NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT… MUSIC: Reflections (Jimmy Owens)                         CD: The Monk Project                          IPO Recordings 2011 Jimmy Owens:  One of the things that I found most important was to start to guide myself and those musicians around me so we could have more of a say in our lives as professional musicians. NEA JAZZ MASTER JIMMY OWENS IS A TRUE PIONEER OF JAZZ ADVOCACY.  IT’S A FIELD THAT HARDLY EXISTED IN THE 1950s AND 60S, WHEN OWENS WAS GETTING HIS FOOTING WITH SOME OF THE LEADING MUSICIANS OF THE DAY. Jimmy Owens:  They were great musicians but the business of music was not something that many of them excelled in.  And I felt that it was time for musicians to learn about the industry that they were involved in.  So right when a book came out called This Business of Music, I managed to go down to Billboard, get a copy of that and I started to tell all of the musicians that they should buy that book because it really told you what you needed to know as a jazz musician to be successful.  You can play your instrument, but you’re in a business.  And I think that that was the first part of my advocacy in jazz music. THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH TRUMPETER  AND JAZZ ADVOCATE JIMMY OWENS WAS CREATED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.