Eight Organizations Striking Major Chords in Contemporary Jazz Culture

In an essay for Time Magazine, Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander noted that, “Jazz is often thought of as a ‘playing’ art, but actually it is a ‘listening’ art.”

As what many consider to be the first art form conceived in the US, jazz celebrates the freedom to express who we are and where we’ve come from, the power of innovation and creativity, and the connection we have with the people around us because of (not despite) our differences.

To celebrate this history, the Mellon Foundation has created a $35 million Jazz Initiative, dedicated to providing strategic support for organizations that present, preserve, and produce jazz music. In addition to an all-new fellowship led by the Jazz Foundation of America which honors many living luminaries of the culture, $4 million dollars has been given to eight institutions identified as critical to the nourishment and growth of the artform.. Additional grants will be made in the year ahead. 

Just as jazz is an amalgamation of timbres and traditions, the organizations assembled reflect a diverse array of aspects of the current culture—one that is vital and evolving.

Since 2005, the DC Jazz Festival has become a major platform for both established and emerging artists. They’ve hosted National Endowment of the Arts Masters Dave Brubeck and Wayne Shorter, as well as the Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans, and the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. The 2025 line-up includes visionaries such as Lalah Hathaway, Sun Ra Arkestra, and the Branford Marsalis Quartet. 

In New York City, still a hotbed of the avant-garde jazz movement, arts for art is dedicated to promoting and advancing multicultural improvised creative arts, particularly African American Indigenous art forms. Dance, poetry, and visual arts live alongside experimental music, culminating in an annual vision festival that invites a new generation of artists and audience members to participate in the re-imagination of the legacy and future of free jazz.

A theme found in jazz culture is highlighting lessons from the past in order to build future possibilities. With an aim to ensure that the history of The Harlem Hellfighters—a long-serving and highly decorated World War I regiment, composed of African American and Puerto Rican soldiers—is never forgotten, The 369th Experience selects young musicians from HBCUs and other schools to join the band in live performances as tribute. Their educational initiative commemorates the aesthetic and cultural transformation of jazz in the WWI era.

The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, also known as Belongó, is dedicated to preserving, performing, and teaching about music from all of the Americas, emanating from African and Indigenous roots, via the entry point of jazz. The organization is committed to creating space for understanding through shared musical experiences and strengthening bonds in the communities they serve. Along with their educational and performance programs, Belongó maintains an invaluable musical library and an archive of photographs, ephemera, and other objects integral to the history of Afro Latin Jazz.

Musical styles from different regions stimulate fascinating exchange as artists tour the country. The Philadelphia Clef Club preserves the city’s rich and specific jazz heritage. In 1966, Black musicians founded a union, Local 247. At a time when many of them struggled with political, economic, and cultural recognition, the union gave Black artists representation and broke a tradition of segregation. Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, and John Coltrane became members, among other jazz legends. PCC’s facility on the corner of Broad and Fitzwater Streets hosts public performances as well as an education program for young jazz heads.

The storied sound of New Orleans is represented by the Ellis Marsalis Center. Serving the people of Crescent City through music education, live concerts, community programs, and world-class recording facilities, it is situated in the Ninth Ward with the aim of utilizing music as a holistic strategy to build a healthy community. Delivering a broad range of services to underserved youth and musicians from neighborhoods battling poverty, the center is proving that jazz gives more than aural relief.

The Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival is an established space for artists to swap ideas and sounds. A city acclaimed as the birthplace of Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines, Mary Lou Williams, George Benson, and Roger Humphries—the festival’s 15th edition will ‘call home’ musicians and fans from all over the country. In partnership with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, the organization is known for drawing in the emerging vanguard and for its Vinyl Report video series featuring stories about albums with strong connections to Pittsburgh, the so-called, “Fort Knox of Jazz.”

Whether it’s a New York City street, park, or concert hall—JazzMobile has been presenting, preserving, and promoting jazz since 1964. Founded by NEA Jazz Master Dr. Billy Taylor and arts administrator Daphne Anstein as the first not-for-profit institution specifically created just for jazz, the organization continues to bring music to the people even after the shows are over. Offering workshops, master classes, and lecture demonstrations, their programs are training the next generation of musicians, transforming aficionados into performers that both listen and play.