Jazz Road
Jazz artists from anywhere in the United States: take your music to places it has never been with a grant from Jazz Road, a national initiative from South Arts.
About Jazz Road
Arts Midwest is partnering with the national network of Regional Arts Organizations for Jazz Road, an artist-centric touring and residency grants program to spread jazz throughout the country, strengthen work opportunities and compensation for jazz artists, and bolster deeper engagement between jazz musicians, presenters and communities.
U.S.-based jazz artists who define themselves as emerging to more established along a career spectrum are eligible. Jazz Road contains two grants programs, Jazz Road Tours and Jazz Road Creative Residencies, with regularly recurring deadlines.
Jazz Road Tours offer grants of up to $15,000 to develop tours into communities across the country. Subscribe to the South Arts newsletter for updates on when the next cycle will open.
Jazz Road Tours supports small, three- to six-site tours at an array of venue types, often in rural communities and other areas traditionally underserved by the genre. This artist-centric grant program is designed to support approximately 50 tours each year.
Jazz Road Creative Residencies offer $5,000-$40,000 available to support a residency you propose & develop for artistic creation or connecting with audiences. Subscribe to the South Arts newsletter for updates on when the next cycle will open.
Jazz Road Creative Residencies is one component of the larger program, Jazz Road. Jazz Road Creative Residencies is an artist-centric program that responds to what artists have called for while promoting flexibility for how “residency” can be defined..
Artists have expressed their need for time and resources to drive new creative vision; explore possible collaborations; and connect their music to communities in socially relevant and lasting ways. Support in these areas is viewed as crucial for musicians to reach new artistic and professional heights while building jazz partnerships and audiences throughout the US.
Are you interested in being contacted by artists about potential Jazz Road engagements? If you represent an organization that presents jazz–or is interested in expanding their work to include jazz presenting–please complete the form below.
Jazz Road relies on successful connections between artists and the venues/presenters/communities which will host them. We are looking for presenters of all types, from jazz clubs to places of worship to performing arts centers to house concerts to non-traditional presenters, and communities from rural or isolated to urban.
Get to know the artists who have received Jazz Road funds to tour and explore their work.
Explore Jazz Road Tours recipients.
Explore Jazz Road Creative Residencies recipients.
Jazz Road is made possible with funds from the Doris Duke Foundation with additional support from the Mellon Foundation.
Get Ready to Apply
Explore application information and a list of resources that applicants may find helpful on the South Arts website.
Jazz Road Stories and Updates
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Meet the Rural Road Warriors of Jazz
October 21, 2024
JAS Quintet is making a case for the ‘Great American Art Form’ across North and South Dakota.
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Six Midwestern Ensembles Receive Jazz Roads Funding
February 15, 2024
Today, South Arts announced the Winter 2024 Jazz Road Artists—16 artists and ensembles receiving funding through the Jazz Road Tours grantmaking program.. Among these artists are six ensembles based in the Midwest….
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Pathways on the Jazz Road: An Artistic Career Workshop
May 31, 2023
Learn strategies from working jazz musicians across the nation to enhance and build your career September 23rd in Minneapolis.
Have questions about Jazz Road?
We’re happy to answer any questions you have about Jazz Road. Be sure to check out the FAQs page, and if you’d like to talk to us we’re just an email or a phone call away.
Contact Our Team Read FAQs