NEW ACADEMY TOOTING HORN FOR JAZZ

The promotion of jazz will be the main thrust of the National Academy of Jazz.

“We’re like the Country Music Assn., here simply for the betterment of our art form,” said KKGO disc jockey and academy board member Chuck Niles.

Plans for the academy were revealed Monday at an informal press reception and jazz performance in the Silver Screen Room at the Hyatt Hotel on the Sunset Strip.

The academy was formed in March, 1985, in reaction to the absence of jazz on the 1985 Grammy Awards telecast, which was a presentation of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. At the time, several academy members, including singer Mel Torme, vibist Terry Gibbs and drummer Frank Capp, “were indignant over the snubbing of Joe Williams on the telecast,” Niles said.

Williams, who received a Grammy for “Nothin’ but the Blues” (Delos), celebrated his 50th year in show business in 1985. “A lot of people voted for Joe, and he didn’t get his proper time on the air when he won,” Niles said.

Despite its apparent clash with NARAS, “we are not in competition with the national academy or anybody else,” Niles said.

“One goal of the academy is to have an honors show,” said Gibbs, who joins Plas Johnson, Jim Washburn, Mundell Lowe, Bob Florence, Sue Raney, Dave Pell, Jack Wheaton, Fernando Gelbard, George Rappaport, Allyn Ferguson, Max Youngstein, Jim Shatz, Niles and Capp on the jazz academy’s board of directors.

“Each year, we’d like to pay tribute to five great talents, talents such as Ella Fitzgerald, Woody Herman and Dizzy Gillespie,” said Gibbs. “These are people who have made extraordinary contributions to jazz.” The organization’s ultimate goal is to have a nationally televised show comparable to the Kennedy Center honors.

The academy has existed as an informal committee until now, said Gibbs, “because we had to wait for our nonprofit charter. Now, we’re going straight ahead, letting people know there’s such a thing as the National Academy of Jazz and that we’re seeking members.”

Membership information can be obtained by writing the National Academy of Jazz at 15201 Burbank Blvd., Suite C, Van Nuys 91401.

Monday’s event was climaxed by spirited performances from singers Torme and Raney, vibist Gibbs, pianists Florence and Alan Broadbent, saxophonist Johnson, bassists Monty Budwig and Ray Brown, drummer Capp and others. Part of the program was broadcast over Radio KKGO.