The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2009. Recipients to be honored at the 32nd annual national celebration of the arts are: writer, composer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks; pianist and composer Dave Brubeck; opera singer Grace Bumbry; actor, director, and producer Robert De Niro; and singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen.

In commemoration of 1959 -- Jazz's Greatest Year, The Dave Brubeck Quartet will perform at New York City's Apple Store (SoHo), on Tuesday, July 21(st). Legacy Recordings/Sony Music Entertainment, ICON Collectibles, Morrison Hotel Gallery, and the Apple Store are presenting this free event to celebrate the 50(th) Anniversary of three of jazz's most influential albums: Dave Brubeck's Time Out, Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain, and Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um. Dave Brubeck and jazz historian Ted Gioia will also sit with acclaimed jazz author Ashley Kahn, for a Q&A to discuss jazz's landmark year.

JamsBio Magazine has just posted a wonderful piece on the three 1959 Columbia Jazz Legacy Edition titles titles, Miles Davis: Sketches of Spain,