The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that our nation bestows upon jazz musicians. These fellowships are given in recognition that this magnificent art form, so profoundly based in American culture, is one of America’s greatest gifts to the world.

In 2004, the size of the award was increased to $25,000 and the number of awards also grew from three to six. The expanded NEA Jazz Masters initiative includes an anthology of the Masters’ music issued by Verve Music Group and a fifty-state tour of the Masters with an educational program. Radio profiles of the Masters will be instituted in 2005.

For the NEA Jazz Masters, the selection criteria are the excellence and significance of the nominees’ contributions to the development and performance of jazz. The Arts Endowment will honor musicians who represent a range of styles and instruments. These awards will be categorical; i.e., a rhythm instrumentalist, pianist, solo instrumentalist, vocalist, and an arranger or composer will be honored each year.

In addition, one fellowship will be given to a jazz advocate; that is, an individual who has made major contributions to the appreciation, knowledge, and advancement of the American jazz art form.

This fellowship category is not open to application. Fellowships are awarded to living individuals on the basis of nominations from the public including the jazz community. The recipients must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Posthumous fellowships will not be awarded.

Each award is $25,000.

How to Submit a Nomination

Nominations may be made by submitting a one-page letter that details the reasons that the nominee should receive a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship. Describe the nominee’s contributions and explain why this individual deserves national recognition. Include with your nomination letter a resume or a short biography that outlines the career of the nominee.

An individual may submit only one nomination in each round of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships. No one may nominate him/herself.

Deadline for Nominations

Nominations must be postmarked (or show other proof of mailing) no later than January 31, 2005. Grant fellowships will be announced in the fall of 2005.

Send your nomination to:

Jazz Masters Fellowships
National Endowment for the Arts
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Room 703
Washington, DC 20506-0001

Phone: 202/682-5438

Review of Nominations

Once a nomination has been submitted to the Arts Endowment, it is reviewed by an advisory panel of jazz experts and at least one knowledgeable layperson. Panel recommendations are forwarded to the National Council on the Arts, which then makes recommendations to the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Chairman reviews the Council’s recommendations and makes the final decision on all the award recipients.

Nominations remain active for five years. The nominee will be reviewed annually during this period.

NEA Jazz Masters 1982-2004

1982:  Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Sun Ra
1983:  Count Basie, Kenneth Clarke, Sonny Rollins
1984:  Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Max Roach
1985:  Gil Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, Jonathan "Jo" Jones
1986:  Benny Carter, Dexter Gordon, Teddy Wilson
1987:  Cleo Patra Brown, Melba Liston, Jay McShann
1988:  Art Blakey, Lionel Hampton, Billy Taylor
1989:  Barry Harris, Hank Jones, Sarah Vaughan
1990:  George Russell, Cecil Taylor, Gerald Wilson
1991:  Danny Barker, Buck Clayton, Andy Kirk, Clark Terry
1992:  Betty Carter, Dorothy Donegan, Harry "Sweets" Edison
1993:  Milt Hinton, Jon Hendricks, Joe Williams
1994:  Louie Bellson, Ahmad Jamal, Carmen McRae
1995:  Ray Brown, Roy Haynes, Horace Silver
1996:  Tommy Flanagan, J.J. Johnson, Benny Golson
1997:  Billy Higgins, Milt Jackson, Anita O'Day
1998:  Ron Carter, James Moody, Wayne Shorter
1999:  Dave Brubeck, Art Farmer, Joe Henderson
2000:  David Baker, Donald Byrd, Marian McPartland
2001:  John Lewis, Jackie McLean, Randy Weston
2002:  Frank Foster, Percy Heath, McCoy Tyner
2003:  Jimmy Heath, Elvin Jones, Abbey Lincoln
2004:  Jim Hall, Chico Hamilton, Herbie Hancock
           Luther Henderson, Nancy Wilson, Nat Hentoff

Mission

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts -- both new and established -- bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education.

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