Jazz News: 2026 NEA Jazz Masters; UNC•Greeley Jazz Festival Releases lineup; Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest Collaborate Again on New Live Album
This is Jazz News, a look at what's news in jazz, music, and the arts
The National Endowment for the Arts announced its 2026 NEA Jazz Masters last Friday. Since 1982, the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists, has recognized individuals who have made significant contributions to jazz. Along with the title, they are awarded $ 25,000 to further their work. As of 2025, there were 177 Jazz Masters, and with the 2026 class, the number is now 181. Next year’s inductees include jazz broadcaster Rhonda Hamilton, vocalist, composer, and arranger Carmen Lundy, drummer, percussionist, composer, and educator Airto Moreira, and pianist, composer, musical director, and educator Patrice Rushen. These 2026 Jazz Masters will be honored at a concert on Saturday, April 18, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with an option to stream. Source: Arts.gov - Releases 2026 NEA Jazz Masters
Closer to home, The University of Northern Colorado (UNC)•Greeley Jazz Festival recognizes some of the top names in the artform alongside award-winning clinicians and over 150 college, high school, and middle school big bands, combos, and jazz vocal groups from across the country. The festival is set to take place April 23 through 25 2026 at UNC in Greeley.
Thursday, April 23, 2026 | 4:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.: Centennial Celebration of Miles Davis & John Coltrane with Walter Smith III on saxophone; Chief Adjuah (formerly known as Christian Scott) on trumpet and the Compass Jazz Orchestra
Alicia Olatuja, vocalist, featuring David Rosenthal on guitar
The Northern Colorado Voices
Friday, April 24, 2026 | 4:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.: A Tribute to Jaco Pastorius Victor Wooten and the Compass Jazz Orchestra
The Alfredo Rodríguez Quintet
Saturday, April 25, 2026 | 4:30 p.m.: The Legacy of Ray Brown with John Clayton-bass, Jeff Hamilton-drums, and Larry Fuller-piano.
The Zaremba Jazz Fellowship, led by Drew Zaremba with Wayne Bergeron on trumpet
Stay connected with updates at arts.unco.edu/jazzfest
The Grammy award-winning groups Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest released a new live album on Friday, November 21 called “Somni,” the Catalan word for dreams, that explores the experience of dreams and being asleep. This is the second time this beloved band out of Texas bridging jazz, funk, soul, and global traditions has worked with the 80 year running Dutch Metropole Orkest, the world’s only full-time orchestra dedicated to jazz and pop music. Online, Snarky Puppy shared fun stats about this concert captured on January 17-19 2025. The orchestra involved 74 musicians adding to the already 20 members in Snarky Puppy, on the production side, 410 headphones were used along with 256 channels of audio during recording. The last time Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest collaborated was on their 2015 release “Sylva,” which won a Grammy for best contemporary instrumental album the following year.
Source: NPR.org/Snarky Puppy collaborates with Metropole Orkest
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