NEA Jazz Masters
The NEA Jazz Masters award is the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists. Each year since 1982, the program has elevated to its ranks a select number of living legends who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.
2021 NEA Jazz Masters
Terri Lyne Carrington
Drummer, Composer, Educator, Producer
Albert "Tootie" Heath
Percussionist, Educator
Phil Schaap
Archivist, Educator, Historian, and Jazz Radio Host
Henry Threadgill
Saxophonist, Flautist, Composer
Nominate a Jazz Master
The Arts Endowment encourages nominations from the public of a broad range of men and women who have been significant to the field of jazz through vocal and instrumental performance, creative leadership, and education.Recent NEA Jazz Masters Podcasts
Henry Threadgill
Composer, multi-instrumentalist, and 2021 NEA Jazz Master
Sonny Rollins
1983 NEA Jazz Master and 2010 National Medal of Arts recipient
Dorthaan Kirk
2020 NEA Jazz Master
