Since 1994, the San Sebastian Jazz Festival (now Heineken Jazzaldia) has honored an outstanding musician or impresario for his or her contribution to jazz.
This year, Toots Thielemans joins previous award winners: Doc Cheatham (1994), Phil Woods (1995), Hank Jones (1996), Steve Lacy (1997), Chick Corea (1998), Max Roach and Clark Terry (1999), Kenny Barron (2000), Ray Brown (2001), Elvin Jones (2002), Bebo Valdes (2003), Shirley Horn and the director Fernando Trueba (2004), Keith Jarrett and Charles Mingus (In Memoriam) (2005), Herbie Hancock (2006), Wayne Shorter (2007), Ahmad Jamal (2008), Roy Haynes (2009) and Ron Carter (2010).
This year, Toots Thielemans joins previous award winners: Doc Cheatham (1994), Phil Woods (1995), Hank Jones (1996), Steve Lacy (1997), Chick Corea (1998), Max Roach and Clark Terry (1999), Kenny Barron (2000), Ray Brown (2001), Elvin Jones (2002), Bebo Valdes (2003), Shirley Horn and the director Fernando Trueba (2004), Keith Jarrett and Charles Mingus (In Memoriam) (2005), Herbie Hancock (2006), Wayne Shorter (2007), Ahmad Jamal (2008), Roy Haynes (2009) and Ron Carter (2010).