Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
The 2018 class of NEA Jazz Masters includes Dianne Reeves, Todd Barkan, Joanne Brackeen and Pat Metheny.
(Photo: Courtesy NEA)Pat Metheny, Dianne Reeves, Todd Barkan and Joanne Brackeen have joined the ranks of the nation’s highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters. Announced during a DC Jazz Festival concert on June 12, the 2018 NEA Jazz Masters were chosen for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the advancement of jazz. Each will receive $25,000 and be honored at a tribute concert next April at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
“The NEA Jazz Masters represent the very pinnacle of talent, creativity, innovation and vision,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “We look forward to celebrating these four new Jazz Masters and their many contributions to jazz.”
Brackeen is a pianist, composer and educator with a distinctly personal touch and vast command of multiple jazz genres. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range.
DownBeat Hall of Fame inductee Metheny is a pioneer of jazz guitar, bringing a fresh sonic potential to the instrument while offering a deep reservoir of improvisational insight and musicality. While his music resists any easy description, his compositions cover a wide range of settings, from modern jazz to rock to country to classical.
Vocalist Reeves has a far-reaching range and excels in a variety of settings, be it r&b, gospel, Latin or pop. But jazz remains her musical foundation.
Club owner and producer Barkan is the recipient of the 2018 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy, which is bestowed upon an individual who has contributed significantly to the appreciation, knowledge and advancement of the art form of jazz. Barkan’s name is associated with the Keystone Korner, a San Francisco venue he opened in 1972 and managed for more than a decade.
The 2018 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert—produced in collaboration with the Kennedy Center, whose artistic director for jazz is Jason Moran—will take place on April 16, 2018, at 8 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. It will be streamed live online. The concert will be free and open to the public; information on how to obtain tickets will be available in early 2018.
An archive of the 2017 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert, which included a performance by Reeves, is available here. DB
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
Jul 22, 2025 10:58 AM
Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
“Hamiet was one of the most underrated musicians ever,” says Whitaker of baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett.
Jul 8, 2025 7:30 AM
At 56, Rodney Whitaker, professor of jazz bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, is equally…
