NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships
The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship 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. For more information, read our brief history of the program.
The NEA will honor the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters—Marshall Allen, Marilyn Crispell, Chucho Valdés, and recipient of the 2025 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy Gary Giddins—on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at a free concert in Washington, DC, held in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. More information on this concert and other related events will be available in early 2025.
(from left to right) Photo of Marshall Allen by Ronnie Boyd, photo of Marilyn Cripsell by Michael Patrick Kelly, photo of Gary Giddins by Herman Leonard, photo of Chucho Valdés by InnerCat Music Group
