The organization reaches approximately 3 million people of all ages every year through concerts (where more than 90 percent of seats for major shows are sold), tours, musical instruction programs, sheet music, recordings on their label (Blue Engine), and live performances on their platform JAZZ LIVE.

The center has large speakers throughout the building that constantly play the music of great jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, etc.

The space wasn’t used during the summer and the organization wanted to find ways to fill the halls while resident companies performed elsewhere.

[6] Stanley Crouch (involved in finding Jazz at Lincoln Center) wrote an impassioned oration that was delivered by Reverend Jeremy Wright.

This sermon is read as a statement of purpose for what Jazz at Lincoln Center would become: “It is possible that we who listened heard something timeless from those who are the descendants of the many who were literally up for sale—those whose presence on the auction blocks and in the slave quarters formed the cross upon which the Constitution of this nation was crucified.

Yet—even after that crucifixion, there were those who rose in the third century of American slavery with a vision of freedom.” "There were those who lit the mighty wick that extended from the candle—and carried it.

“If you give me a fair chance, I will help you better understand the meaning of democracy.” These are they who were truly the makers of a noble sound.”Gordon Davis, member of the Lincoln Center Board and founding chair, saw the success of the summer concert series and advocated for a permanent jazz program.

The board agreed and by 1996, Jazz at Lincoln Center was elevated to full constituency along with the City Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, and houses dedicated to European Arts.

[9] Marsalis leads the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which performs in the Appel Room and the Rose Theater in addition to extensive international tours.

To start gaining traction, Marsalis collaborated with popular musicians outside of jazz such as Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Bob Dylan.

In order to minimize outside noise and to remain both quiet and intimate, the space sits on rubber isolation pads.

This wall is angled slightly upward, allowing for sound to be reflected from the atrium and stage monitors directly into the ceiling.

It was designed to have a “golden” sound to encourage artist-audience interaction (similar to early New York City jazz clubs).

Since Jazz at Lincoln Center’s inception, critics have accused Wynton Marsalis of being an elitist who hasn’t embraced diversity and has failed to foster music experimentation.

A 60-person international voting panel, which includes musicians, scholars and educators from 17 countries, is charged to nominate and select "the most definitive artists in the history of jazz for induction into the Hall of Fame".