When the National Endowment for the Arts announced that the SFJazz Center was hosting the 2020 tribute concert for the new class of NEA Jazz Masters, it was the most significant sign yet that the San Francisco organization’s cultural impact had gained notice in Washington, D.C.

Now, after producing the celebration online two years in a row due to COVID-19, SFJazz finally gets to throw an in-person party on Thursday, March 31, hosted by 2018 NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves, and everyone is invited. Indeed, jazz fans quickly scooped up most of the free tickets for the event, with some additional tickets to be released for walk-ups. (For everyone else,www.arts.gov,www.sfjazz.org还有许多其他网站正在分享实时网络广播，包括从阿尔巴尼亚人到乌克兰人的美国语音服务。）

And it’s no wonder there’s a demand to be in the auditorium. Three of the four artists receiving the nation’s highest jazz honor — drummer Billy Hart, bassist Stanley Clarke and saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. — are expected to be on hand to perform, while vocalist Cassandra Wilson will be represented in the concert by San Francisco Jazz Collective singerGretchen Parlato.

Sfjazz创始人兰德尔·克莱恩（Randall Kline）说，凭借Sfjazz的集体担任众议院乐队，致敬反映了大流行使Sfjazz“与NEA建立更紧密的关系”的方式，Sfjazz创始人Randall Kline说，他最近宣布他正在辞去执行官的角色。明年的艺术总监，为该组织带来了一个新时代。

“The NEA was used to doing things a particular way, and the Jazz Masters Tribute Concert has really evolved with SFJazz. They put a lot of trust in us, and it’s worked out great. It’s complicated working with the federal government; everything has to be very buttoned-down. Now we’ve got this live event and we’re a nice, tight team working together.”

One major change that SFJazz implemented is encouraging the newly minted NEA Jazz Masters to perform at their own tribute, particularly since all the honorees are active and thriving. Hart, 81, has played dozens of shows around the region in recent years in an array of bands, including a four-ensemble showcase at the 2016 Healdsburg Jazz Festival, where he is one of the event’s foundational artists.

The 61-year-old Harrison, a New Orleans icon who is receiving the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy, has also been a regular presence in the Bay Area since joining Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the early 1980s.

The absence of Wilson, 66, isn’t surprising given that the mahogany-toned Mississippi singer has been keeping a low profile since the release of her 2015 album marking Billie Holiday’s 100th birthday, “Coming Forth by Day.” Clarke, 70, is a different case. The sixth bassist awarded an NEA Jazz Masters fellowship since the honor was created in 1982, he played a central role in bringing the electric bass into jazz via his work with Chick Corea’s Return to Forever in the early 1970s. But he has also worked extensively in rock and funk while earning distinction as composer for film and television, which includes a 1988 Emmy nomination for a “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” score.

克拉克通过他的洛杉矶家中的电话告诉《纪事》，“直到几年后，我才意识到，就像60年代初，我做了多少工作。”“我一定是一个工作狂！我从没想过我做得太多了。在许多地方，我以为我做得还不够。”

鉴于克拉克（Clarke）对种产的倾向，他正在寻求充分利用自己的聚光灯，希望将三件饰物纳入他指定的六分钟插槽，这并不奇怪。

他说：“我清除了三首歌。”“原始的，‘LaCanciónde Sofia’；小鸡的“不谜”，我的最爱之一；我在埃灵顿公爵（Duke Ellington）的“ Take the Coltrane”上与鼓手一起进行二重奏。我仍然看到我是否可以在两分钟内挤压。”

NEA Jazz Masters音乐会到达湾区现场表演艺术复兴之中，但NEA从华盛顿的看法却大不相同。根据NEA的音乐与歌剧总监Ann Meier Baker的说法，该机构制作的一半以上的音乐赠款被重新使用或更改，他在所有三个爵士大师致敬中都与Sfjazz紧密合作。

After two years of being grounded in D.C., the NEA is treating the SFJazz concert as a San Francisco holiday. It’s going to be one of the first events attended by Maria Rosario Jackson, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December as the NEA’s 13th chair.

“The NEA’s staff has just been cleared to travel, and this is the first time we’ve ventured out,” Baker told The Chronicle. “Under any circumstance the opportunity to experience these fantastic musicians perform is really special, but this is kind of a coming-out-of-hibernation moment.”

2022 NEA Jazz Masters致敬音乐会：7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31. Free. SFJazz Center’s Miner Auditorium, 201 Franklin St., S.F. 866-920-5299. Available to stream viawww.sfjazz.org和www.arts.gov.

编者注：这个故事已更新，以反映歌手格蕾琴·帕拉托（Gretchen Parlato）已添加到音乐会的阵容中。