Post taken from the ‘Examiner.com’, July 13, 2011
Jimmy Owens is the recipient of the 2012 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.
“These artists represent the highest level of artistic mastery and we are proud to recognize their achievements,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “Through their contributions, we have been challenged, enlightened, and charmed, and we thank them for devoting their careers to expanding and supporting their art forms.”
“Jazz is considered by many as one of America’s greatest cultural gifts to the world,” said Wayne S. Brown, NEA Director of Music and Opera. “These artists are being recognized for their extraordinary contribution to advancing the art form and for serving as mentors for a new generation of young aspiring jazz musicians.”
Jimmy Owens is a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger, educator, and music education consultant. His involvement as an advocate regarding 
the rights of jazz artists led to the founding of the Jazz Musician’s Emergency Fund, a program of the Jazz Foundation of America.
Jimmy Owens’s mother, Eva Lois Noisette, was daughter of Walter Scott Noisette and his second wife Eva Julia Garden. Walter was son of Joseph Stanislaus Noisette, son of Alexander Noisette, son of Phillepe and Celestine.
Jimmy’s father, James Owens, was son of Julia Fridie Owens, daughter of Sarah Emma Hollon, sister of Ardeena Hollon Noisette, who married Joseph Stanislaus Noisette.
Jimmy has a daughter, Milan Owens (1967) and Ayan Owens (1972).