMY OWENS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 12, 2016

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, jazz artist Jimmy Owens will be honored 
this year by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) at the 
Jazz Forum and Concert during the 46th Annual Legislative Conference 
(ALC). Mr. Owens, an internationally renowned trumpet and flugelhorn 
player, composer and educator, will also perform at the concert, which 
will take place on Thursday, September 15, 2016, at the Walter E. 
Washington Convention Center, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Owens will 
receive the 2016 CBCF ALC Jazz Legacy Award for his contributions to 
jazz and world culture. I am pleased to share the following details of 
Mr. Owens distinguished career as they appear in his own biography.
  Jimmy Owens was born in New York City on December 9, 1943. He began 
his trumpet studies at the age of fourteen with Donald Byrd and later 
studied composition with Henry Brant. He graduated from the High School 
of Music and Art and received a Master of Education degree from the 
University of Massachusetts. At age fifteen, Jimmy played with the 
Newport Youth Jazz Band and later played with Lionel Hampton, Hank 
Crawford, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, and Billy Taylor 
among others. He has over forty-five years of experience as a Jazz 
trumpeter, composer, arranger, lecturer, and music education 
consultant. His experience covers a wide range of international musical 
achievement, which includes extensive work as a studio musician, 
soloist, bandleader, and composer of orchestral compositions, movie 
scores, and ballets. In January 2012, Jimmy was the recipient of the A. 
B. Spellman Jazz Award for advocacy from the National Endowment for the 
Arts. In January 2008, Jimmy was the recipient of the Benny Golson Jazz 
Master Award at Howard University.
  In 2007, he produced and released a new CD on his own label Jay-Oh 
Jazz Recordings, a division of Jay-Oh Productions, Inc., called 
Peaceful Walking, with a fine rhythm section from Italy. As one 
reviewer said: ``This terrific quartet is a platform for Jimmy Owens to 
display his writing, arranging, and playing prowess--which he does with 
precision.'' He also appeared on Gerald Wilson's CD Monterey Moods 
[2007]. This was his third appearance on a Wilson CD in recent years. 
He was a sideman in the critically acclaimed In My Time [2005] and New 
York New Sound, Gerald Wilson's 2003 Grammy nominated CD. In 2004, he 
also appeared on One More--Music of Thad Jones (2004).
  Jimmy is an active and important member of the Jazz education 
community. He sits on the boards of the Jazz Foundation and was on the 
Board of Local 802 AFM from 1998 through 2009. His expertise and 
knowledge is often called upon for issues relating to health and 
pension benefits for Jazz artists or to share his first-hand 
experiences about being in the bands of several Jazz Masters. Jimmy is 
one of the few trumpeters of his generation who played as a sideman 
with such extraordinary Jazz leaders as Lionel Hampton, Hank Crawford, 
Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, and the Thad 
Jones/Mel Lewis Band, among others. As a result, he can share unique 
musical and personal recollections of performing in some of the most 
exciting bands in the history of Jazz music. His anecdotes are 
priceless: being chosen by Willie Ruff to play a trumpet tribute to 
Cootie Williams, Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie at the 
historic 1972 inaugural Ellington Fellowship Concert at Yale; sitting 
in with Miles Davis at the age of fifteen; participating in the 20th 
anniversary musical celebration of Senegal's independence in 1980. In 
addition to all of this, he's also led his own group, Jimmy Owens Plus 
. . . since the 1970s playing at festivals and in concert halls all 
over the world.
  While Jimmy is known as a hard bop player, and it's true, it hardly 
covers the breadth and scope of his musical skills. Throughout his long 
career, Jimmy has consistently emphasized in both his performances and 
recordings a deep understanding of the blues as well as beautiful and 
articulate emotional projection on ballads. As a reviewer stated in All 
About Jazz regarding Jimmy's performance on One More: The Summary--
Music of Thad Jones, Vol 2 (2006), an all-star recording on which Jimmy 
appeared--``Jimmy Owens . . . proves that he's better than ever, 
whether employing a breathy, vocal quality (Little Pixie), a smooth 
flugelhorn sound (Three in One), or brilliant and elliptical Jones-like 
melodic ideas (Rejoice).'' Most recently, Jimmy recorded Jimmy Owens' 
The Monk Project choosing a stellar group of musicians, including Kenny 
Barron, Kenny Davis, Winard Harper, Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Strickland, 
and Howard Johnson, which was released in January 2012 to critical 
acclaim. As Rob Young wrote in Urban Flux: ``Owens intelligently 
approaches each composition with stamina and respect to these ten 
daunting masterpieces. On the opener, Bright Mississippi, it is evident 
Owens tonality is

[[Page E1253]]

clearly poignant as his horn vibrates through and through the intricate 
passage with precision. This explosive gem sets the tempo to remind us 
that he [Owens] is more than capable to form this collection of 
standards in a way that hasn't been done before.''
  Mr. Speaker, it was Jimmy Owens who challenged me to bring Jazz into 
the legislative arena, for consideration as a national asset that must 
be preserved and promoted. Jimmy Owens is a living national jazz 
treasure of international acclaim and I urge all members to join me in 
commending him for his magnificent contributions.

                          ____________________