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.
2024 NEA Jazz Masters events
Visit the NEA's newsroom for full details on these events.
- Thursday, April 11 at 12:30 p.m. -- “Music Careers, Beyond the Bandstand” with 2024 NEA Jazz Master Willard Jenkins
- Saturday, April 13 at 10:30 a.m. -- NPR Listening Party with the 2024 NEA Jazz Masters
Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. -- 2024 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert. Available through a live webcast and radio broadcast as well!
2024 NEA Jazz Masters Fellows
Gary Bartz
Saxophonist, Educator
Terence Blanchard
Trumpeter, Composer, Band Leader, Educator
Willard Jenkins
Artistic Director, Writer, Broadcaster, Educator, Oral Historian
Amina Claudine Myers
Pianist, Organist, Vocalist, Composer, Arranger, Educator
On April 1, 2023, the National Endowment for the Arts honored the 2023 NEA Jazz Masters—Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, Louis Hayes, and Sue Mingus—at a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Nominate an NEA Jazz Master Fellow!
The Arts Endowment encourages nominations from the public of a broad range of individuals who have been significant to the field of jazz through vocal and instrumental performance, creative leadership, and education.Recent NEA Jazz Masters Podcasts
Amina Claudine Myers
Pianist, Organist, Vocalist, Composer, Arranger, Educator, and 2024 Jazz Master
Gary Bartz
Saxophonist and 2024 NEA Jazz Master
Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro
Co-Directors of the documentary “Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes”