The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced the recipients of its Creative Inflections program, which supports collaborations between leading jazz artists and presenting organizations.

Seven artists were awarded grants of up to $200,000 each to explore novel, interdisciplinary approaches to the ways in which jazz can be delivered to the next generation of fans and expand the genre’s audience by attracting younger and more diverse audiences. Supported projects include a collaboration among the Asia Society, award-winning composer and pianist Sumi Tonooka, and composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer Jen Shyu to explore innovative ways of elevating the stories and legacies of Asian and Black women in jazz; a project by pianist, composer, and director Samora Pinderhughes, in partnership with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, that explores the realities of resilience, healing, incarceration, policing, violence, and detention in the United States; and a multi-disciplinary art and music installation conceived by drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, in collaboration with the Carr Center, that explores how gender inequity has affected the jazz genre and presents a vision for a more equitable jazz future.

“This cohort of Creative Inflections grant recipients brings together artists and arts presenters who are working at the forefront of modern jazz,” said Maurine Knighton, program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “These seven dynamic jazz artists are among today’s modern masters and are creating boundary-pushing work that’s engaging new generations of listeners. We’re proud to support strong partnerships between these artists and dedicated presenting organizations as they launch new interdisciplinary works that innovate within the artform and continue jazz’s rich tradition as a vehicle for social change.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Aleksandar Georgiev)