Lee Konitz © Andrea Canter

The 2009 NEA Jazz Masters include: vocalist and guitarist George Benson, drummer James "Jimmy" Cobb, saxophonist Lee Konitz, harmonica and guitar player Jean-Baptiste "Toots" Thielemans, and trumpeter Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young. The A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Master Award for Jazz Advocacy is awarded to recording engineer Rudolph "Rudy" Van Gelder.

In addition, a pre-concert conversation with the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters moderated by NEA Chairman Dana Gioia will be held at 6:15 p.m. in Rose Theater. The conversation will explore the careers, influences, and ideas from the Masters' experiences in jazz. Each year, this conversation with the Masters is an occasion for light moments, stories, and personal insights from six distinguished lives in music.

"The NEA is delighted to partner with Jazz at Lincoln Center," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "The nation’s top honor in jazz is now being celebrated at the nation’s preeminent center for jazz education and performance."

"Jazz at Lincoln Center is honored to be given the opportunity to celebrate the outstanding contributions made by the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters and to produce this concert devoted to their achievements," said Adrian Ellis, Executive Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

About NEA Jazz Masters: NEA Jazz Masters are selected from nominations submitted by the public. Musicians selected as NEA Jazz Masters receive a one-time grant award of $25,000, are honored at a public awards ceremony, and may participate in NEA-sponsored promotional, performance, and educational activities under the NEA Jazz Masters National Initiative program. All of the NEA Jazz Masters are profiled in an NEA publication, which includes brief biographies, selected discographies, and an hour-long audio CD of NEA-produced Jazz Moments, radio shorts of interviews with NEA Jazz Masters. Only living musicians or jazz advocates may receive the NEA Jazz Masters honor.

The National Endowment for the Arts has supported jazz artists and organizations since 1969, providing millions of dollars in grants and awards. In 2004, the NEA significantly expanded its NEA Jazz Masters program and in 2005 created the NEA Jazz Masters Initiative, a comprehensive program of jazz support that includes the NEA Jazz Masters Award; NEA Jazz Masters Live, a series of multiple event engagements in selected communities, featuring NEA Jazz Masters; radio programming featuring NEA Jazz Masters; a compilation CD produced by Verve Music Group; educational resources through the NEA Jazz in the Schools program produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center; and publications and reports. For more information on NEA Jazz Masters, the public is invited to visit the web site, at www.neajazzmasters.org.

About Jazz at Lincoln Center: Jazz at Lincoln Center is dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, hall of fame induction ceremony, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, jazz appreciation curriculum for students, music publishing, children’s concerts, lectures, adult education courses, student and educator workshops and interactive websites. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce nearly 3,000 events during its 2008-09 Season in its home in New York City, Frederick P. Rose Hall, and around the world. Please visit the website at www.jalc.org.