South Arts Announces Spring 2023 Jazz Road Artists

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Today, South Arts is pleased to announce the Spring 2023 Jazz Road Artists—14 artists and ensembles receiving funding from the Jazz Road Tours initiative to promote and tour their artistry around the nation.

Spring 2023 Jazz Road Artists - rotating banner

Relaunched in 2022 by South Arts with funding from Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, Jazz Road Tours annually supports approximately 50 jazz artists with grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 to cover a portion of tour expenses and tighten the pay gap between artists and presenters. Some of these expenses include venue and travel fees, equitable pay for the artists, or costs of management, coordination, and promotion.

Each of the artists submitted a written application and work samples, which were reviewed and selected by a panel of experts across the jazz field. Based on the artistic excellence and merit of the proposed tour, the Spring 2023 Jazz Road Artists were selected supporting their performances between June 2023 through January 2024..

“We are excited to announce the Spring cohort of Jazz Road Artists and support bringing their work on the road to stages and audiences across the country,” said Drew Tucker, Director of Jazz with South Arts. “These artists span the entirety of jazz as a genre, from traditional jazz, bebop, hard bop, post-bop, swing and modal to fusions like Indo Jazz and Latin Jazz. Exploring the breadth of this iconic genre, this cohort also shares a variety of backgrounds, cities, and stories that further expands the program and its mission.”

The Spring 2023 Jazz Road Artists are:

Their individual tours will officially begin as early as June 2023 and continue through the start of 2024, spanning cities across the U.S. like Atlanta, GA; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Minneapolis, MN; New Haven, CT;  Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Tulsa, OK; Washington, DC; and more.

A core component of South Arts’ national Jazz Road initiative, Jazz Road Tours is coordinated in partnership with five fellow regional arts organizations: Arts Midwest, Mid America Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Alliance, New England Foundation for the Arts, and the Western States Arts Federation.

Since launching in 2018, Jazz Road Tours has provided 137 artists with $1.8M in funding to expand their footprint on a national scale. In its current application cycle, those numbers will double.

Applications to Jazz Road Tours are being accepted through 2026 with multiple deadlines per year. The next deadline is June 15, 2023. To learn more about the Jazz Road, view previous artists, and learn about funding opportunities, visit southarts.org.

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About South Arts

South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, address the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrate the excellence, innovation, value and power of the arts of the South. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

Press Inquiries

Ivan Schustak 
Director, Communications
ischustak@southarts.org

Rachel Roberts
Account Executive, Cultural Counsel
rachel@culturalcounsel.com

Check Out the Spotify Playlist

Get to know the Spring 2023 Jazz Road Artists by listening to our Spotify playlist!

Listen on Spotify