We’re excited to share that WBGO will be joining the National Endowment for the Arts and The Kennedy Center to kickoff Jazz Appreciation Month with a special live stream of the 2023 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert on Saturday, April 1 at 7:30pm ET.
Hosted by Mark Ruffin of SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel (67), this one-night-only concert will honor the 2023 NEA Jazz Masters, recipients of the nation’s highest honor in jazz. The concert will feature performances by honorees Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, and Louis Hayes. Additional performers include Rudy Bird, Michael Bowie, Keith Brown, Ronald Bruner, Abraham Burton, Adam Cruz, Dezron Douglas, Kal Ferretti, Alvester Garnett, Sarah Hanahan, David Hazeltine, Corcoran Holt, Steve Nelson, Shawn Purcell, Melvis Santa, Helen Sung, Camille Thurman, and The String Queens—Dawn Michelle Johnson, Kendall Isadore, and Elise Sharp. (Performers subject to change.)
The concert will also include video tributes to the honorees, illuminating their lives and careers, as well as remarks by NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD; President of the Kennedy Center Deborah F. Rutter; honorees Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, and Louis Hayes; and Roberto and Emma Ungaro, representing honoree Sue Mingus, who passed away in September 2022.
Join in on the celebration at wbgo.org, arts.gov, or kennedy-center.org.