Known as the “Barefoot Baroness”, Wendy Oxenhorn is the founding director and vice chairman of the Jazz Foundation of America, a non-profit that helps jazz and blues musicians in need of emergency funds.
Prominent board members include Quincy Jones, their current chairman; Richard Parsons, Agnes Varis, Elvis Costello, Danny Glover, Michael Novogratz and Lou Reed. Under her leadership the foundation has raised more than $70 million and helped countless musicians in crisis over the decades.
Prior to the Jazz Foundation, Wendy co-founded Street News, a street newspaper sold by homeless people in New York City that provided them with a means of self-sufficiency. It’s considered a "pioneer" for the street paper movement worldwide.
Wendy also plays a mean harmonica and was named a NEA Jazz Master in 2016.
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