The Mellon Foundation has announced over $6.5 million in grants to expand jazz scholarship and strengthen its cultural infrastructure, as part of the Foundation’s broader $35 million commitment to preserving jazz as America’s first original art form. Central to this funding is a $5.8 million grant to the Jazz Study Group (JSG), an interdisciplinary collective of scholars, artists, and musicians that has shaped jazz scholarship over the past three decades. Additional support has been provided to three community-based institutions that nurture jazz artistry, education, and engagement nationwide: the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and Jazz Institute of Chicago in Chicago, and The World Stage in Los Angeles.
Founded in 1995 by jazz scholar Robert G. O’Meally, JSG comprises more than 30 members from the US and internationally, including influential musicians and scholars such as Amiri Baraka, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, and Randy Weston. Over the years, JSG has served as an incubator for jazz biographies, oral histories, cultural criticism, and compositions, producing over 25 significant publications and works, including titles like Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins and Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra.
With Mellon’s support, the Jazz Study Group will launch the Jazz Generations Initiative, co-led by O’Meally and pianist/composer Courtney Bryan, to foster intergenerational dialogue and preserve jazz heritage. The initiative will produce a second anthology of essays and jazz historiography, Uptown Conversation: The New Jazz Studies, Vol. 2, make archival materials publicly accessible, and establish Bamboula: Jazz Studies in Motion, a residency program in New Orleans. It will also partner with artist-run nonprofits to center jazz artistry and scholarship within the communities that sustain the music.
Mellon’s funding also includes nearly $1 million in support for regional jazz organizations. AACM in Chicago will continue nurturing generations of creative voices, the Jazz Institute of Chicago will strengthen its role in educating and connecting communities to jazz, and The World Stage in Los Angeles will sustain its work in preserving African American music, literature, and oral traditions. By investing in research, storytelling, and operational support for these key hubs, the Mellon Foundation aims to preserve jazz histories and ensure the art form thrives for future generations.
