Lineup Announced For 2024 Montclair Jazz Festival

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The lineup for the 2024 Montclair Jazz Festival is here, with the fun set to kick off Friday, June 21 and a grand finale “downtown jamboree” set for Saturday, Sept. 14.

Want to know more about what’s coming this year? The following news release comes courtesy of local nonprofit Jazz House Kids, which spearheads the festival:

The Montclair Jazz Festival is the largest free jazz festival in the greater NYC region welcoming 25,000 music fans to Montclair. The summer-long festival kicks off with a series of performances at the Wellmont Arts Plaza and around the business areas of town before heading to Montclair State University for the Uptown Showcase featuring talented students from JAZZ HOUSE Summer Workshop.

September brings the grand finale week with a series of engaging community events leading up to the highly anticipated Bloomfield Avenue Downtown Jamboree. New this year, after eight hours of live music on two stages, the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL transforms into a giant 15th Anniversary Celebration Block Party as DJ Brother Mister (AKA Christian McBride) and special guest, New Jersey’s own DJ Prince Hakim take over the Downtown Jamboree stage for a dynamic funk & soul dance party.

With producer JAZZ HOUSE KiDS and together with the County of Essex, Montclair Township, Montclair Center BID, and a host of corporate sponsors, local businesses and individual patrons, Downtown Jamboree stage hosts, comedian and actor Alonzo Boden and SiriusXM Jazz’s Andromeda Turre, the Grand Finale event will welcome music fans on September 14th along nearly half a mile of downtown Montclair’s Bloomfield Avenue commercial corridor, closed to vehicular traffic with hundreds of retailers and restaurant storefronts. The event is jam-packed with great music and activities for the whole family and spotlights internationally-acclaimed headliners, regional favorites and emerging talent on multiple stages, 170+ food & artisan vendors in sponsor Rao’s Homemade Marketplace, and the Family Jazz Discovery Zone in Wellmont Arts Plaza.

Leading up to the big September date, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS will also be bringing some of the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FEST’s Soundcheck Series events to the Wellmont Arts Plaza in downtown Montclair, including Wallace Roney Jr. on July 25th, and Vanessa Perea and the Robert Edwards Big Band on August 22nd. New to the festival this year is an exciting collaboration with Wellmont Arts Plaza Outdoor Concert Series with performances taking place throughout the summer including Mahali on June 21st, Dopapod on July 11th, Montclair Jamfest on July 27th, and The Ries Brothers on August 8th, Prince/Bowie on August 14 and Spafford on September 18, featuring JAZZ HOUSE musicians in several opening acts (more shows to be announced soon).

Two more highlights of the 15th Anniversary Celebration megafest:

-- Uptown Showcase at Montclair State University will take place on Saturday, August 17th with performances by over 150 JAZZ HOUSE Summer Workshop emerging musicians from New Jersey, and across the U.S. and several countries. The student performances are followed by saxophonist Julian Lee and his Quartet. Lee, now a mainstay of the jazz scene, was in the first classes of the JAZZ HOUSE in Montclair. Christian McBride & Friends closes evening with his all-star lineup.

-- Jazz Around Town presents the future of jazz through a series of town-wide Community Emerging Musician Concerts, featuring performances by JAZZ HOUSE current students and alumni. The dates and performers for the Community Emerging Musician Concerts are to be announced.

This year’s celebrated centennial artist and face of the festival is revered vocalist Sarah Vaughan and depicted by visual artist in residence, Andres Chaparro. Nicknamed “Sassy” and “the Divine One,” Vaughan, whose formidable vocal range went from baritone to soprano, sublime musicianship, and daring interpretations have inspired all subsequent generations of jazz singers. As tradition at the Montclair Jazz Fest, the JAZZ HOUSE Collective, an ensemble directed by Nathan Eklund composed of JAZZ HOUSE teaching artists, will feature Vaughan’s music with special guest vocalists including Melissa Walker.

MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL welcomes all who want to celebrate America's rich history of jazz, youth development and community building. New this year, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS is introducing a membership program with year-round benefits and festival perks. For more information on how to get involved as a volunteer, sponsor, vendor and business or individual supporter, visit the website and download the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL App in the Google or Apple store.

MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL DATES:

• June 21st: Mihahi (Wellmont Arts Plaza Outdoor Concert Series)
• June 27th: Eric Alexander (Soundcheck Series @ JAZZ HOUSE)
• July 11th: Dopapod with JAZZ HOUSE opener, Cabo Brothers (Wellmont Arts Plaza Outdoor Concert Series)
• July 25th: Wallace Roney Jr. (Soundcheck Series @ Wellmont Theater Arts Plaza)
• July 27th: Montclair Jamfest (Wellmont Arts Plaza Outdoor Concert Series)
• August 8th: The Ries Brothers with JAZZ HOUSE opener, Alex Parchment (Wellmont Arts Plaza Outdoor Concert Series)
• August 17th: MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Uptown Showcase at Montclair State University
• August 22nd: Vanessa Perea and the Robert Edwards Big Band (Soundcheck Series @ Wellmont Theater Arts Plaza)
• Grand Finale week - community performances to be announced
• September 14th: MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Grand Finale - Downtown Jamboree + Block Party featuring DJ Brother Mister and DJ Prince Hakim (Bloomfield Avenue, Downtown Montclair)
• September 18th: Spafford with JAZZ HOUSE opener Caelan Bryant (Wellmont Arts Plaza Outdoor Concert Series)

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