DC JAZZFEST Underway With Performances Across Washington, DC

The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) is currently underway in Washington, DC, running through September 6. This year's festivities will showcase an extraordinary array of artistry featuring NEA Jazz Masters, GRAMMY winners, competition winners, emerging stars, international talent, the DMV's finest, and poll-winning virtuosos on indoor and outdoor stages across DC's most iconic neighborhoods.

DCJF '26 culminates in a two-day grand finale, DC JazzFest at The Wharf, Saturday and Sunday, September 5 & 6, over Labor Day weekend along the scenic Potomac Riverfront, with additional performances indoors at Arena Stage, Union Stage, and Pearl Street Warehouse on The Wharf. 

In addition to top-tier performances, DC JazzFest will host its renowned Meet the Artist programs at Arena Stage throughout the weekend. These free, in-depth conversations, featuring interviews, panel discussions, and topical dialogues, offer audiences unique opportunities to go deeper into the music and connect with DC JazzFest artists beyond the bandstand. The complete Meet the Artist schedule will be announced soon.

'DC JazzFest continues to serve as a cornerstone of Washington, DC's cultural landscape, and we are proud to support its vision,' said Events DC President and CEO Angie M. Gates. 'For over 20 years, DC JazzFest has showcased world-class programming for residents and visitors, while reinforcing Washington, DC's status as a global stage for artistic innovation. We invite everyone to join us at The Wharf and across our city to experience why the District is a premier cultural destination.'

DC JazzFest Downtown kicked off with performances at Hamilton Live Opening Night last night with DMV's finest JazzDC All-Stars Orchestra directed by saxophonist Paul Carr, with special guest soloists Grammy-nominated vocalist Christie Dashiell, and NEA Jazz Master, drummer/vibraphonist Jason Marsalis, youngest member of the first family of jazz.

Days two and three of DC JazzFest '26 Downtown continue the celebration across the city, beginning with the free DowntownDC at Anthem Row event on Thursday, September 3rd 4:30-9:00PM. Featured artists will include the genre-bending Butcher Brown, DC's own saxophone master Marshall Keys & Soulful Path, plus bassist and Duke Ellington School of the Arts graduate Corcoran Holt's band. Thursday, September 3rd will find Great American Songbook inheritor Dan Murray in performance at the Kreeger Museum in the Palisades neighborhood. Thursday evening will also find trumpeter Joe Brotherton's band at St. Vincent Wine in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.

On Friday, September 4, the soul of the Hammond B-3 will be the focus of DCJF's second annual Organ Summit featuring Charles Covington, special guest Mike LeDonne, with Lennie Robinson on drums & Dave Manley on guitar at Westminster Church. Vocalist Heidi Martin's Ensemble will touch down at the historic Mr. Henry's in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

DC JAZZFEST AT THE WHARF

DC JazzFest at The Wharf, returns Saturday, September 5, and Sunday, September 6, for the Festival's signature Labor Day weekend celebration, bringing exceptional classic & contemporary artistic expressions to the nation's capital. Featured headliners include poll-winning jazz vocal artistry, with NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Kurt Elling celebrating the enormous legacy of Weather Report with the Yellowjackets; the great guitarist Bill Frisell, tenor sax titan Joshua Redman, the Danilo Perez Trio's 'PanaMonk' project, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, the Orrin Evans Trio featuring 'Twenty Feet From Stardom' vocal luminary Ms. Lisa Fischer; drummer-bandleader Nate Smith; pianist-composer Michele Rosewoman's 'Quintessence' project; Nasar Abadey and Supernova; a EU Min-Fest in partnership with the European Union in the U.S.; family fun activities including a scavenger hunt, DC JazzBops!, and student showcases; a grand finale bringing together NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Big Chief Donald Harrison and DC's legendary Chuck Brown Band.

Caribbean sounds will also take center stage at The Wharf, courtesy of the vibrant Soca sounds of KES, and the brilliant trumpet and band of island folklorist Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, both guaranteed to bring the spirit of Trinidad & Tobago to DCJF.

DC JazzFest 2026 Artists-in-Residence will be in full effect, with pianist-bandleader Emmet Cohen's Miles and Trane at 100 performance, and DMV pianist-composer and DCJF Artist in Residence Janelle Gill welcoming NEA Jazz Master pianist-organist-vocalist Amina Claudine Myers to her bandstand. Also, in this extraordinary year of jazz masters' birth centennials, DCJF welcomes the African Rhythms Alumni Quintet celebrating Randy Weston at 100, and rising tenor saxophonist Isaiah Collier's Collier Plays Coltrane centennial project.

As always, DC JazzFest will feature the next generation of jazz voices including trumpeter Brandon Woody's Upendo, bassist Ben Williams, violinist Chelsey Green joining the JazzDC All-Stars, the ASCAP Next Legacy band, Jose Luiz Martins (2025 DCJazzPrix winner), Jose Andre, and saxophonist Hannah Marks will lead bands, as Will Howard University's Afro Blue vocal alums Ekep Nkwelle and Shacara Rogers. And don't miss the annual DCJazzPrix emerging bands finals Saturday at Union Stage with the Amina Scott Quintet, South Africa's own Bokani Dyer Trio, the James Fernando Trio, and Luther Allison's Poiesis.

DMV artistry remains at the heart of DC JazzFest at The Wharf, courtesy of drummer Nasar Abadey and Supernova, trumpet ace Kenny Rittenhouse, pianist Alfred Yun, saxman Charles Rahmat Woods, cutting edge bassist Luke Stewart's Silt Trio, the Afro-Cuban sounds of Son Cubano Subterraneo, Felix Contreras and Grupo Tempranillo, Fran Vielma & Venezuelan Jazz Collective, the man known as The Dean of DC jazz, pianist Allyn Johnson's Trio, and trumpeter-author Muneer Nasser, among many artists representing the region.

DC JazzFest will once again showcase jazz as a truly global language through a partnership with the European Union in the United States with Lithuanian pianist Domas Zeromska, Czech guitarist Vilem Spilka, flutist Elsa Nilsson Band of Pulses from Sweden, and saxophonist Ricardo Toscano from Portugal; and saxophonist Pureum Jin and The Empress (Korea).

FULL SCHEDULE

DAY ONE - September 2:

• DC JazzFest Opening Night featuring JazzDC All-Stars Orchestra directed by Paul Carr with special guest soloists Christie Dashiell, and Jason Marsalis at The Hamilton Live

DAY TWO - September 3

• DC JazzFest Downtown at Anthem Row with Butcher Brown, Marshall Keys & Soulful Path, and the Corcoran Holt Quintet
• Dan Murray at Kreeger Museum
• Joe Brotherton at St. Vincent Wine

DAY THREE - September 4

• B-3 Organ Summit feat. Charles Covington, and Mike LeDonne on B-3, Lennie Robinson, & Dave Manley at Westminster Church
• Heidi Martin Ensemble at Mr. Henry's

DAY FOUR - September 5

• DC Jazz Fest at The Wharf: KES, Emmet Cohen's Miles/Trane Project, Nate Smith, Ekep Nkwelle, Orrin Evans Trio feat. Lisa Fischer, Bill Frisell Trio, Isaiah Collier's Collier Plays Coltrane
• Pureum Jin & The Empress, Next Jazz Legacy, Brandon Woody's Upendo, Muneer Nasser at Union Stage
• DC JazzPrix Finals at Union Stage with finalists with Amina Scott Quintet, Bokani Dyer Trio, James Fernando Trio, Luther S. Allison & Poiesis at Union Stage
• Tommy Cecil Trio, Janelle Gill with special guest Amina Claudine Myers, Dee Dee Bridgewater Quartet 'We Exist' at Arena Stage
• Jose Andre Quartet, Hannah Marks, Kenny Rittenhouse, Sakobi, Fran Vielma & Venezuelan Jazz Collective, Son Cubano Subterraneo at Pearl Street Warehouse

• DC Jazz Fest at The Wharf: Joshua Redman Quartet, Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets celebrate Weather Report, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, Chuck Brown Band w/special guest Big Chief Donald Harrison, Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, Ben Williams Band, Allyn Johnson Trio, African Rhythms Alumni Quintet: Randy Weston Centennial, Jose Luiz Martins Band
• JazzDC All-Stars Orchestra with special guest soloist Chelsey Green, Michele Rosewoman and Quintessence, Danilo Perez Trio: PanaMonk, Emmet Cohen Trio w/special guest at Arena Stage
• Charles Rahmat Woods, Alfred Yun, Ricardo Topscano, Emmet Cohen Jam at Pearl Street Warehouse
• Shacara Rogers Gospel Hour, Elsa Nilson Band of Pulses, Domas Zeromskas, Luke Stewart's Silt Trio, Felix Contreras Grupo Tempranillo followed by a Jam at Union Stage

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