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2004 NEA Jazz Masters Ceremony
NEA Chairman Dana Gioia's Remarks

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January 23, 2004

I am honored by your welcome, and especially pleased to be one of the sidemen at this historic occasion.

I mentioned earlier my official capacity of Chairman of the NEA. As such, I'm proud to expand the NEA Jazz Masters program to one of greater visibility and stature. But one reason I'm doing this comes from my personal experience with jazz - which is life-long.

I grew up in a household with a dad who was a prize-winning swing and Jitterbug dancer. I played the tenor sax and the piano.

My kid brother Ted and I recognized early that jazz was one of life's great pleasures. He went on to become the real musician.

I wanted to be a composer. But Ted had the greater talent. So eventually, I switched to poetry - always maintaining my love of music, my love of jazz.

Many of you know my brother, Ted Gioia, as a distinguished jazz musician and jazz historian.

Ted and I often look back at our respective career paths and find ourselves well qualified to answer an age-old question:

Who is likely to earn less money, the poet or the jazz musician?

Luckily for each of us, it is the spiritual recompense that has kept us going.

But jazz is much more to me than a personal footnote in a sibling rivalry.

I find myself in a position now to reaffirm my life-long interest and personal conviction that jazz is one of America's greatest cultural achievements.

But jazz's greatness is not all in the past. It is still an exciting and developing art, with the potential to feed our imaginations, fuel our potential, replenish the creative spirit that makes us better people.

I want to expand the country's awareness of jazz, to use it to combat the cultural impoverishment that threatens us.

The average 16-year old may know the names of 100 NBA stars or hip-hop artists, but is not likely to know the names of the world's most accomplished jazz musicians.

The NEA plans to correct that.

We need to reawaken a new generation to the greatness of this truly American art. We need to recognize jazz, to celebrate and reward living jazz artists - for their dedication and contribution to American culture.

With my chairmanship of the NEA, I have a chance to do all that, and I'm going to take that chance. With all of you as partners, we're going to succeed.

Thank you.


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