News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Presents 2025 SATCHMO Award and Lifetime Achievement Award

Learn more about the award recipients, JoAnne Brackeen and Roger Dickerson, here!

By: Jan. 16, 2025
Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Presents 2025 SATCHMO Award and Lifetime Achievement Award  Image
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.



The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) celebrated its annual awards honoring jazz education and music advocacy during Jazz Congress, a two-day series of workshops, panels and networking opportunities produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, on January 8 and 9. The 2025 recipient of the 14th SATCHMO™ Award is Pianist/Educator JoAnne Brackeen and the third LAEF Lifetime Achievement Award winner is Roger Dickerson, New Orleans Composer/Pianist/Educator/Mentor.

“The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation awards reflect Armstrong's Promethean legacy as the Founding Father of Jazz, celebrating his lifelong mission to elevate the human condition through the down-home nobility of his art,” said Jackie Harris, executive director of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

This year, we honored two extraordinary individuals – Ms. Joanne Brackeen and Mr. Roger Dickerson – whose contributions continue to make a significant impact within the global jazz community. Their remarkable efforts, both on and off the bandstand, have touched countless lives and exemplify the spirit of Louis Armstrong’s enduring legacy."

Multiple award-winning Singer/Pianist/Composer Jon Batiste moderated a discussion with Ms. Brackeen and Mr. Dickerson on Wednesday, January 8, in the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Atrium for Jazz Congress attendees, including presenters, artists, managers, agents, radio programmers and other jazz professionals.

On January 9, in collaboration with Jazz Congress and Jazz at Lincoln Center, the awards were presented at Dizzy’s Club, 10 Columbus Circle in Manhattan, by LAEF Board Members Wynton Marsalis and Dr. David Chevan. The evening featured performances by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation All-Star Sextet: Terence Blanchard, trumpet; Darrell Lavigne, piano; Branford Marsalis, saxophone; Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; Herlin Riley, drums/bandleader; and Chris Severin, bass. Ms. Brackeen also performed two numbers with members of the sextet.

THE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Roger Dickerson, age 90, stands as a towering figure in the world of music, both as an artist of exceptional depth and as a generous mentor and teacher to generations of students. Born in New Orleans, his artistic journey began with the rhythms of street performers and the discipline of formal piano training. His exposure to the city’s vibrant music culture instilled in him a deep appreciation for both classical traditions and the spontaneity of jazz and spirituals. Dickerson earned degrees from Dillard University and Indiana University, and as a Fulbright Scholar, he studied composition at the Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Austria.

Dickerson’s association with the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp and the Thelonious Monk Institute at Loyola University allowed him to work directly with emerging artists, instilling in them the importance of technical precision, historical awareness, and creative individuality. Widely celebrated for his groundbreaking masterpieces, his works include A Musical Service for Louis: A Requiem for Louis Armstrong, the New Orleans Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (which both garnered Pulitzer Prize nominations), Symphonie Congo Square and Preacher Man! Preacher Man!.

Whether teaching in classroom, directing choirs, or mentoring young artists, Dickerson exemplified the highest ideals of education and artistry. His impact on the musical world continues through the many students, colleagues and audiences he has touched.

Whatever the musical setting, NEA Jazz Master/Pianist and Satchmo™ Award Recipient JoAnne Brackeen's unique style of playing commands attention. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range. A full-time professor at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and a guest professor at the New School in New York, she has led clinics, master classes, and artistic residencies worldwide.

A child prodigy, who at age 11, learned to play the piano in six months, Brackeen was already performing professionally by age 12. Some of her musical constituents were Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins, Bobby Hutcherson, Scott Lafaro, and Charles Lloyd. Simultaneously, the Los Angeles Conservatory heard of her musicianship and offered her a full scholarship. She attended classes less than one week before deciding the bandstand was more significant.

Brackeen moved to New York in 1965 where she worked with George Benson, Paul Chambers, Lee Konitz, Sonny Stitt, and Woody Shaw. She joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1969, becoming the first and only female member of the group. Brackeen then performed with Joe Henderson and Stan Getz before emerging as a leader. The pianist has performed with Terence Blanchard, Michael Brecker, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Eddie Gomez, Billy Hart, Horace "El Negro" Hernandez, Branford Marsalis, Cecil McBee, John Patitucci, Chris Potter, and Greg Osby. She has recorded more than two dozen albums as a leader and has appeared on nearly 100 additional recordings.



Comments

To post a comment, you must register and login.





Industry Classifieds

Videos