NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis introduces Legends of Jazz

The producers of the critically-acclaimed 2006-2007 Public Television series Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis have captured another stellar group of artists in a brand new special, LEGENDS OF JAZZ presents The 2007 NEA Jazz Masters. More

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About the Artist Jeffrey Fulvimari

Jeffrey Fulvimari is the U.S. artist who created the elegant and sassy illustration of Ella Fitzgerald gracing the 2008 Smithsonian poster for Jazz Appreciation Month.

His illustrations have been animated on Nickelodeon, MTV, and VHI-1, and adorn licensed goods distributed in the U.S., France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan and other territories by Barnes & Noble, Marks and Spencer, and Kohl's. Clients include Sony Music, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and Louis Vuitton, among others.

A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Cooper Union in NYC, Mr. Fulvimari is perhaps best known for his 2004 collaboration with Madonna on her first children's book "The English Roses." But it is his lifelong appreciation of jazz and Ella Fitzgerald, in particular, that has been his inspiration and the subject of a 1994 Grammy Award winning CD box illustration that catapulted his career. Fulvimari had this to say about Ella:

"I grew up with jazz. I remember Ella Fitzgerald's music playing in my house and in my grandmother's house when I was a very small boy.

"I always remember reading that Ella was Marilyn Monroe's favorite singer, and in the 50's, when racial tensions were at their highest in the U.S., Miss Monroe would attend all of her shows and sit in the front row to demonstrate solidarity.

"And in a more repressive (and thankfully bygone) era in our nation's history, Ella Fitzgerald had the clearest diction and most graceful and composed voice ever. Not even Doris Day or Patti Page could compete...Ella was THE ONE to beat in the pop music game at the time, and no one approached her ease and style.

"She was a symbol of poise and sophistication that cut through boundaries and rang true, like no other. There is and will always be only ONE ELLA.

"Doing the boxed set for all of Ella's recordings for Verve Records was one of my first jobs, when starting my career almost 15 years ago. It put me on the map as an American illustrator right away. Ella was sort of like a Guardian Angel that came in and secured my career...although still alive at the time. She passed away a few years later and I, of course, never got to meet her due to her illness, but I feel a connection with her somehow to this day.

"It was a distinct honor. And when the entire set won a Grammy as best CD package that year, it was a double honor. I would have to say that "Skylark" is my favorite Ella Fitzgerald song. Every time I hear it, it makes me happy.

"It's also a great honor to be included with such luminaries as Al Hirschfield and Leroy Neiman in being chosen to do this poster, both childhood heroes of mine. I first visited the Smithsonian on a 7th grade field trip, and remember looking at all their posters.”

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JAM Program Manager

Joann Stevens is a seasoned communications strategist, program manager, writer, and public relations professional whose skills have helped propel diverse nonprofits to new levels of public recognition, capacity building, and financial sustainability.  She has held leadership positions with The Executive Leadership Council, a member organization of the most senior African-American corporate executives in Fortune 500 companies; Special Olympics International with Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver; the National Urban Coalition; The George Washington University; the Association of American Colleges and Universities; the Washington Post; and the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Stevens developed an early love for jazz, folk music and the arts participating in educational and cultural enrichment programs at school, the Police Athletic League, Lincoln Center and by performing with her brother, jazz trumpeter Eddie Gale.  Two albums they recorded on Blue Note Records—Ghetto Music and Black Rhythm Happening—have gained renewed interest.
 
She is the co-author of two books— Bind Us Together, the autobiography of Bishop John Meares; and In Goode Faith, the autobiography of Wilson Goode, Philadelphia’s first black mayor, winner of the Gustav Meyer Award as one of the nation’s leading books on intolerance—and a contributor to Sister to Sister: Devotions for and From African American Women.

Ms. Stevens earned a B.A. in sociology from Syracuse University and a M.A. in journalism, with concentrations in urban affairs and religion, from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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