F. Norman Vickers, the jazz ambassador and moving spirit behind Jazz Pensacola, is one of 23 individuals who are the 2021 recipients of the JJA Jazz Heroes Award, presented annually by the Jazz Journalists Association to jazz advocates who have made significant contributions in their respective communities in promoting, performing and perpetuating jazz.
In the early 1980s, jazz societies proliferated throughout the nation. When the American Federation of Jazz Societies first met in Savannah, Georgia in 1984, Vickers was elected to the founding Board. He later served as newsletter editor, Vice President and, in 1991, President.
During this same time, the Arts Council of Northwest Florida, radio station WUWF and the newly-formed non-profit Jazz Society of Pensacola made the decision to start the Pensacola JazzFest, with Vickers on the Board of Directors. The neophyte organization was run out of Vickers’ medical office for a number of years, which had his receptionist on occasion answering phone calls, “Is this call medical or musical?”
From 1984 to 2004, Norman served as Jazz Pensacola’s volunteer executive director, a position which he has since attained emeritus status. The F. Norman Vickers Artist in Residence Fund, established i
