Dee Alexander (Photo: Provided by Artist)
On February 17, 2026, the Mellon Foundation announced its 2026 Jazz Legacy Fellows: a prestigious distinction honoring lifetime achievements of the world’s top 12 jazz artists.
Counted among the 2026 recipients is Dee Alexander, a name familiar to many Chicagoans. A jazz vocalist and educator, Dee rose through the Chicago jazz clubs of the 1970s to perform at some of the world’s greatest jazz festivals. She champions various eclectic styles: from singing fusion alongside the Ken Chaney Xperience, to embracing free jazz through the AACM (Association for the Advancement for Creative Musicians), collaborations with avant-garde trumpeter Malachi Thompson, and tributes to Great American Songbook classics. Thanks to her tireless exploration of the genre, Dee has often been described as the “defining voice of Chicago jazz.”
Picture of Dee Alexander for the WFMT Jazz Network.
In the late 2010s, Alexander was contacted by jazz critic and Grammy Award-winner Neil Tesser about serving as a host on WFMT’s Jazz Network, which made a major shift in 2016 when it began to be produced in Chicago. Since then, the Jazz Network has come to be syndicated on more than 200 radio stations worldwide, and features the additional voices of John Hill, Dave Schwan, and Jana Lee Ross. Alexander has hosted and produced weekly jazz hours in addition to many radio specials, including Dinah Washington at 100: Celebrating the Queen of the Blues (2024), Dee Alexander’s Christmas Soul Celebration (2024), Holiday Jazz with Dee Alexander (2022), and Christmas Memories with Dee Alexander (2021).
Dee Alexander’s recent work very much highlights the city she calls home. In 2024, the Chicago Blues Festival contracted her to produce a centennial tribute to Dinah Washington, a concert she followed with the aforementioned radio special on the same subject. Her associations with Chicago’s elite jazz players, and various commissions from groups such as the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, have resulted in many celebrated albums as well as tours to Europe, Africa, and Asia.
As a newly-minted Jazz Legacy Fellow, Alexander finds herself in good company: keyboard player Kenny Barron, “Afro-Rican jazz” pioneer William Cepeda, bassist Buster Williams, and Donald Harrision – dubbed the architect of “Nouveau Swing” – were also among this year’s fellows. In addition to the distinction, each artist receives an award of $100,000 to use towards their music.
For the full list of the 2026 Mellon Jazz Legacy Fellows and to read more about their accomplishments, visit: https://www.mellon.org/article/mellon-foundation-jazz-foundation-america-announce-2026-jazz-legacies-fellows
