The New Jersey Jazz Society is pleased to announce the selection of seven great artists for inclusion in the American Jazz Hall of Fame. The 2008 class of inductees includes two living artists, Annie Ross and Jimmy Mc Griff, and posthumously honors Albert Ammons, Thad Jones, Andy Kirk, Benny Moten and Russell Procope.
The American Jazz Hall of Fame was instituted by the New Jersey Jazz Society in 1980. The late bassist/author Warren Vaché, Sr., one of the founders of the New Jersey Jazz Society, was the driving force behind it along with the valuable support of Dan Morgenstern, the Director of the Rutgers Institute for Jazz Studies . After initial organizational and procedural matters were attended to, the first election was held in 1983 and has been an annual event since.
The Hall of Fame's activities are managed by a Secretary, currently former NJJS Board Member Frank Nissel, who conducts the election process and arranges for the presentation of awards.
How Artists Are Selected
An eleven-member panel of Electors makes the selection of honorees. The panel consists of three representatives from Rutgers (the Director and Assistant Director of the IJS and the Director of the Jazz Music program; respectively, Dan Morgenstern, Ed Berger and Ralph Bowen) three from the Jazz Society (the President, Vice-President and one other person; respectively, Andrea Tyson, Mike Katz and Stan Myers) and five distinguished “jazz world” figures, currently: bassist/author Bill Crow, jazz critic/writer George Kanzler, bassist John Lee, producer/broadcaster Bob Porter and Star-Ledger jazz columnist Zan Stewart. Each serves a staggered term. Others from the jazz world who have served include multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter, record producer Milt Gabler, jazz photographer Bill Gottlieb, bassist Milt Hinton, pianist Marian McPartland, record producer Helen Oakley-Dance, and singer Maxine Sullivan.