Christian McBride to receive the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award from the Jazz Connect Conference

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On January 5, 2017, the Jazz Connect Conference will present bassist/bandleader/advocate/educator Christian McBride with the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award. The Jazz Connect Conference created the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award in 2014 in honor of the esteemed jazz record executive who was a champion and advocate for so many jazz artists over the last four decades. The annual award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and vision in expanding the audience for jazz and who has made a real difference for the artists, the music and the audience. The award's first recipient was Randall Kline, SFJAZZ founder and executive director. Brice Rosenbloom, founder of the BOOM Collective and organizer of Winter Jazzfest, the Undead Music Festival, the BRIC Jazz Festival and other innovative live events, received the award in 2016.

The first musician to be recognized with the honor, multiple Grammy-award winner McBride has distinguished himself both on the bandstand and off. In addition to his work as a musician, McBride hosts and produces "The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian" on SiriusXM satellite radio and National Public Radio's "Jazz Night in America, " a weekly radio show and multimedia collaboration between WBGO, NPR and Jazz at Lincoln Center, showcasing outstanding live jazz from across the country. With his staggering body of work, McBride is the ideal host, drawing on history, experience, and a gift for storytelling to bridge the gap between artist, music, and audience. He brings that same breadth of experience to bear as Artistic Advisor for Jazz Programming at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and most recently for the Newport Jazz Festival. Completing the circle is his work with Jazz House Kids, the nationally recognized community arts organization founded by his wife, vocalist Melissa Walker.

The 2017 Jazz Connect Conference—co-presented by JazzTimes and Jazz Forward Coalition—brings together the jazz community for a series of panels, workshops and special events, and will be held at Saint Peter's Church at 54th Street & Lexington Avenue in New York City. With a theme of "The Family of Jazz, " the conference leads into both the APAP conference and Winter Jazzfest. This past year's conference was attended by over 800 industry professionals and artists and featured a keynote address by Dee Dee Bridgewater, recently named a NEA Jazz Master. The Grammy-award winning bandleader/composer/arranger Maria Schneider will give the keynote address at the 2017 Jazz Connect Conference.

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