Thu, Apr 22 2021 | 5:00 PM
Live Streaming
Watch online Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 5 PM PT (8 PM ET) from arts.gov and sfjazz.org. This is a free event.
The National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, will host a special free online-only concert in honor of the 2021 NEA Jazz Masters—Terri Lyne Carrington, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Henry Threadgill, and Phil Schaap. 2017 NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and actor Delroy Lindo will co-host this event, featuring recorded performances and tributes by acclaimed jazz musicians from all over the world including from iconic venues like Preservation Hall in New Orleans, and The Village Vanguard in New York. The Second Gentleman of the United States Douglas Emhoff will also provide opening remarks, discussing his personal connections to jazz and the art form’s connections to our nation’s past, present, and future.
With music director Miguel Zenón, the concert will include performances by NEA Jazz Masters Wynton Marsalis and Jason Marsalis (2011) and Dianne Reeves (2018), as well as Obed Calvaire, Avishai Cohen, Roman Filiu, Vince Giordano, Christopher Hoffman, Joe Lovano, Pedrito Martinez, Linda May Han Oh, Dan Nimmer, Danilo Pérez, David Virelles, Lizz Wright, and the SFJAZZ High School All Stars.
The event will also include video testimonials from NEA Jazz Masters Herbie Hancock (2004), Charles Lloyd (2015), and Wayne Shorter (1998), as well as Jon Faddis, Michelle Kinney, Jason Moran, and James Mtume.
HOW TO WATCH
The 2021 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert will broadcast at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET from arts.gov and SFJAZZ.org,as well as the websites for All About Jazz and Jazz Near You, Berklee College of Music, BMI, The Carr Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Jazz Journalists Association, JazzTimes, KKJZ, National Endowment for the Humanities, NPR Music, Smithsonian Jazz, Voice of America’s Khmer and Chinese services, WBGO, WDCB, WZUM, KUVO, WEMU, and WRTI. The concert will also be available via radio broadcast on SiriusXM Channel 67, Real Jazz, in California on KCSM 91.1FM, and in Washington, DC on WPFW 89.3 FM.
An archive of the concert will be available following the event at arts.gov.
HONORING
Terri Lyne Carrington drummer, composer, educator & producer
Albert "Tootie" Heath percussionist, educator
Henry Threadgill saxophonist, flautist, composer
Phil Schaap archivist, educator, historian, and jazz radio host, recipient of the 2021 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy
MEET THE JAZZ MASTERS
w/2021 NEA Jazz Masters and SFJAZZ Founder & Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline
Online Discussion • 6:15–7:15 PM PT (9:15–10:15 PM ET)
Immediately following the 2021 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert, join an in-depth discussion with the honorees, hosted by SFJAZZ Founder & Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline.
ABOUT THE NEA JAZZ MASTERS
Since 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts has awarded 161 fellowships to great figures in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Dianne Reeves, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and George Wein. The Arts Endowment’s website features resources and content about them, including video biographies, and tribute concert videos, podcasts, and more than 350 NEA Jazz Moments audio clips.
For more information about the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters, visit arts.gov/honors/jazz.
ABOUT THE 2021 JAZZ MASTERS
Terri Lyne Carrington
A powerhouse drummer in jazz since the 1980s, Carrington has also vigorously turned her attention over the last 15 years to empowering the next generation. With outstanding versatility, she excels as a composer, bandleader, producer, and educator. She is the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, created to address gender equity in the jazz field and the role that jazz can play in the comprehensive struggle for social justice.
MoreTerri Lyne Carrington
A powerhouse drummer in jazz since the 1980s, Carrington has also vigorously turned her attention over the last 15 years to empowering the next generation. With outstanding versatility, she excels as a composer, bandleader, producer, and educator. She is the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, created to address gender equity in the jazz field and the role that jazz can play in the comprehensive struggle for social justice.
MoreAlbert "Tootie" Heath
The youngest of the three Heath Brothers, Albert “Tootie” Heath is the consummate jazz drummer, playing with seemingly everyone from John Coltrane to Ethan Iverson and performing on more than 100 recordings. Well-versed in various styles of jazz—including avant-garde, bop, and swing—he also delved into R&B, such as his work in the 1980s with his nephew Mtume; studied improvisation in North Indian classical music; and has been praised for his ability to imbue his personality into any repertoire.
MoreAlbert "Tootie" Heath
The youngest of the three Heath Brothers, Albert “Tootie” Heath is the consummate jazz drummer, playing with seemingly everyone from John Coltrane to Ethan Iverson and performing on more than 100 recordings. Well-versed in various styles of jazz—including avant-garde, bop, and swing—he also delved into R&B, such as his work in the 1980s with his nephew Mtume; studied improvisation in North Indian classical music; and has been praised for his ability to imbue his personality into any repertoire.
MoreHenry Threadgill
Since the 1960s, Henry Threadgill has been on the leading edge of avant-garde jazz with his original compositions. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2016, one of only three jazz artists to win the prestigious award, and was long associated with the pioneering, Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). He has explored new worlds of composition and improvisation with a series of landmark ensembles, receiving a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Composition Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a United States Artists USA Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Artist Award (2016).
MoreHenry Threadgill
Since the 1960s, Henry Threadgill has been on the leading edge of avant-garde jazz with his original compositions. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2016, one of only three jazz artists to win the prestigious award, and was long associated with the pioneering, Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). He has explored new worlds of composition and improvisation with a series of landmark ensembles, receiving a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Composition Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a United States Artists USA Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Artist Award (2016).
MorePhil Schaap
Phil Schaap’s encyclopedic knowledge of jazz music and history has served him well: outside of hosting jazz programs on Columbia University’s WKCR station in New York since 1970, he has won six GRAMMY Awards for his liner notes, audio engineering, and production. He became curator at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City where he created the Swing University educational program, which continues to offer public jazz listening and appreciation classes with the goal of increasing and cultivating audiences for the music.
MorePhil Schaap
Phil Schaap’s encyclopedic knowledge of jazz music and history has served him well: outside of hosting jazz programs on Columbia University’s WKCR station in New York since 1970, he has won six GRAMMY Awards for his liner notes, audio engineering, and production. He became curator at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City where he created the Swing University educational program, which continues to offer public jazz listening and appreciation classes with the goal of increasing and cultivating audiences for the music.
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