The National Endowment for the Arts announced its 2026 class of NEA Jazz Masters today, continuing the legacy of what has been described as this country’s highest honor for living jazz musicians and advocates. The new honorees are singer and songwriter Carmen Lundy; keyboardist, singer and producer Patrice Rushen; percussionist and composer Airto Moreira; and broadcaster Rhonda Hamilton.
They represent a jazz generation that mostly came of age in the 1970s and ‘80s: with one exception, all of these incoming NEA Jazz Masters are now 71, and still active on the scene. Moreira is the outlier at 84, with a dazzling career that began in his native Brazil during the 1960s, and went on to include extensive work with Miles Davis and two pioneering jazz-rock bands, Weather Report and Return to Forever. He has released dozens of his own albums, often with his wife, the radiant singer Flora Purim.
Among the myriad musicians Airto has crossed paths with is Rushen: they played together on the 2015 album A Jazz Moment in Time. Rushen is the perfect embodiment of a jazz multi-hyphenate, having hit the scene in the early ‘70s as a post-bop piano prodigy, before shifting into a successful R&B career. (In pop culture, she’s best known for her 1982 hit “Forget Me Nots,” and its repurposing for the movie Men in Black.) Rushen has served for many years in the Popular Music program at USC, and she’s now receiving her due as a jazz headliner: she finally headlined this year at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and also at the San Francisco Jazz Festival.
There’s collaborative history between Rushen and Lundy, another member of this year’s class: they have recorded together on a number of occasions, including on Lundy’s 2017 album Code Noir. A vocalist of power and presence, Lundy has been a solo artist for more than 40 years, notably writing many of her own songs. Some of these have taken on sociopolitical themes, including mass gun violence and institutionalized racism. The title of Code Noir, in fact, refers to a decree by King Louis XIV in 1685, determining the conditions of slavery in the French colonies, which then included Louisiana. But the album also has its share of ruminative or yearning love songs.
Last but not least is Hamilton, recipient of the 2026 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy. A steadfast presence on the airwaves since 1979, when she was part of the team that helped establish Newark Public Radio, Hamilton is also known as a founding voice of jazz programming on Sirius Satellite Radio. Now based on the west coast, she can be heard on the air at KJAZZ, a jazz and blues station affiliated with Cal State Long Beach. Her past honors include the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Excellence in Broadcasting Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.
“As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, the NEA is proud to also honor these individuals who have played a significant role in jazz, considered one of our country’s greatest cultural gifts to the world,” Mary Anne Carter, Senior Advisor to the NEA, says in a press announcement. “As with our nation, jazz is an art form with a rich heritage that continues to evolve, thanks to those who have dedicated their lives and creativity to this music over generations.”
The NEA will honor the 2026 Jazz Masters with a free concert on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For more information about the program, the concert and the honorees, visit arts.gov.
