Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame honors new members on Wednesday

Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame’s Jazz Depot, Tulsa

The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame (at the historic Jazz Depot, 111 E. First St. in Tulsa, OK) will honor several outstanding musicians at the 2011 Induction Gala and Ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 16.  (Also Oklahoma Statehood Day!)

• Conductor, musician, composer and writer David Amram will be awarded the Jay McShann Lifetime Achievement Award and will give a performance.
• Lou Kerr will be awarded the Spirit of Community Excellence Award for her continuing commitment towards improving Oklahoma and her support of educational and leadership programs.
• Dorothy “Miss Blues” Ellis of Oklahoma City and Theodore “Rudy” Scott of Tulsa will be inducted in the Blues category;
• Suzanne Tate, recently retired Director of the Oklahoma Arts Council will be awarded the Spirit of Community Excellence Award for her two decades of tireless work for the arts and her service to the state of Oklahoma. 
• Donald “Don” Cherry, James “Jim” Pepper, and Charles E. “Pee Wee” Russell will be posthumously inducted in the Jazz category;
• Dr. Terry Segress of Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Dr. Ron Predl of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, and Dr. Kent Kidwell of the University of Central Oklahoma will receive Zelia Breaux Distinguished Jazz Educator Award;  
• Sharel Cassity, a Juilliard trained, multi-instrumentalist will receive the Legacy Tribute Award.