The French have a thing for Quincy Jones, who celebrated Independence Day by conducting the Orchestre Nationale de France in Paris. "I've gotten more recognition from France than I ever did from my own country," the jazz/pop/R&B crossover legend told the Associated Press. "I never got the Legion of Honor or Arts and Letters medals from the United States." ...

Todd Barkan, the irascible producer who ran the legendary San Francisco Keystone Korner club from 1972–1983, has been named creative director of 32 Records, the repackaging specialists who have had huge success with their "Jazz for ..." series (Jazz for a Lazy Day, Jazz for the Open Road, Jazz for Those Peaceful Moments, etc.). Barkan lately has been producing CDs for Fantasy, Concord and other labels. ...

Writer and critic Howard Mandel's critically acclaimed book "Future Jazz" — which analyzes the state of the art since the '70s via intimate portraits of artists ranging from David Murray to Wynton Marsalis to Geri Allen — will be available in paperback in mid-August from Oxford University Press. ...

Trumpeter Terence Blanchard is the new artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance in Los Angeles. The institute is now part of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Blanchard, whose latest CD is Wandering Moon (Sony Classical), has lately been an in-demand film composer. He recently scored "Love & Basketball" and Spike Lee's next film, "Bamboozled." At the Monk Institute, a two-year scholarship program, Blanchard will oversee the Jazz Performance Ensemble and provide direction in other creative areas. ...

Saxophonist Buddy Collette, 78, received the Los Angeles Jazz Mentorship Program's Living Museum Award on June 24, following the performance of his 18-piece band at the program's Jazz and Blues Festival with guitarist Al Viola. The very next day, the American Civil Liberties Union honored Collette for his years of teaching and performing music solely for the organization. He was then honored a third time on June 30 by the L.A. County Museum for his scores to several Charles Eames films, including the 1961 "Eames Contract Storage." Recently, Collette came out with his autobiography, "The Jazz Generations: A Life in American Music and Society," which traces the saxophonist's lengthy career. The L.A. native played with saxophonist Benny Carter, Count Basie, and saxophonist Eli "Lucky" Thompson as well as Duke Ellington, an experience he said was like being in another world. ...

Ontario's Guelph Jazz Festival recently announced its lineup, which includes saxophonists David Murray and Jane Bunnett as well as pianists Matthew Shipp, Jon Jang, and Myra Melford. From Sept. 6 to Sept. 10, the festival will take place at seven different venues and will include workshops, a colloquium and more than 20 performances. ...

Fantasy Records plans to ship 10 historic titles culled from the Contemporary and Riverside catalogs: tenor titan Sonny Rollins' Way Out West, pianist Hampton Hawes' Hampton Hawes Trio, drummer Shelly Manne's My Fair Lady, alto great Art Pepper's Meets the Rhythm Section, The Poll Winners (with guitarist Barney Kessel, drummer Manne and bassist Ray Brown), altoist Cannonball Adderley's In San Francisco, trumpeter and singer Chet Baker's Chet, pianist Bill Evans' Waltz for Debby, guitar great Wes Montgomery's Incredible Jazz Guitar and Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. Release is set for mid-July. ...

Pianist Chucho Valdés, drummer Billy Higgins, trumpeter Clark Terry and sax man Roy Haynes are among the many jazz musicians performing at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Festival, which runs through Aug. 5 in Palo Alto, Calif. The festival is in its 28th year. ...

The eclectic and inventive big band Either/Orchestra has been invited to participate in the International Festival of Movement and Dance on the Volga in Yaroslavl, Russia (200 miles outside of Moscow), this August. This is the first time a musical group will perform at the nine-day festival. Either/Orchestra, based in Boston, will hold listening concerts, dance concerts and choreographic/musical workshops with various dance groups. ...

Tenor saxophone fury Pharoah Sanders is joining percussionist Kahil El' Zabar's Ritual Trio — featuring bassist Malachai Favors and saxophonist/pianist Ari Brown — on their next album, Africa N'da Blues, due Aug. 15 from Delmark. ...

Pianist Joe McBride — whose CD Texas Rhythm Club (Heads Up) hits stores Tuesday (June 27) — has a supporting role in the forthcoming movie "The Riff," starring Nia Peeples, Antonio Fargas and Cameron Smith (host of the nationally syndicated television show "Smooth Jazz TV"). McBride plays a blind pianist/singer in the film, which is set in and around the jazz clubs of New Orleans. The movie premieres in September at the Toronto Film Festival; Heads Up will release the soundtrack. ...

— sonicnet.com staff report