The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the self-proclaimed highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians.
- 2016: Gary Burton, Wendy Oxenhorn, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp
- 2017: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ira Gitler, Dave Holland, Dick Hyman, Lonnie Smith
- 2018: Pat Metheny, Dianne Reeves, Joanne Brackeen, Todd Barkan
- 2019: Bob Dorough, Abdullah Ibrahim, Maria Schneider, Stanley Crouch
- 2020: Dorthaan Kirk, Bobby McFerrin, Roscoe Mitchell, Reggie Workman
- 2021: Terri Lyne Carrington, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Phil Schaap, Henry Threadgill
- 2022: Billy Hart, Donald Harrison, Stanley Clarke, Cassandra Wilson
- 2023: Regina Carter, Kenny Garrett, Louis Hayes, Sue Mingus
- 2024: Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard, Willard Jenkins, Amina Claudine Myers
- 2025: Marshall Allen, Marilyn Crispell, Chucho Valdés, Gary Giddins
- 2026: Rhonda Hamilton, Carmen Lundy, Airto Moreira, Patrice Rushen