NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater hosts the Kennedy Center’s 26th Annual Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, a two-day celebration honoring the “first lady of jazz” Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981) with performances by powerful women leading today’s scene.

On May 12, we spotlight clarinet legend Doreen Ketchens—who is famous for her performances on Royal Street in the French Quarter—and “the new high priestess of soul” (The Huffington Post) Somi performing Zenzile: The Re-imagination of Miriam Makeba, her celebration of the late South African singer-songwriter and civil rights activist. The festival continues May 13 with phenomenal saxophonist/vocalist Camille Thurman and Bridgewater’s groundbreaking Dee Dee Bridgewater Big Band.