Program

Next Jazz Legacy

Next Jazz Legacy is a new national apprenticeship program for women and non-binary improvisers in jazz, with the intersection of gender and race as a guiding principle.

Applications Under Review

Programs
Program

Next Jazz Legacy

Next Jazz Legacy is a new national apprenticeship program for women and non-binary improvisers in jazz, with the intersection of gender and race as a guiding principle.

Applications Under Review

Funders

Next Jazz Legacy is a partnership between New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice with support from the Mellon Foundation. Next Jazz Legacy extends their gratitude to Joe and Nancy Walker for their generosity.

Next Jazz Legacy Gradient

Focused on increasing opportunities for musicians most underrepresented in the art form, the three-year, national program launched by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice – with major funding from the Mellon Foundation – invests in awardees through personalized apprenticeships, financial support, and a mission to inspire waves of lasting change.

Combining individual and group learning opportunities with a comprehensive support package designed to deliver deep impacts on every candidate’s career, awardees receive $10,000, performance opportunities with master bandleaders, two-way mentorship, a learning cohort, and professional promotional support.

 With gender and racial justice as guiding principles, Next Jazz Legacy awardees are chosen through an open call process and a meticulous, months-long review process by a distinguished and diverse panel of jazz luminaries, chaired by NEA Jazz Master and Next Jazz Legacy’s Artistic DirectorTerri Lyne Carrington. Once the seven awardees are selected, Carrington and the Next Jazz Legacy team work closely with each of the seven musicians to match them with a pair of master bandleaders for a year-long performance apprenticeship, as well as an additional creative mentorship, both aligned with the awardees’ unique interests.

Alongside Terri Lyne Carrington, the selection committee for the 2023 Next Jazz Legacy cohort included JD Allen, Tanya Darby, Caroline Davis, Carlos Henriquez, Brian Lynch, Allison Miller, Rufus Reid, Matthew Stevens, Camille Thurman, and more. Over the next three years, Next Jazz Legacy will be guided by an advisory board that includes artists Gerald Clayton and Kris Davis, and representatives from institutions such as Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, NPR, WBGO, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, New York Winter Jazz Festival, and beyond.

The NJL program is managed by New York City-based emerging guitarist, composer and educator Lolivone de la Rosa. Any questions about the program should be addressed to de la Rosa at [email protected].

The second class of seven Next Jazz Legacy artists spans a wide spectrum of genres, instruments, and trajectories, with personal experiences of confronting the challenges of sexism, socio-economic status, and opportunity.

Click here to read the full news announcement on the Next Jazz Legacy 2023 Cohort.

See the full list of Next Jazz Legacy artists, their respective instruments and bandleader pairings below.

Applications for the 2024 cohort are close and under review.  Learn more about who is eligible on our FAQ page here, and visit the application page here.

2022-2023 Awardees

Camila Cortina Bello

Piano | Apprenticeship: Miguel Zenón | Creative Mentorship: Helen Sung

Milena Casado

Trumpet, Flugelhorn | Apprenticeship: Nicholas Payton | Creative Mentorship: Meshell Ndegeocello

Liany Mateo

Bass | Apprenticeship: Regina Carter | Creative Mentorship: Christian McBride

Anaïs Maviel

Voice | Apprenticeship: Craig Taborn | Creative Mentorship: Nicole Mitchell

Tatiana LadyMay Mayfield

Voice | Apprenticeship: Brandee Younger | Creative Mentorship: Patrice Rushen

Neta Raanan

Saxophone | Apprenticeship: Nasheet Waits | Creative Mentorship: Moor Mother

Anisha Rush

Saxophone | Apprenticeship: Makaya McCraven | Creative Mentorship: Tia Fuller

2021-2022 Awardees

Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez

Drummer & Composer Apprenticeship: esperanza spalding | Creative Mentor: Wayne Shorter

Lexi Hamner

Singer/songwriter, Trombonist & Multi-instrumentalist | Apprenticeship: Tia Fuller | Creative Mentor: Bobby McFerrin

Keyanna Hutchinson

Musician, Composer & Producer | Apprenticeship: Lizz Wright | Creative Mentor: Brandon Ross

Alexis Lombre

Pianist, Vocalist & Composer | Apprenticeship: Marcus Miller | Creative Mentor: Georgia Ann Muldrow

Anastassiya Petrova

Pianist & Organist | Apprenticeship: Chris Potter | Creative Mentor: Kris Davis

Loke Risberg

Guitarist & Composer | Bandleader: Linda May Han Oh | Creative Mentor & Recording: Bill Stewart

Kalia Vandever

Trombonist, Composer & Educator | Apprenticeship: Mary Halvorson | Creative Mentor: Jen Shyu

Why This Program Is Needed

According to an analysis of NPR’s 2019 Jazz Critics poll…

Core band album personnel were women
0%
Jazz albums with no women musicians
0%
The top 50 new jazz releases in the US featured acts led or co-led by women artists
0%
The top 50 albums had no women among core personnel
0%
The critics contributing to this poll were women
0%

Program Highlights

Next Jazz Legacy Advisory Board

Terri Lyne Carrington Photo by Tracy Love

Terri Lyne Carrington (Chair)

Artistic Director, BIJGJ

Gabrielle Armand

VP Brand, Sales, Marketing, Jazz at Lincoln Center

Darlene Chan

Darlene Chan

FestivalWest, Inc., Los Angeles, New Orleans

Sarah Elizabeth Charles Photo Shervin Lainez

Sarah Elizabeth Charles

Vocalist & educator

Kris Davis

Kris Davis

Pianist & Composer/Associate Director of Creative Development, BIJGJ

Simone Eccleston

Simone Ecclestone

Director of Hip Hop Culture & Contemporary Music, The Kennedy Center

Monica Haslip

Monica Haslip

Executive Director, Little Black Pearl Art and Design Academy

Sean Jones

Sean Jones

Trumpeter, bandleader, composer and educator

Suraya Mohamed Photo: Mike Morgan

Suraya Mohamed

Producer at NPR

Vanessa Reed

President & CEO, New Music USA

Brice Rosenbloom

Brice Rosenbloom

New York Winter Jazz Festival

Angelica Sanchez

Angelica Sanchez

Jazz pianist & composer

Gerald Clayton

Pianist & composer

Daniel Seeff

Songwriter, bassist, guitarist & West Coast Dir. of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

Aja Burrell Wood

Aja Burrell Wood 

Managing Director, Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice

Press & Media Links

Funders

Next Jazz Legacy is a partnership between New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice with support from the Mellon Foundation. Next Jazz Legacy extends their gratitude to Joe and Nancy Walker for their generosity.

Next Jazz Legacy Gradient