NEA Jazz Master, Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader who, over the course of a six-decade career, has made a unique and vital contribution to the art of big band jazz. A major figure in jazz composition, she has received 14 Grammy nominations and holds the honor of being the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat magazine's Readers Poll. Her music is distinctive for its textures and Japanese influence merged with a strong jazz base.  A.B. Spellman is a highly respected retired National Endowment for the Arts Deputy Chairman for whom, in 2005, the NEA named one of its prestigious Jazz Masters awards –– the “A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.” A jazz historian and poet, he has written several books including, Four Lives in the Bebop Business and Art Tatum: A Critical Biography, as well as poetry collections, including The Beautiful Days and his 2008 publication, Things I Must Have Known.  Support provided by American General Media, Bumble Bee's Baja Grill, City of Albuquerque–Mayor Richard. J Barry & The Cultural Services Department, Eisbach Facial Plastic Surgery PC, Hilton Hotel of Santa Fe, New Mexico Cancer Center, Thornburg Investment Management, and Verve Gallery of Photography.