The 2011 Kennedy Center Honors, announced Wednesday, salute four architects of music: the improvisational saxophone of Sonny Rollins, the Broadway warmth of soprano Barbara Cook, the tender cello of Yo-Yo Ma and the pulsing anthems of Neil Diamond.
The center has also selected Meryl Streep, who has sung in a few movies and on Broadway but is much better known for her flawless interpretations of diverse characters over the past 35 years.
When the letters from the Kennedy Center arrive, even artists who have been in the spotlight for decades are often taken aback.
“I couldn’t believe it, but it actually said I was chosen as one of the Kennedy Center honorees,” Diamond said in a phone interview. “And it told me to keep my mouth shut.” Now Diamond, 70, a native of Brooklyn, can tell his mother, who is in her 90s and attends most of his concerts.
The honors are given the first weekend of December in ceremonies at the State Department and the White House, with a televised evening of all-star salutes to the honorees at the Kennedy Center, introduced by Caroline Kennedy. In a musical coincidence, Diamond’s anthem “Sweet Caroline” was inspired by the president’s daughter.
“You can look at the people chosen this year, and this is the 34th year, and say, arguably, they are the best at what they do,” said George Stevens Jr., a co-producer of the televised honors.
Barbara Cook
Cook, 83, a native of Atlanta, made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the musical “Flahooley.” She attracted much attention in 1956 in Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide,” and she won a Tony Award for playing Marian the Librarian in 1957’s “The Music Man.”
Her longevity, she said, “is just plain old luck and, normally, I have tremendous energy.” She has another album coming out this year. “It was recorded live, with songs like ‘You Make Me Feel So Young,’ ‘I Got Rhythm.’ And I am writing a memoir . . . supposed to be writing. It’s hard to do.”
Cook said she cried when told of her selection. “This is a validation of my work and career.”
She’s proud, she said, of her name being added to those of former honorees, such as her close friend composer Stephen Sondheim. “This is so thrilling. James Cagney and Barbara Cook. Barbara Cook and Fred Astaire. Holy Hannah!”
Sonny Rollins
Rollins, who will celebrate his 81st birthday Wednesday, originally played alto sax, then switched to tenor sax. He emerged as a coveted sideman in the 1950s, playing with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Clifford Brown and Max Roach, among others. His 1953 recording “Sonny Rollins and the Modern Jazz Quartet” became a classic. Other landmark albums followed, including “A Night at the Village Vanguard” in 1957 and “Freedom Suite” in 1958. He won his first Grammy for “This Is What I Do” in 2000 and his second in 2004 for “Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert.”
In a telephone interview, Rollins said the award honors more than just him. “I think that jazz has been sort of underrepresented in our culture. It is so gratifying to know that now it is beginning to be recognized as the great world force it is. I have fans in Mongolia, as well as Madison, Wisconsin,’’ Rollins said. “It is not about me, but the idiom, and I am just one of the last guys standing.”
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