Englewood Jazz Festival to Return With Revised 2026 Lineup

The 27th Annual Englewood Jazz Festival, presented by Live the Spirit Residency, returns to Chicago's historic Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd Street on September 17–19, 2026. This year's festival celebrates the next generation of creative musicians while honoring the centennial legacies of Oscar Brown Jr., John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. All music performed will be original compositions by the featured artists. 

Founded in 1999 by acclaimed saxophonist and composer Ernest Dawkins, the Englewood Jazz Festival has become one of Chicago's premier cultural events, serving as a vital platform for creative expression, artistic excellence, community engagement, and cultural unity. Through free performances, educational activities, and intergenerational collaborations, the festival continues to showcase the rich tradition of (Jazz), Great Black Music while inspiring new generations of artists and audiences across Chicago.

"The Englewood Jazz Festival has always been about bringing people together through original music, honoring the masters who came before us while creating space for the next generation to find its own voice. As we celebrate 27 years, we're excited to welcome our community for a weekend that reflects the creativity, resilience, and collective spirit that make Chicago one of the great jazz cities in the world." - Ernest Dawkins, Festival Founder

The weekend will feature performances by both jazz legends and next-generation artists. Events take place indoors on Sep 17 and 18 and outdoors on September 19 rain or shine, moving indoors in case of inclement weather. Some seating is provided, but attendees are advised to bring their own chairs, blankets, picnics, and an appetite for the kind of music that uplifts and transforms the human spirit! Further information is available at englewoodjazzfestival.org or by calling (773) 789-4227.

This year's festival begins on Thursday with sets by Julius Tucker and Live the Spirit Residency Expanded Ensemble. Friday night features performances by Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Redux and Jeremiah Hunt.
Moving outside on Saturday, the Festival will celebrate its Young Masters; together with sets by Maggie and Africa Brown, Dakarai Barclay, New Continuum Ensemble led by Marquis Hill featuring Braxton Cook, and Ryan Bills & Ben Crino Quartet.

Additionally, as part of this event, to honor those whose work has helped shape and strengthen the foundation of jazz in Chicago, the annual Spirit of Jazz Awards will be presented to recipients to be announced. 

Complete schedule:

• Thursday, September 17 (indoors - Hamilton Park Cultural Center)
  5:30 pm: Julius Tucker Trio
  6:30 pm: Live the Spirit Residency Expanded Ensemble, featuring Dee Alexander: Composer Ernest Dawkins debuted his major jazz work Fannie Lou Hamer: No One Could Contain Her during the UNESCO International Jazz Day celebrations. The piece fuses spirituals, jazz improvisation, and spoken word to recount her historic civil rights journey.

• Friday, September 18 (indoors - Hamilton Park Cultural Center)
  5:30 pm: Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Redux
  6:30 pm: Jeremiah Hunt Quartet 

• Saturday, September 19 (outdoors Hamilton Park) 

  • 12:00 to 1:00 The Young Masters under the direction of Ernest Dawkins

  • 1:10 to 2:10 Dakarai Barclay Quartet - all original compositions celebrating the lives of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. 

  • 2:15 to 3:15 Ryan Bills & Ben Crino Quartet 

  • 3:20 to 3:30 Spirit of Jazz Awards

  • 3:35 to 4:45 The two Brown Sisters – Maggie and Africa Brown tribute to their father Oscar Brown Jr.

  • 5:00 to 6:00 New Continuum Ensemble led by Marquis Hill featuring Braxton Cook

Live The Spirit Residency is a not-for-profit organization that produces the Englewood Jazz Festival. Ernest Dawkins is the Executive Director of the organization and the Festival.

This 27 year old organization has the full support of the Englewood community including State Senator Mattie Hunter, State Representative Sonya Harper, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and the City Arts program of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Our Englewood Jazz Festival is generally generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, SEIU, and Grow Greater Englewood.

Dakarai Barclay is a trumpeter and educator from and based in Chicago, Illinois. He has demonstrated true dedication to his craft within the idioms of jazz and Black American Music. Dakarai has had the ultimate privilege of performing with mentors and elder musicians such as Willerm Delisfort, Winard Harper, Jarrard Harris, Ernest Dawkins, Marlene Rosenburg, and many more. Dakarai can be seen playing in venues throughout Chicago and throughout the midwestern US region more broadly. Dakarai attained his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and later a graduate degree in jazz performance from William Paterson University in northern New Jersey. Currently, he is on faculty teaching jazz trumpet at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois and is a 2025 Luminarts Jazz Fellowship recipient. He is also the business development lead for the Musical Arts Institute, a local music conservatory on the far south side of the city. Band personnel: Elio Wijaya, piano; Carmani Edwards, bass; Christian Hindratno, drums.

The Ryan Bills & Ben Crino Quartet is an ongoing project dedicated to representing the integrity of Jazz and Black American Music. Through mentorship with musicians such as Isaiah Spencer, Charles Heath, Ernest Dawkins among others, Ryan and Ben have committed themselves to the lifelong mission of study that reflects the seriousness and intensity of the world and to original compositions that create an environment for self reflection and communion with the spirits of the elders. Collectively Ryan and Ben have appeared at the Chicago Jazz Festival, The Michigan Jazz Festival, The Jazz Showcase, Andy's Jazz Club and play in bands led by Isaiah Spencer, Charles Heath, Isaiah Sharkey, Jumaane Taylor and Thaddeus Tukes among others.

The 2 Brown Sisters–Maggie Brown and Africa Brown- are an acclaimed Chicago vocal duo blending jazz, theater, storytelling, and world music into vibrant, engaging performances. The youngest daughters of legendary singer-songwriter Oscar Brown, Jr., they continue their family's tradition of “edutainment," celebrating culture, history, and humanity through song. Their repertoire features fresh arrangements of Brown family classics alongside jazz standards, spoken word, Afro-Cuban rhythms, blues, and original works. With decades of professional performing experience and infectious onstage chemistry, The 2 Brown Sisters deliver concerts that are joyful, soulful, thought-provoking, and deeply rooted in Chicago's rich artistic legacy.

Ernest Dawkins is a saxophonist and composer, whose life goal is for his music and compositions to reflect the evolving collective cultural memory of the African-American jazz aesthetic. His four decades of work as a professional artist, educator, and community-based organizer are widely recognized for shaping the contemporary cultural landscape of Chicago and beyond. He is the founder and executive director of Live the Spirit Residency and past Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Commissions by the Jazz Institute of Chicago (Tim Black Blacker Than Black) and South Arts (Refound Connections) were both premiered in 2022. Other commissions include the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, Sant'Anna Arresi Jazz Festival, Sons d'Hiver Festival, Banliues Bleues Festival, Meet the Composers, and the King Arts Complex of Columbus Ohio. He is the leader and founder of several ensembles, most notably the New Horizons Ensemble, Aesop Quartet, Chicago Trio, Live the Spirit Big Band, and the Chicago 12. Dawkins has recorded numerous CDs and his publishing company, Dawk Music, has seventeen releases to date.

Jeremiah Hunt is a Chicago-based bassist, composer, and creative entrepreneur whose work bridges music, performance, and cultural experience. A Jacksonville, FL native and proud alumnus of Florida A&M University and the Disneyland All-American College Band (2009), he has performed at iconic venues including The Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill, Andy's Jazz Club, and stages abroad. Versatile as both sideman and leader, Hunt has worked with Victor Goines, Pharez Whitted, Marquis Hill, Bobby Broom, Gordon Goodwin, Dee Alexander, Bob Reynolds, and toured with The Main Squeeze, recording Mind Your Head (2015) with producer Randy Jackson. He appears on Isaiah Collier's Cosmic Transitions, the DownBeat five-star–rated album (2021), and has opened for the Ohio Players. Beyond performance, Hunt co-founded Mixolydian, a private dining and live jazz experience in Jacksonville, and leads K.I.M. (Keeping It Moving), a project centered on exploration, groove, and community. Across all his work, he remains committed to a lifelong search for sound and connection.

Pianist, composer and producer Julius Tucker is a pillar of Chicago's jazz and creative music community—a pianist, composer, bandleader, and producer whose expansive artistry transcends genre boundaries. With a career spanning over 15 years, Tucker has solidified his reputation for masterful keyboard fluency, harmonic sophistication, and a multifaceted voice that moves effortlessly between jazz, improvised music, electronic experimentation, and beyond. Rooted in Chicago's rich musical legacy, Tucker began his classical training at the Van Moody School of Music at age seven. He later honed his jazz sensibility at the Merit School of Music and Whitney Young Magnet High School, ultimately completing his academic journey at Northwestern University earning degrees in both Jazz Piano and Civil Engineering. Tucker is also a recipient of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation's Jazz Improvisation Fellowship and is an Artist in Residence at The Cliff Dwellers. A seasoned artist with international experience, Tucker has performed at legendary venues and world-renowned festivals, including The Green Mill, The Jazz Showcase, Sam First, and Red Light Cafe, the Chicago Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, San Antonio's Fiesta Jazz Fest, the Iowa City Jazz Festival, and Italy's JazzIt Festival.Beyond performance, Tucker's work as a producer and composer reflects a deep commitment to both jazz tradition and contemporary innovation. From intimate trio sessions to genre-blending electronic projects and compositions for film and television, his creative reach extends throughout Chicago's vibrant music scene and beyond.

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