NEA to Honor Jazz Masters at Kennedy Center, Other DC Venues

News, Marshall Allen, Marilyn Crispell, Chucho Valdés, Gary Giddins

By DownBeat I Apr. 22, 2025

The 2025 NEA Jazz Masters
(Photo: Courtesy National Endowment for the Arts)

The National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will honor the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters at a series of public events April 24–26 in Washington, D.C. The celebration will culminate in a tribute concert on April 26 hosted by Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran in honor of the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters: Marshall Allen (saxophonist, percussionist, composer, arranger, bandleader), pianist Marilyn Crispell (pianist, composer, educator), Chucho Valdés (pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader) and Gary Giddins (journalist, author, producer, educator), recipient of the 2025 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.

On April 24 at 12:30–2 p.m., Valdés will lead a master class with Howard University music students, which will be open to the public to observe. The class will take place at the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts in the Recital Hall, room 3001, Howard University Main Campus (2455 6th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). The public is invited to observe and no registration is necessary (seating is first-come, first-served).

On April 26 at 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m., NPR will host a listening party with the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters at their headquarters (1111 North Capitol St., NE, Washington, D.C.). Co-hosted by NPR Music’s Felix Contreras and DC Jazz Festival President and CEO Sunny Sumter, this event will include conversations with the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters, featuring music from their careers to help tell the stories of their lives. This event is free and open to the public but reservations are required. Reserve tickets on the Kennedy Center’s website.

On April 26 at 8 p.m., the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater (2700 F St., NW, Washington, D.C.) will host the NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert, which will be available through a live webcast and radio broadcast. The concert will feature performances by, and in honor of, the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters. Allen will lead the Sun Ra Arkestra. Crispell will perform with bassist Reggie Workman, a 2020 NEA Jazz Master. Valdés will perform with his ensemble, Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet, which includes Horacio Hernandez, José A. Gola and Roberto Jr. Vizcaino Torre. In honor of Giddins, multi-reedist David Murray will perform, alongside Russell Carter, Emma Dayhuff and Marta Sánchez. Attendance is free but tickets are required. For ticketing information, visit kennedy-center.org, or call (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324. Tickets for walk-up patrons will be available the night of the concert on a first-come, first-served basis to those in a giveaway line based on availability.

The 2025 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert will also be available to watch live online via arts.gov and kennedy-center.org. An archive of the webcast will be available following the event at arts.gov.

The following websites will also share the live webcast: Blues Alley, BMI, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Institute of Chicago, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Museum of American History, the New Jazz Listener, NPR Music, SJFAZZ, WBGO, WDCB, WRTI and WZUM. (Subject to change.) To watch the concert live via YouTube, click HERE.

The following radio stations will share the radio broadcast of the event: SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel (67), KBEM 88.5 (Minneapolis), KFSR 90.7 (Fresno, California), WBGO 88.3 FM (Newark, New Jersey), WGMC 90.1 FM (Rochester, New York), WPFW 89.3 FM (Washington, D.C.) and WZUM 88.1 FM (Pittsburgh). (Subject to change. Radio broadcasts may occur at later times; contact stations for more information.)

Since 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts has awarded 177 fellowships to great figures in jazz, such as Kenny Barron, Terence Blanchard, Carla Bley, Dave Brubeck, Terri Lyne Carrington, Betty Carter, Stanley Crouch, Roy Eldridge, Paquito D’Rivera, Quincy Jones, Sun Ra, Dianna Reeves, and Henry Threadgill. The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships are awarded to living individuals on the basis of nominations from the public including members of the jazz community. Visit the NEA’s website for detailed information, including photos and bios of all of the NEA Jazz Masters, as well as archived concerts, video tributes, podcasts and more than 350 NEA Jazz Moments audio clips. The National Endowment for the Arts has also supported the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program, an effort to document the lives and careers of nearly 100 NEA Jazz Masters. DB