Jazz Road is a new national program to help jazz artists tour by connecting with jazz presenting organizations throughout the U.S., including non-traditional jazz programmers and organizations newly interested in jazz. Artists will be eligible for grants through a competitive application process to create tours anywhere in the U.S. We are writing you today because your organization may want to be a part of a Jazz Road project, partner with artists to build new jazz audiences, and potentially receive partial artist fee subsidy when an applicant is awarded a Jazz Road grant.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Jazz Road Tours* will help emerging and mid-career jazz artists residing in every part of the country develop small (three-to-six site) contiguous tours. Each Regional Arts Organization (https://www.southarts.org/artist-grants-fellowships/jazz-road/about-jazz-road) will assist artists who inquire about potential venues as they develop their tour(s) -- be they established jazz presenters or newer to the art form. By submitting this form, you are allowing your organization to be contacted by RAOs and artists to explore tour engagement possibilities.

2. The program aims to engage the full spectrum of jazz programmers and venues. This includes non-traditional or alternative spaces for jazz, clubs, performing arts centers, and established jazz presenters or festivals located in urban cities or suburbs. However, Jazz Road also emphasizes presenting jazz in new ways for new audiences by urging artists to tour to rural towns and other areas often underserved by the genre.

3. Because funds are awarded to artists directly to guarantee equitable performance fees, new/rural/smaller venues with less capacity can be included in the tour while assuming less risk. Jazz Road defines small budget presenters as relative to the presenter’s setting and generally with organizational budgets under $100,000. Presenters with larger budgets and consistent jazz programming experience are encouraged to participate in Jazz Road Tours as potential anchor dates, and may also be able to negotiate for a lower fee, but will generally pay a larger portion of the tour’s artists’ fees.

4. Though Jazz Road Tours will award grants directly to artists for tour support, there is a significant role and benefit for presenters throughout the planning and application process. Programmers can pursue artists they’d like to present and tell them about Jazz Road. They can initiate an application and tour planning, work with colleague presenters/venues to build the tour, and assist the artist in developing an application. If the application is funded the presenters may receive the benefit of a lower (or in some cases, no) artist fee, and will become more visible as a participating Jazz Road presenter as the program is increasingly promoted and leveraged on a larger scale.

5. Jazz Road Tours Guidelines are available on our website. Jazz Road Tours now accepts applications on a rolling basis. This means there are no deadlines to apply, so that artists can submit on their own schedule. Applications can be submitted at least 60 days, or far out as 18 months, prior to the project start date.

Are you a presenter or programmer interested in much of what is described above? If so, would you like to receive more information about Jazz Road and how to become part of a tour? Please let us know more about you:

* Jazz Road is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and is led by South Arts in partnership with the five other U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, and Western Arts Alliance/Western States Arts Federation. For more information about Jazz Road, including Program Description, Grant Application Form and Deadlines, Jazz Road Guidelines are now available at www.jazzroad.org.