Jazz Arts Project to receive $37k grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

RED BANK, NJ — The non-profit organization Jazz Arts Project is proud to announce that it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $37,000. This grant will support the continuation and enhancement of “A Community of Jazz,” produced and curated by Jazz Arts Project, which delivers a full season of professional concerts, transformative music education programs, and open jam sessions, all readily accessible to the community.

“These projects exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD.  

Jazz Arts Project, founded in 2006, is among 1,135 projects approved for funding in this round, totaling more than $37 million in 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. “This is only the second year that Jazz Arts has been awarded an NEA grant, and we are proud and grateful to be recognized among our arts and cultural non-profit peers,” said Jazz Arts' Founder and Artistic Director Joe Muccioli.

The “Summer of Jazz” includes an entire summer dedicated to jazz.  during the eight weeks of summer in Red Bank, NJ.  The ever-popular Summer Jazz Café, the Jazz in the Park Series at Riverside Gardens Park, and the West Side Community Concert Series at Johnny Jazz Park which culminates in a special festival celebration on the birthdate of Red Bank’s Favorite son, Jazz great Count Basie. All this, taken together with our Free Middle School Music Camp and our Jazz Arts Academy Summer Session, may just prove to be the longest jazz festival in the world. It may not be the longest-running, but the sheer number of consecutive days and weeks of great jazz music will be one for the history books.

Red Bank, NJ, is the town that birthed jazz great William Count Basie. It is only fitting that a festival is presented around the music that is America's best gift to the world. For this historic yet vibrant living art form, Jazz Arts presents contemporary jazz artists performing live directly in the community while offering transformative, life-changing educational opportunities to area youth.

A continuation of our educational programs, lectures, and other music events and classes will continue into the fall through the end of the year.  

For more information on all the Summer of Jazz events, visit jazzartsproject.org/summer

For more information on other projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.