Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is set to receive a top honour from officials at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

The ex-leader, a keen saxophone player, will follow in the footsteps of music legends Aretha Franklin and Herbie Hancock in November (14), when he is feted with the Founder's Award in recognition of his longtime support for jazz and music education.

Hancock, the chairman of the institute, reveals Clinton is a worthy recipient of the accolade as he honed "his creativity on the tenor saxophone" in public school music programmes and has been "a jazz advocate for decades".

The presentation will take place at a concert in Los Angeles, where artists including Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Dee Dee Bridgewater will perform to raise funds to provide free jazz lessons worldwide.

The non-profit organisation was founded in 1986 in memory of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.