Jarrett, Braxton, Davis receive NEA jazz honour

Pianist Keith Jarrett accepted the highest US jazz honour by ironically noting he was being recognised as a Jazz Master even though he got kicked out of the Berklee College of Music and fired from his first trio gig after someone asked him to "play something bouncy."
At last night ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room, the National Endowment for the Arts presented its 2014 Jazz Masters Awards to Jarrett, saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton, bassist Richard Davis and educator Jamey Aebersold.
Jarrett said creating music takes a lot more than being educated about scales and chords.
"Music is either in the air and you find it or it is in the air and you don't find it," said Jarrett, who is known for his improvised solo piano recitals and long-standing trio with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock. "You can be educated about everything there is to do with music, and you are still zero until you let go of what holds you back. My job in my opinion is to let it out, but I don't believe there are any rules."

Braxton, whose works range from saxophone solos to large-scale musical projects, said he was surprised to be named a Jazz Master.
"I mean for the last 50 years my work has been viewed as not jazz, not black, not contemporary classical music. My work doesn't swing," said Braxton. "And after a while I got used to that ... And accepted it. I just wanted to do my music."
Though he's considered an avant-gardist, Braxton said his influences include everything from the University of Michigan marching band and R&B singer Frankie Lymon to the Dave Brubeck Quartet and modern jazz pianist Cecil Taylor.