The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has announced the 2024 NEA Jazz Masters: Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard, Amina Claudine Myers and Willard Jenkins. Jenkins, a longtime journalist, radio host and presenter, is the recipient of the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy.
Each recipient of this fellowship will receive an award of $25,000 and will be honored in a ceremony and free concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
The awards were established in 1982 in order to honor the contributions of jazz artists to the genre and to the community at large. Over the last four decades, the NEA has awarded 173 fellowships to jazz artists and advocates, including many of the most legendary figures in the music, such as Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Abbey Lincoln, Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter. A complete list of awardees can be foundhere.
“Jazz is one of our nation’s most significant artistic contributions to the world, and the NEA is proud to recognize individuals whose creativity and dedication ensure that the art form continues to evolve and inspire new audiences and practitioners,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, in a press release received at WBGO. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the Kennedy Center again this year on a concert that will honor and celebrate these Jazz Masters’ contributions and the importance of jazz."
