The National Music Council has announced that jazz legends Chick Corea and The Manhattan Transfer will be honored at the organization’s 35th annual American Eagle Awards on Thursday, June 28 at the Summer NAMM Showin Nashville. The honors are presented each year in recognition of long-term contributions to American musical culture and heritage, the importance of music education and inspiration for all children, and the need to protect creators’ rights both locally and globally.

“At this year’s event, we are honoring the artists who bring life and imagination to one of our country’s most revered and treasured genres of music – jazz,” said David Sanders , Director of the National Music Council. “The time has come to celebrate the enduring legacies and versatility of Chick Corea and all the members of The Manhattan Transfer. Each has set an extraordinary standard for ongoing contribution to American musical culture and heritage, and will rightly serve as a mentor or role model for aspiring jazz artists for years to come.”

Recognized as one of music’s most influential stylists, Chick Corea has reached iconic status as a keyboardist, composer and bandleader. Corea is a DownBeat Hall of Famer and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, as well as the fourth-most nominated artist in GRAMMY® Awards history with 63 nods – and 22 wins, in addition to a number of Latin GRAMMYs. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to jazz-rock fusion, children’s songs to chamber and symphonic works, Corea has accessed an impressive repertoire of musical genres in the past fifty years since first performing with several Miles Davis bands in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Yet Corea has never been more productive than in the 21st century, whether playing acoustic piano or electric keyboards, leading multiple bands, performing solo or collaborating with a “who’s who” of music. Underscoring his long list of accomplishments, he was also named Artist of the Year three times this decade in the DownBeat Readers Poll. The Massachusetts-born musician remains a tireless creative spirit, continually reinventing himself through his art. As The New York Times noted, he is “a luminary, ebullient and eternally youthful.”.."