The Jazz Mentors series connects up-and-coming performers with some of New York City’s premier artists to discuss the business of jazz. Each forum features a discussion led by preeminent members and leaders of the jazz community about how to build and maintain a successful music career.

On November 6, 2017, Jazz Mentors 12, featuring Jason Moran, Jazzmeia Horn and Wayne Winborne will kick off a discussion of “Creative Autonomy” for younger and emerging jazz performers and composers. How does one find one’s own voice in jazz? What does it mean to be autonomous in world that often encourages accommodation or assimilation? How do we as jazz artists remain true to our vision and principles while negotiating the contemporary marketplace, shifting audience demographics and diminishing support for the arts by our government institutions?

The Panelists:

Since his formidable emergence on the music scene in the late 90s, jazz pianist Jason Moran has proven more than his brilliance as a performer. The Blue Note Records recording artist has established himself as a risk-taker and innovator of new directions for jazz as a whole.
Moran’s ongoing visionary collaborations in the art world have brought him additional fans and respect. Moran’s music is in the collections of both the MOMA and Whitney Museum of American Art. He scored a ballet for renowned Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, as well as scoring video works for contemporary American artists Glenn Ligon and Kara Walker. Mr. Moran also has worked with pivotal visual/performance artists Joan Jonas and Adrian Piper.

Vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, winner of the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition and the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, has quickly established herself as a rising star of the jazz world. She has performed as a sideman with musicians such as Winard Harper, Junior Mance, Billy Harper, Vincent Gardner, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mike LeDonne, Peter Bernstein, Johnny O’Neal, Vincent Herring and Ellis Marsalis. Ms. Horn has also performed at many of the city's premier venues, including the Lenox Lounge, the Apollo Theater, the Blue Note, Minton's, Jazz Standard, Smalls Jazz Club, Zinc, Jazz Gallery and Birdland, as well as many national and international venues, with her group, "The Artistry of Jazz Horn."

Wayne Winborne is Executive Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) at Rutgers University-Newark, the largest and most comprehensive library and archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world. The mission of the IJS is to promote, preserve, and make accessible jazz, a unique American art form that has been embraced by the world. Winborne has been honored with the Feminist Press’ 2006 Crossing Borders award, the Brooklyn Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs’ 2007 Man of Distinction award and the National Council for Research on Women’s 2010 Diversity Champion award. Mr. Winborne holds degrees from Stanford and New York University.