NEA Jazz Masters

NEA

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.

Watch the 2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert Archive >>

Information on upcoming NEA Jazz Masters events >>

News

National Endowment for the Arts Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Cecil Taylor

Free Events Celebrate Masters in Jazz

National Endowment for the Arts Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Jon Hendricks

Features

#TuesdayThoughts from the 2018 NEA Jazz Masters

My Life in Jazz: Presenting the 2018 NEA Jazz Masters In Their Own Words

#ThrowbackThursday: Getting Jazzy with the 2017 NEA Jazz Masters

Publications

2018 Guide to the National Endowment for the Arts

The 2018 NEA Guide provides details on the programs and activities that the NEA supports, as well as funding deadlines for our various grants. Included is information on Grants for...

2017 NEA Jazz Masters

Profiles the 2017 class of NEA Jazz Masters: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ira Gitler, Dave Holland, Dick Hyman, and Dr. Lonnie Smith with brief biographies and selected discographies. April 2017. 28 pp.

Videos

2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert

2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert Archive

Jazz Masters Audio

Pat Metheny

Guitarist and 2018 NEA Jazz Master

Guitarist and 2018 NEA Jazz Master Pat Metheny creates music that challenges easy description: he can play free jazz (as he did with Ornette Coleman in Song X) as well as acoustic guitar and pretty much everything in-between. In this tune-filled podcast, we talk to Pat Metheny about the music he plays, the people he’s played with and making the music you want while making a career in music.

View All

Photos

View All Portraits

Two women and two men sit in a theater clapping.