By LOREN SCHOENBERG

Joe Wilder will be honored with the Juilliard President's Medal on February 27.

Everyone involved with The Juilliard School confronts cultural history. The School itself is a legatee of many grand traditions, most of which emigrated from Europe centuries back. The students, the teachers, the audiences that attend its events are constantly faced with the challenge of relating art from the past to the present day. In the six years since jazz was welcomed here, the historic context has been broadened and made even more aesthetically American than it was before. Those of us who wish we could have heard the legendary 19th-century virtuosi for whom Beethoven, Brahms, and other great composers wrote their music can hear their 20th-century equivalents on February 27, when President Joseph W. Polisi presents the President's Medal to five jazz greats as part of Juilliard's Jazz's "Tribute to Jazz Legends." All five have recorded with both

Clark Terry (above) and Frank Wess (below, Photo by Nancy Miller Elliott) are among the five jazz legends being honored with the Juilliard President's Medal on February 27.

composer/arranger/producer Quincy Jones and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, for starters. Jazz has never had a more protean artist than Hawkins, who for more than four decades continually renewed his artistry by associating with the best of each successive generation's musicians.

The five honorees—James Moody, Dr. Billy Taylor, Clark Terry, Frank Wess, and Joe Wilder—have all begat their own musical progeny over the course of their six-decade-plus careers. "Begat" is a biblical term, and many aspects of these men's lives are indeed of epic and heroic proportions. They were born between 1920 and 1925, just six decades after the Civil War—a fact that is as jarring as it is instructive. The America they encountered while growing up tried to place various limitations on their lives, limitations that they not only refused to be bound by, but ones that they would transcend exponentially, while simultaneously opening doors for subsequent generations. What they have become did not exist in the world they were born into. Suffice it to say that for decades they have been immediately identifiable after just a handful of notes to listeners around the world. Each man has his own sound, his own musical vocabulary, and thankfully, his own sense of humor. The biography of any one of them could easily fill up this entire article, so here is a brief group sketch, written in a kind of shorthand to make room for the basic facts.

Saxophonist/flutist/vocalist James Moody rose to prominence with Dizzy Gillespie's band before becoming a bandleader of renown in the 1950s. He spent some time in Europe, where he recorded a solo that, with lyrics added, became the classic Moody's Mood For Love. He was reunited in the '60s with Gillespie in one of the trumpeter's best small groups. Moody moved to Las Vegas to play in pit orchestras, and returned full throttle to the jazz world in the 1980s. His humorous vocal style has to be heard to be believed, as does his ever-growing solo style.

Dr. Billy Taylor, pianist/composer and premier jazz educator, made his reputation on New York's fabled 52nd Street during World War II after debuting with Ben Webster's band. He has led a classic jazz piano trio ever since, finding time to teach at universities and lead the jazz program at the Kennedy Center. He has written classic jazz texts, was a correspondent on CBS's Sunday Morning for decades, has been and continues to be a constant presence in all the other media as well,

The program will feature performances by Audra McDonald (above) and Christian McBride. (Photo by Eddie Malluk)

including leading the band on the David Frost Show. Jazz has never had a more dedicated advocate.

James Moody (above) and Billy Taylor (below) will be among those honored at the Tribute to Jazz Legends, which will be hosted by Benny Golson.

Also a prolific educator, trumpeter/flugelhornist/vocalist Clark Terry was a featured soloist in both the Count Basie and the Duke Ellington bands. He went from there to become a first-call studio musician in the '60s, and was favored to become the bandleader on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, but the powers that be wouldn't consider an African-American for the job (which went to his friend Doc Severinson). He has led bands of all sizes from the '60s on, and has gained fame not only for his virtuosity but also for his wildly humorous and brilliant scat-singing.

After an early association with the wild and woolly Billy Eckstine "be-bop" band of the mid-'40s, saxophonist/flutist/arranger Frank Wess popularized the jazz flute during his decade-long stint with Count Basie's band. He moved easily into the New York recording scene and eventually became one of the most prolific musicians in the world, appearing on thousands of recordings, film scores, television shows, and more. Wess has never given up playing jazz, and just last month created a sensation at the International Association for Jazz Education convention.

Juilliard's own faculty member, Joe Wilder, is a trumpeter/flugelhornist/teller of outrageous puns. After serving in World War II as one of the first African-American marines, Wilder quickly became a sterling first trumpeter in a big-band odyssey that included Hampton, Lunceford, Gillespie, and Basie. Eventually he helped break the color line on Broadway, where Cole Porter personally approved of his hiring as lead trumpet in Silk Stockings, which led to many other classic shows. At the same time, Wilder was recording classical music, playing in symphony orchestras, and recording classic jazz albums both as a leader and sideman. A relative latecomer as a bandleader, Wilder now makes annual appearances at the legendary Village Vanguard.

Tribute to Jazz Legends Hosted by Benny Golson, with performances by Christian McBride, Audra McDonald, and the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra. Peter Jay Sharp Theater Tues., Feb. 27, at 8 p.m. Please see the Calendar of Events for more information.

Saxophonist/composer Benny Golson, a legend himself, is hosting the concert; Juilliard alumni Audra McDonald, singer, and Christian McBride, bass player, will perform. The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra is getting the once-in-a-lifetime thrill of rehearsing with the honorees and then appearing at the event. What greater satisfaction can we take than knowing that these five men, true sequoias of American music, have passed their teachings down to the latest generation? Be sure not to miss a truly historic evening.

Loren Schoenberg, who teaches jazz history, has been on the faculty since 2001.