Montclair Jazz Festival to Feature Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride, Patrice Rushen

JAZZ HOUSE KiDS will present the 17th annual MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Downtown Jamboree at Lackawanna Plaza in downtown Montclair, New Jersey. Headliners for the outdoor event include Dianne Reeves, Christian McBride BIG BAND featuring Bilal, Patrice Rushen, SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA, Joel Ross' GOOD VIBES, and TAKE ME TO THE RIVER New Orleans All Stars featuring Cyril Neville, an act underwritten by the Gia Maione Prima Foundation. The festival, described as the region's largest outdoor summer jazz event, draws tens of thousands of attendees to Montclair annually.

The Downtown Jamboree takes place on August 15 at the historic, eight-acre Lackawanna Plaza in downtown Montclair, New Jersey. Set times for the day were announced alongside the lineup.

This year, the Smithsonian Institution has selected MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL as a collaborating festival for 'Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals,' one of a select number of festivals chosen to help commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. For this occasion, the Smithsonian is taking its oldest and largest public event — the annual Folklife Festival — on the road to communities across the country for a stop at this year's MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL. By taking the Folklife Festival beyond Washington, DC to places like Montclair, the Smithsonian will join millions of people in their own communities to commemorate the nation's semiquincentennial, amplifying how festivals serve as enduring tools for civic engagement and cultural exchange.

As part of the Smithsonian's participation, festivalgoers will have the opportunity to take part in We Hold These Truths, a mobile storytelling project that invites visitors to share personal reflections on community, culture, history, and what the nation's 250th anniversary means to them. These short interviews will become part of the Smithsonian's Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, preserving local voices as part of America's shared story.

'We're honored to welcome the Smithsonian's We Hold These Truths project to this year's MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL,' says JAZZ HOUSE Founder Melissa Walker. 'Jazz has always been about sharing stories, building community, and preserving our collective history. This activation gives our audience the opportunity to add their own voices to our nation's story, ensuring that the experiences and perspectives of our community become part of the historical record for generations to come.'

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. This year the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL will bring to the stage, NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves and 2026 recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, Patrice Rushen.

In addition to commemorating the United States semiquincentennial, the 2026 MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL will celebrate the centennials of seminal figures Miles Davis and John Coltrane, honoring their legacies with a special tribute performance, and through the festival's artwork by visual artist Andres Chaparro. The JAZZ HOUSE stage at the festival site will feature centennial celebrations of Miles Davis and John Coltrane from the JAZZ HOUSE Collective, an ensemble of JAZZ HOUSE Faculty who teach at the program's Summer Workshop. Also performing at the JAZZ HOUSE Stage will be the JAZZ HOUSE All Stars, made up of rising star alums, and JAZZ HOUSE Emerging Talent, featuring 150 students studying at the JAZZ HOUSE this summer.

Fitting with the theme of honoring America's quintessential original artform, MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL artistic director Christian McBride has selected performing artists to spotlight major US jazz cities that have shaped the country's culture and national story. Christian McBride and his GRAMMY-winning Big Band featuring Bilal will pay tribute to McBride's hometown of Philadelphia, performing repertoire showcasing the famous Philly sound and his favorite composers. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and NEA Jazz Master Patrice Rushen will celebrate her birthplace of Los Angeles. Multi-GRAMMY-winning NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves will represent the city of Detroit. New York City will be represented by the two-time GRAMMY-winning salsa and Latin jazz band SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA.

'The programming at this year's festival gave us the opportunity to celebrate not only extraordinary artists, but the communities that have shaped America's musical identity,' says McBride. 'Every performance reflects a different chapter in jazz's ongoing story, honoring the regional sounds, traditions, and innovators that continue to keep this music vibrant. It's a lineup that reminds us jazz has always been a conversation between places, people, and generations.'

As the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans will be heavily represented at MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL: TAKE ME TO THE RIVER New Orleans All-Stars' set at the Downtown Jamboree will feature Crescent City legends Cyril Neville, Omari Neville, Ian Neville, and Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. (underwritten by the Gia Maione Prima Foundation). Earlier that week on August 13, the documentary Take Me To The River: New Orleans will be screened at The Clairidge in collaboration with Montclair Film Festival, followed by a live Q&A with the Take Me to the River New Orleans All Stars band and film producer Martin Shore. Led by trumpeter Alphonso Horne, THE GOTHAM KINGS will kick off the Downtown Jamboree with a New Orleans-inspired second line band marching down Bloomfield Avenue from Park Street to the Downtown Jamboree at Lackawanna Plaza.

'MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL is the perfect place to celebrate what makes New Orleans so special,' says Cyril Neville. 'The Montclair Jazz Festival is reminiscent of our city's Jazz and Heritage Festival, where there's something for the whole Family. Our city's music has always been about bringing people together, and that's exactly what festivals like this do. We're looking forward to making Montclair feel a little bit like New Orleans for the day.'

New this year, attendees can support the summer tradition with a 2026 MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL JAM PASS. As the event has grown to become the largest jazz festival in the region, fans will be required to register for a JAM PASS to attend the Downtown Jamboree at Lackawanna Plaza. In keeping with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS' commitment to make the festival accessible to all, a 'Pay What You Wish' option is available, and everyone who registers for a JAM PASS will be entered for a chance to win a Take 5 VIP Club membership and VIP tent access, plus express entry in the new JAM PASS lane. More information and JAM PASS registration can be found at www.montclairjazzfestival.org.

August 15 Downtown Jamboree Schedule at Lackawanna Plaza

11AM Second Line Band from Church + Park to Lackawanna Festival Site - The Gotham Kings

Main Stage 12:00 PM - 8:00PM:

12PM: Spanish Harlem Orchestra (honoring New York City)

1:30PM: Dianne Reeves (honoring Detroit)

3:00PM: Take Me to the River New Orleans All Stars featuring Cyril Neville (honoring New Orleans)

5:00 PM: Patrice Rushen (honoring Los Angeles)

7:00 PM: Christian McBride Big Band featuring Bilal (honoring Philadelphia)

Jazz House Stage 12PM - 8PM:

Jazz House Collective (honoring Miles Davis + John Coltrane)

Jazz House Emerging Talent studying at the Jazz House Summer Workshop - 150 students and large ensembles from jazz to Afro Latin to a vocal choir

Joel Ross' Good Vibes

Block Party (presented by United Airlines [official airline]) 8PM - 10PM:

DJ Prince Hakim - closing the night on Lackawanna Plaza

Post Party at Egan & Sons 9PM - 11PM

Essex Funk Collective

The no-tickets-required 17th annual MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL is made possible through the support of collaborating partners, the Smithsonian and the National Endowment for the Arts, along with sponsors including United Airlines, Allied Beverage Group, Xfinity, Gia Maione Prima Foundation, The Montclair Foundation, and the NJ Division of Travel and Tourism, together with festival members, volunteers, local government and businesses, and the broader community.

More information on attending, volunteering, becoming a sponsor, or participating as a vendor or business partner is available at www.montclairjazzfestival.org, with the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL App available from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

About Jazz House KiDS

Now in its third decade, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS transforms lives using the power and legacy of jazz through education and performances that create avenues of access, learning, career development and community building. The organization and its students have received more than 170 awards and honors for excellence in jazz and jazz education. JAZZ HOUSE has two locations: its headquarters in Montclair, NJ, and a satellite program in Lower Manhattan in collaboration with and fully funded by Trinity Church NYC. Through in-school and out-of-school programs in New Jersey and New York City, JAZZ HOUSE produces more than 150 free public concerts per year, reaching nearly 250,000 attendees. Its cultural signature program, MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL, was co-founded by Melissa Walker and Christian McBride and is described as the largest free jazz festival in the region, annually attracting tens of thousands of attendees. More information is available at www.jazzhousekids.org.

The 2026 edition of the festival has been selected by the Smithsonian Institution as a collaborating festival for Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals, part of the institution's effort to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. As part of that partnership, festivalgoers will be able to participate in We Hold These Truths, a mobile storytelling project that will archive personal reflections in the Smithsonian's Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. The festival will also mark the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane through a tribute performance by the JAZZ HOUSE Collective and through festival artwork by Andres Chaparro.

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