Jazz lovers from around the world last night gathered at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to pay tribute to the 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship winners.
The NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship is the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists.
The 2019 winners are, South African-born Abdullah Ibrahim, Maria Schneider and Stanley Crouch. Also to receive the award posthumously was the late Bob Dorough. Stanley Crouch received the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy.
Abdullah Ibrahim combines the rhythmic influences of South Africa with the improvisation of jazz to create his spiritually enriching music, whether performing solo, with a trio, a full band, or an orchestra. This blend of the traditional and the modern is reflected in his distinctive style, harmonies, and musical vocabulary.
– NEA
Courtesy – Kennedy Center and NEA
