As Washingtonians celebrate Labor Day weekend and the nation continues to recognize its semiquincentennial, the 22nd annual DC JazzFest (DCJF) is coming to audiences Sept. 2-6 with performances across the District that highlight local and global artists while showcasing the value, diversity and evolution of a musical genre born in the U.S.A.
“This jazz festival is unique in that we’re celebrating the future of jazz, part of America’s 250. We know that jazz is America’s original art form and that it’s right out of New Orleans [and] many Black people have made this festival what it is today,” Sunny Sumter, president and CEO of DC Jazz Festival, told The Informer on the publication’s digital show “Let’s Talk.” “This music is so powerful and we’re delighted every summer to bring it, and close out the summer right here in D.C.”
This year’s festivities will feature a wide variety of powerhouse artists, including NEA Jazz Masters, Grammy winners, competition winners, rising stars, international talent, the DMV’s finest, and celebrated virtuosos on indoor and outdoor stages — from The Wharf to Anthem Row, Palisades and Columbia Heights.
The lineup has music for everyone, with the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater Quarter “We Exist,” Joshua Redman Quartet, Kurt Elling & Yellowjackets Celebrate Weather Report, KES, Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles, Etienne Charles & Creole Soul, and Chuck Brown Band, among dozens of others.
“DC JazzFest continues to serve as a cornerstone of Washington, D.C.’s cultural landscape, and we are proud to support its vision,” said Angie M. Gates, president and CEO of Events DC, a major sponsor for the festival. “For over 20 years, DC JazzFest has showcased world-class programming for residents and visitors, while reinforcing Washington, D.C.’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.”
Five Days of Festival Fun: ‘We Want Everybody to … Appreciate This Great Music’
The festival kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 2 in downtown D.C. at Hamilton Live Opening Night, featuring JazzDC All-Stars Orchestra directed by saxophonist Paul Carr, with Grammy-nominated vocalist Christie Dashiell, and Jason Marsalis, a drummer, vibraphonist, NEA Jazz Master, drummer and the youngest member of the first family of jazz.
The second day of the fest, attendees can enjoy the free DowntownDC at Anthem Row event from 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m, featuring the genre-bending artist Butcher Brown, D.C.’s own saxophonist Marshall Keys & Soulful Path, plus bassist and Duke Ellington School of the Arts graduate Corcoran Holt’s band.
“Activating spaces like Anthem Row is central to our mission: creating vibrant, accessible destinations where arts and culture can thrive and bring our community together,” said Gerren Price, DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) president and CEO. “We look forward to experiencing the incredible, silky sounds of live jazz that will fill downtown D.C. with energy, creativity, and the unmistakable spirit of the festival.”
On Thursday, DCJF will have performances across Northwest D.C., with Great American Songbook inheritor Dan Murray in performance at the Kreeger Museum in Palisades and Joe Brotherton’s band at St. Vincent Wine in Columbia Heights.
The soul of the Hammond B-3 will take center stage on Friday, Sept. 4, for the DCJF’s second annual Organ Summit, featuring Charles Covington, special guest Mike LeDonne, with Lennie Robinson on drums and Dave Manley on guitar at Westminster Church in Southwest D.C. Later in the day, DCJF attendees can take to Capitol Hill for vocalist Heidi Martin’s Ensemble at the historic Mr. Henry’s, a celebrated staple in the District jazz scene.
The 2026 festival will wrap with a two-day grand finale, including DC JazzFest at The Wharf — with performances along the Potomac Riverfront, Arena Stage, Union Stage, and Pearl Street Warehouse — as well as the DCJazzPrix and the Next Jazz Legacy show.
Headliners for The Wharf programming include Bridgewater’s Quarter, Elling honoring the legacy of Weather Report with the Yellowjackets; Redman, a celebrated tenor-sax player, guitarist Bill Frisell, the Danilo Perez Trio’s “PanaMonk” project, Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles, the Orrin Evans Trio featuring vocalist Ms. Lisa Fischer; drummer-bandleader Nate Smith; pianist-composer Michele Rosewoman’s “Quintessence” project, NEA Jazz Master and saxophonist Big Chief Donald Harrison and D.C.’s own Chuck Brown Band. In addition, Caribbean vibes will fill The Wharf, courtesy of the Soca sounds by KES, as well as Etienne Charles & Creole Soul.
Plus, DC JazzFest 2026 Artists-in-Residence will also take the stage, with pianist-bandleader Emmet Cohen’s “Miles and Trane at 100,” and DMV pianist-composer Janelle Gill welcoming NEA Jazz Master pianist, organist and vocalist Amina Claudine Myers to her bandstand. Furthering the centennial celebration of jazz greats, DCJF will also include African Rhythms Alumni Quintet celebrating Randy Weston at 100, and rising tenor saxophonist Isaiah Collier’s “Collier Plays Coltrane.”
In addition, the Meet the Artist series at Arena Stage will allow audiences to go deeper into the music beyond the performances, featuring interviews, panel discussions, and topical dialogues.
“We try to make it accessible so there’s no barriers to entry because we want everybody to come out and appreciate this great music,” Sumter told The Informer.
Uplifting the Next Generation, DMV Artists, International Talent
For Sumter, the festival is not solely about entertainment. The annual programming is about elevating the next generation of jazz voices and furthering the genre.
“The good news is that our young people are coming up in this music and they are continuing it. The interesting thing is when you do that, they bring their current language to it,” she explained. “So we have jazz mixed with hiphop and R&B and gospel and some of that’s going to so much of that will be present during Jazzfest uh Sept. 2- Sept. 6.”
Emerging talents take the stage every year through performances and the annual DCJazzPrix, held on Sept. 5 and featuring Amina Scott Quintet, South Africa’s Bokani Dyer Trio, the James Fernando Trio, and Luther Allison’s Poiesis. Plus celebrated young jazz stars are set to perform such as: trumpeter Brandon Woody’s Upendo, bassist Ben Williams, a graduate of the District’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts; violinist Chelsey Green joining the JazzDC All-Stars, the ASCAP Next Legacy band, Jose Luiz Martins (2025 DCJazzPrix winner), Jose Andre. In addition, saxophonist Hannah Marks will lead bands as will Howard University’s Afro Blue alums Ekep Nkwelle and Shacara Rogers.
Then there’s also the Next Jazz Legacy show, also on Friday, which not only features rising stars, but highlights musical girl power. All the artists are women, including: saxophonist Alden Hellmuth, trumpet player Allison Phillips on trumpet, bassist Destiny “Le Queen” Diggs; drummer Lilly Finnegan, drums; Devon Gates on bass and vocals; and pianist-composer Sequoia “Redwood” Snyder.
Snyder, a native Washingtonian and graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, has led her own jazz band for several years, but says the mentoring through New Jazz Legacy has been valuable.
“We are each awarded a grant that helps out with expenses. Our time with the mentors includes preparation and strategy,” said Snyder. “We also perform with the mentors in the program and get to be under their wings for five gigs.”
The local pianist and composer has two mentors: bassist Aneesa Strings and saxophonist Braxton Cook, both based in Los Angeles.
“What we are doing is very comprehensive,” Snyder told The Informer. “Support from women artists who are at this stage of their careers is a huge blessing.”
In addition to highlighting and fostering young talent, DMV artistry remains at the heart of DC JazzFest at The Wharf, featuring: drummer Nasar Abadey and Supernova; trumpet ace Kenny Rittenhouse; pianist Alfred Yun; saxman Charles Rahmat Woods; bassist Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio; the Afro-Cuban sounds of Son Cubano Subterraneo, Felix Contreras and Grupo Tempranillo; Fran Vielma & Venezuelan Jazz Collective; pianist Allyn Johnson, known as The Dean of DC jazz, is coming with his trio; and trumpeter-author Muneer Nasser, among many artists representing the region.
Further, while the annual festival is hosted in the nation’s capital, DCJF works to showcase jazz as a truly global language through a partnership with the European Union in the United States that includes: Lithuanian pianist Domas Zeromska, Czech guitarist Vilem Spilka, flutist Elsa Nilsson Band of Pulses from Sweden, saxophonist Ricardo Toscano from Portugal, and The Empress, by Korean saxophonist Pureum Jin.
“I do believe that jazz is not dead. It’s actually thriving and it’s thriving in every major city in this country and also globally,” said Sumter. “The way that jazz has just taken form in countries around the world, we’re going to be demonstrating that, where we have seven members of the JazzFest roster this year coming from other places around the world. So I think jazz is a global brand now.”
After more than two decades, DCJazz Festival, founded by Charlie Fishman, continues to expand its reach throughout the District and beyond.
“Charlie Fishman used to manage Dizzy Gillespie, and his wife Stephanie Peters, they started it on a paper napkin at Cashion’s in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in D.C.,” Sumter, who has been involved with the festival for 18 years, said. “And here we are, you know, 22 years later.”
As jazz continues to evolve with the times, the festival president and CEO said the heart and soul of the genre remains the same.
“I think some of our young people, if they could, they would just get rid of this name of ‘jazz’… because for them it’s just music. They’re just contributing. We know what jazz is and that’s the improvisational part. That’s what makes jazz so celebratory and so live. That’s why it’s important to catch it live,” she explained. “But I do think that what we’re probably going to see in the next 10 years is jazz morphing into these other beautiful art forms. Or maybe 10 years from now, there won’t even be any genres. We’ll just all call it music.”
No matter how things change, Sumter said DCJF will continue its mission of uplifting the music and musicians.
“We’re happy to be an advocate for this great music we call jazz. And to make sure that the young people that are really celebrating it, that we’re giving them a platform to do so,” she told The Informer. “And that’s what the JazzFest is all about.”
For more information on DCJF tickets and the full festival lineup, go to dcjazzfest.org
Washington Informer contributing writer Brenda Siler contributed to this story.
