It’s that time of year when the National Endowment for the Arts announces its NEA Jazz Masters—and they’ve done just that for 2025.
The newest recipients will be honored on April 26, 2025, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Those receiving the fellowship—the nation’s highest honor in jazz, include Marilyn Crispell, Marshall Allen, Chucho Valdes, and A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy Gary Giddens. Each recipient will receive an award of $25,000.
“We are delighted to welcome these four luminaries to the ranks of NEA Jazz Masters. They have each, in their unique way, played a crucial role in the nurturing and development of this art form and demonstrate the immense diversity and creativity found in jazz today. We look forward to working together with the Kennedy Center on events next April that will celebrate their achievements and inspire new audiences and musicians to embrace jazz,” NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson said.
More information on the concert will be made available next year. Visit arts.gov for bios and selected discographies of the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters. Nominations for the next class of honorees is October 31, 2024.
Young singing sensation Samara Joy announced that she’ll return on tour with her family this December. More dates are to come, so stay tuned. If you follow her on X, you would have seen her recent post, “Jazz on the Vineyard,” with photos of her band with Barack and Michelle Obama. She also posted a video from her performance at this year’s Newport Jazz Festival, which is always held in August. Hopefully, Joy will be invited back to the Twin Cities this winter.
But hold on, the summer isn’t over yet. The 2024 Chicago Jazz Festival is from Thursday to Sunday, Aug. 29—Sept. 1. It’s free!
The festival is a Labor Day weekend tradition that features local, national and international artists. This year’s line-up features the Billy Harper Quintet, Catherine Russell, James Brandon Lewis, Rene Marie & Experient in Truth, Kenny Garrett and Sounds From the Ancestors, Sharel Cassity Alliance, Jason Palmer Quartet, Orrin Evans, and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, among others. It’s been a while since I’ve made the trip to Chicago, but I’d consider taking a road trip this year to see these outstanding artists and experience their musical brilliance in an exciting outdoor setting.
In jazz, everyone is talking about the previously unreleased live album “Wayne Shorter: Celebration, Volume 1,” which comes out August 23 on Blue Note Records. The recording features Shorter’s celebrated quartet from 2014.
The legendary saxophonist and composer passed away on March 2, 2023. The album is the first of a new series of planned Shorter releases. In other words, expect even more fireworks.
I might be late to the party, but I recently discovered The Bahama Soul Club, a German-based group with a unique blend of soul, jazz, funk, blues, bossa nova, afro, and Caribbean influences. I recommend listening to the album “Bohemia After Dawn,” released in 2020, as I did.
On August 15, we celebrated pianist Oscar Peterson’s birthday. Often called “the Maharaja of the keyboard,” his unique virtuosic technique made him one of the world’s most influential jazz pianists of the 20th century.
Jazz bassist and composer Stanley Clarke has new music coming out soon, so it’s good he is coming to the Dakota with his band on August 29 and 30. On September 30, the Travis Anderson Trio presents the music of George Gershwin, and vocalist Kurt Elling with pianist Joey Calderazzo performs on September 7. All are quality shows that are not to be missed. For tickets, visit www.dakotacooks.com.