UNO graduate student Gregory Agid received the ASCAP Foundation Louis Armstrong Scholarship on December 12 at ceremonies at Jazz at Lincoln Center last week.  The annual event is hosted by singer and composer Paul Williams and featured the hip-hop star Ne-Yo.

Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation's Stanley Crouch awards UNO student Gregory Agid.

The $3,000 ASCAP Foundation Louis Armstrong Scholarship is awarded to a UNO graduate student in jazz studies who demonstrates excellence in composition, and is supported by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.  Stanley Crouch, president of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, presented the award to Agid in the sold-out Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Gregory Agid is a stand-out clarinetist and saxophone player who has recently released his first solo record, “Mystery Blues,” to critical acclaim from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, OffBeat Magazine, and others.  Agid’s family moved to New Orleans from Hawaii when he was in junior high and began attending the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Jazz Camp in the summers, while attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts during high school years.  It was at the Satchmo Summer Jazz Camp that he found inspiration from New Orleans’ music education legend Alvin Batiste.

After earning a degree in classical clarinet from Loyola University, Agid spent time directing a high school band, then gave up the day job to play music full time.  He gigs regularly with his own quartet (read OffBeat‘s review of his quartet’s latest album, Mystery Blues, here) and with the Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra, among others.  He can also be seen in the HBO series, Treme. Agid decided to return to school and is now in his last year in the master’s degree program at the University of New Orleans.

Learn more about the ASCAP Foundation’s Louis Armstrong Scholarship program at www.ascapfoundation.org.