Jazz is the most American of art forms and perhaps America's greatest artistic contribution, as cherished and vital worldwide today as it was nearly a century ago, when a few musicians first gathered at inner-city clubs to create a new sound that would reverberate from New Orleans to Chicago; from New York to Los Angeles.

Jazz programming at the CAC elebrates the continuing innovation and enduring worldwide popularity of jazz, an art form that has become a symbol of American creativity. Our current season of jazz music is supported by NEA Jazz Masters on Tour, a national jazz touring initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

JazzNet

JazzNet, a national program to further jazz creation, presentation and education, is a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, was funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Organizations in twelve American Cities were selected to take part in this significant program. JazzNet in New Orleans is a partnership between the Contemporary Arts Center and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc..

The next generation of JazzNet is the Midsize Presenting Initiative, which is sponsored by the Nonprofit Finance Fund and Doris Duke Foundation. The initiative provides technical assistance to organizations who present and support jazz to guarantee their future growth and stability. For more information, visit http://www.nonprofitfinancefund.org/news.asp?autoID=64.

NEA Jazz Masters On Tour

The Contemporary Arts Center is pleased to participate in the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Masters on Tour program. We will present McCoy Tyner, Paquito D'Riviera, and two other yet-to-be determined artists.

In 2004, the CAC was selected among 16 not-for-profit presenting organizations in the country to receive a grant award to support the first round of NEA Jazz Masters on Tour in partnership with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. This is the second year that the CAC will participate in this prestigious program, operated by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) since 1982. Support also comes from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation, Inc., co-presenters of the series.

For NEA Jazz Masters, the NEA provides funds to not-for-profit presenting organizations like the CAC to encourage bookings of NEA Jazz Masters award recipients who are identified as living legends of jazz - an original American art form.

NEA Jazz Masters on Tour is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts sponsored by Verizon in partnership with Arts Midwest. Additional support is provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through a grant to Chamber Music America.

Visit the site for the National Endowment for the Arts for more information.