Wadada Leo Smith, Other Jazz Stalwarts Among 2021 United States Artists Fellows

  I  
Image

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith is among several jazz world figures to become a 2021 United States Artists Fellow.

(Photo: Jimmy Katz)

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, saxophonist Edward “Kidd” Jordan and cellist Tomeka Reid are among the 2021 United States Artists Fellows, the organization announced Feb. 3.

Sixty individuals from 22 different states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico received the award, which comes along with a $50,000 prize. According to the organization, the fellowship program has dispensed $33 million to more than 700 artists since its founding in 2006.

Architects and designers, textile and interdisciplinary artists, sculptors, dancers, filmmakers and others in media also were awarded the fellowship. Last year, composer Anthony Braxton, flutist Nicole Mitchell and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier were among those who received the honor.

For a full list of recipients, visit the United States Artists website. DB



  • 2tx3p_BNJF2025LineupApr11080x1350--1_copy.jpg

    The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.

  • Ethan_Iverson_by_David_Moressi_2024_copy.jpg

    “I’m certainly influenced by Geri Allen,” said Iverson, during a live Blindfold Test at the 31st Umbria Jazz Winter festival.

  • Isaiah_Collier_by_Michael_Jackson_2025.jpg

    “At the end of the day, once you’ve run out of differences, we’re left with similarities,” Collier says. “Cultural differences are mitigated through 12 notes.”

  • Andy_Bey_NYC_2014_by_Steven_Sussman_copy.jpg

    “It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”

    Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85

    Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…

  • Francis-Davis_by_Ken_Winter%3AGetty_Images_copy.jpg

    ​Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.


On Sale Now
June 2025
Theo Croker
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad