In an annual celebration of trailblazing artistry, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, honored four individuals with America’s highest honor given for jazz April 24-26.
The 2025 NEA Jazz Masters are Marshall Allen , Marilyn Crispell , Chucho Valdés , and the recipient of the 2025 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy Gary Giddins .
“We are delighted to welcome these four luminaries to the ranks of NEA Jazz Masters—they have each in their own way played a crucial role in the nurturing and development of this art form and demonstrate the immense diversity and creativity found in jazz today,” said former NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson in a statement last year…