Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
Keeping the Flame at Van Gelder Studio
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Donald Harrison is among the headliners at the Quantum Leap Music Festival, to be held Aug. 14–17 on Long Island.
(Photo: Faena)It’s festival season in the world of jazz, blues and beyond. And as updates come in to DownBeat, we’ll send them out to you. Here’s this week’s batch!
Donald Harrison’s Quantum Leap Music Festival
North Fork, Long Island, New York
Aug. 14–17
The Quantum Leap Music Festival has announced its full lineup with headliners Donald Harrison, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Leo Nocentelli of the Meters, The Preservation Hall Legacy Band, The Headhunters plus Cyril Neville, Zaccai Curtis and more. Go to nola2nofo.com for more info.
Englewood Jazz Festival
Hamilton Park, Chicago
Sept. 18–20
The Englewood Jazz Festival has announced that it will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Festival founder and saxophonist Ernest Dawkins will open the fest with a new work titled Great Black Music–Ancient To The Future. The piece is dedicated to the founders of the AACM. Go to englewoodjazzfestival.org for more info.
44th Annual Savannah Jazz Festival
Savannah, Georgia
Sept. 19–21
The Savannah Jazz Festival offers 15 free events including Spyro Gyra, Kirk Whalum, a celebration of James Moody’s centenniel, Anat Cohen, Jocelyn Gould, Rodney Jordan, Tony Monaco and more. Go to savannahjazz.org for more info.
Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey, California
Sept. 26–28
In addition to a killer lineup that includes Gregory Porter, Christian McBride & Ursa Major, Marcus Shelby, John & Gerald Clayton, Dianne Reeves, Ledisi, Mr. Sipp, Keyon Harrold, Delfeayo Marsalis, Cory Wong and more, the fest has announced a special collaboration whereby SFJAZZ will sponsor acts in the Pacific Jazz Café. Acts include Benny Green, Sullivan Fortner, New Jazz Underground, Tyreek McDole, Brandon Woody, Caity Gyorgy, Christian Sands, Camille Thurman & Darrell Green and more. Go to montereyjazz.org for more info.
Jazz@ThePoint
Somers Point, New Jersey
Oct. 16–18
Hosted by the South Jersey Jazz Society, Jazz@ThePoint will highlight artists from the Garden State under this year’s banner of “Jersey Fresh.” Performers include John Pizzarelli, Howard Paul, Michael Pedicin, Paul Jost and Matt Cappy. Go to southjerseyjazz.org for more info. DB
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
Trio aRT with its avalanche of instrumentation: from left, Pheeroan akLaff, Scott Robinson and Julian Thayer.
Sep 3, 2025 12:03 PM
Trio aRT, a working unit since 1988, shockingly released its very first studio recording this summer. Recorded in…
“Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.
Sep 9, 2025 1:18 PM
Kurt Elling was back at home in Chicago, grabbing some family time in a late-June window between gigs. Sporting a smile…
Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.
Sep 9, 2025 12:19 PM
Big Ears has announced the lineup for its 2026 festival, which will take place March 26–29 and include 250…
Mark Masters, right, with Billy Harper.
Sep 3, 2025 12:00 PM
The Rising Star Category of this publication’s annual Critics Poll was once called Talent Deserving Wider Recognition…
