Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts bestows the nation’s highest honor in jazz—the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships—on individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form. Today, the NEA has announced the four newest recipients of this lifetime honor:

• Bob Dorough, vocalist, composer, arranger and pianist 
• Abdullah Ibrahim, pianist and composer
• Maria Schneider, composer, arranger, and bandleader
• Stanley Crouch, jazz historian, author, critic, and co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Crouch is the recipient of the 2019 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy, bestowed upon an individual who has contributed significantly to the appreciation, knowledge, and advancement of the art form of jazz.

Sadly, Bob Dorough passed away shortly after being notified of his Jazz Masters honor. But his memory and music will be celebrated at our free tribute concert for this year's honorees, which will be held on Monday, April 15, 2019.  Read our full press release announcing this year's honorees, or learn more through our NEA Jazz Master biographies and interviews.