Press "Play" for Jazz (a YouTube playlist)


Curated by Paulette Beete
Group photo of 24 Jazz Masters with former NEA Chairman Dana Gioia
Two dozen NEA Jazz Masters joined NEA Chair Dana Gioia for a historic group photo at the 2004 NEA Jazz Masters Concert Celebration. Photo by Tom Pich
A few years ago as we prepared to celebrate #NEAJazz12, we asked NEA Jazz Master Wynton Marsalis, bandleader and NEA National Council on the Arts member Irvin Mayfield, Jazz Appreciation Month Program Director Joann Stevens, and others to share their favorite songs. This playlist represents most of the songs on their combined lists. Can you spot the NEA Jazz Masters included as composers, performers, or both? (This might help.)   Hear from NEA Jazz Masters Dave Brubeck (1999), Ella Fitzgerald (1985), and Herbie Hancock (2004) below. Then head over to YouTube for the full Press "Play" for Jazz playlist
To browse other NEA Jazz Master content from Art Works and to read the original posts in which our contributors muse on their choices, just search on the key word "jazz" in the blog menu. And don't forget to join us tonight at 7:30 ET on arts.gov to celebrate the 2015 NEA Jazz Masters--Carla Bley, Joe Segal, George Coleman, and Charles Lloyd!