Four giants in jazz will be honored with the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Masters Fellowship in a series of free events in Washington, D.C., from March 30-April 1.
This year’s honorees are violinist and educator Regina Carter, saxophonist, composer, arranger and bandleader Kenny Garrett, and drummer and bandleader Louis Hayes. Sue Mingus, who wore many hats in jazz, will be honored posthumously with the “A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy,” for her career as an author, archivist, band manager, educator, musical director, and record producer. Mingus was always a champion of her late husband’s legacy, bassist Charles Mingus, a jazz legend.
The highlight of this annual celebration of jazz will be a tribute concert on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center. The concert will be live-streamed on a multitude of websites and radio stations.
Since 2020, all NEA Jazz Masters have been held through a combination of virtual and in-person events in San Francisco, California.
Leading up to the 2023 concert in D.C., will be a master class conducted by Garrett with Howard University student musicians on the campus on Thursday, March 30, 2023, from 12:30–2:00 p.m.
NPR will host an NEA Jazz Masters listening party on Saturday, April 1, at 10:30 a.m. The event, hosted by NPR’s Felix Contreras, will include conversations with and about the 2023 NEA Jazz Masters, sharing the honorees’ music and life stories.
These events are free, but tickets must be ordered in advance. See details about the 2023 NEA Jazz Masters activities on the NEA website, https://www.arts.gov.