The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Honors NEA Jazz Master/Bassist Reggie Workman With The 2023 SATCHMO Award

The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) will present the world-renowned bassist, composer, bandleader, educator and NEA Jazz Master Reggie Workman with the foundation's prestigious Satchmo Award for his seven decades of jazz musicianship and education during WBGO's Kids Jazz Concert Series at Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 11:00AM.

Admission to the concert is FREE. Adults must be accompanied by a child. Reserve tickets here.

Named after Louis Armstrong's nickname, the Satchmo Award is a testament to Armstrong's enduring legacy, celebrating artists who, like him, have dedicated their lives to jazz. Workman is the 13th recipient of this award. Past award winners include Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, Herb Alpert and Sheila Jordan.

The FREE concert features Reggie's Workman Current Creation for Armstrong, his six-piece ensemble with pianist David Virelles, drummer Gary Jones, III, alto saxophonist Marvin Carter, rap vocalist J Swiss and tap dance pioneer Savion Glover.

Born in Philadelphia in 1937, he worked in John Coltrane's band and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the early sixties. Workman is one of the most sought-after bassists in jazz history, recording over 150 albums with many jazz stars including Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter, Yusef Lateef, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy and Geri Allen. He recorded 11 albums as a leader, including his 2004 release, Witch's Scream. He leads The Reggie Workman Ensemble, co-leads the group Trio Three with Oliver Lake and Andrew Cyrille, and has performed in a wide variety of musical settings. A professor at The New School College of Performing Arts (COPA), Workman worn a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition, and was named an NEA Jazz Master that same year.

Also featured in concert is the New Orleans tenor/soprano saxophonist Calvin Johnson who leads his group Native Son (named after Richard Wright's novel) consisting of trumpeter/vocalist Andrew Baham, trombonist Jeffrey Miller, drummer Darrian Douglas, bass drummer Errol Lanier, pianist Andrew McGowan, bassist Nori Naraoka and John Altieri on sousaphone. The scion of a musical family, Johnson is a graduate of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) and was a student of the late Edward "Kidd" Jordan. He has performed with Harry Connick, Jr. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Aaron Neville and many other New Orleans musicians. Johnson appeared in the HBO series Treme, and his latest recording is titled Notes of a Native Son.

The concert concludes with a soulful Second Line parade befitting The Crescent City, and of Reggie Workman's wondrous achievements.