Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
In Memoriam: Jack DeJohnette, 1942–2025
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
In honor of Jazz Appreciation Month 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts will present A Masterly Milestone: Celebrating 100 NEA Jazz Masters. The program will take place on March 28 as part of the spring meeting of the National Council on the Arts, the NEA’s advisory council.
The program features music and conversation with 2006 NEA Jazz Master and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, a discussion with 2008 NEA Jazz Master and scholar Gunther Schuller, and a preview of the television broadcast of Legends Of Jazz Presents the 2007 NEA Jazz Masters≤/i>.
With the 2008 class of NEA Jazz Masters the roster strikes the mark of 100 master artists.
“The NEA Jazz Masters initiative is a critical component in the NEA’s pursuit of its mission to support art of the highest quality for the benefit of all Americans,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. “This presentation highlights the many ways the NEA accomplishes that goal through performances, education, publications and broadcast programs.”
To celebrate this centennial milestone, D’Rivera will play clarinet with his trio including Alex Brown on piano and Dana Leong on cello and trombone. Following his set, D’Rivera will talk about his experiences as an NEA Jazz Master and what that title has brought to him and his music.
Following D’Rivera, Schuller will take a big picture perspective when he discusses jazz in America, the partnership between the nation’s music and its government. In addition to being an NEA Jazz Master, he served on the National Council on the Arts and was instrumental in developing the agency’s jazz support policy.
More info: arts.gov
Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.
Oct 28, 2025 10:47 AM
Jack DeJohnette, a bold and resourceful drummer and NEA Jazz Master who forged a unique vocabulary on the kit over his…
Always a sharp dresser, Farnsworth wears a pocket square given to him by trumpeter Art Farmer. “You need to look good if you want to hang around me,” Farmer told him.
Sep 23, 2025 11:12 AM
When he was 12 years old, the hard-swinging veteran drummer Joe Farnsworth had a fateful encounter with his idol Max…
D’Angelo achieved commercial and critical success experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop.
Oct 14, 2025 1:47 PM
D’Angelo, a Grammy-winning R&B and neo-soul singer, guitarist and pianist who exerted a profound influence on 21st…
Kandace Springs channeled Shirley Horn’s deliberate phrasing and sublime self-accompaniment during her set at this year’s Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival.
Sep 30, 2025 12:28 PM
Janis Burley, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival’s founder and artistic director, did not, as might be…
Jim McNeely’s singular body of work had a profound and lasting influence on many of today’s top jazz composers in the U.S. and in Europe.
Oct 7, 2025 3:40 PM
Pianist Jim McNeely, one of the most distinguished large ensemble jazz composers of his generation, died Sept. 26 at…
