The Chicago Jazz Festival makes its annual return this summer with performances from Chicago jazz favorites and nationally renowned performers. A Labor Day tradition in the city, the free festival will run Aug. 28-31 at Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center.
The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events puts on the festival each year alongside the Jazz Institute of Chicago, and this is the festival’s 56th year running.
“Chicago’s jazz legacy runs deep — from Bronzeville basements to global stages,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a press release. “This festival represents our city’s enduring creativity, cultural excellence, and commitment to bringing people together through the universal language of music.”
Here are some highlights:
August 28
Esperanza Spalding: A masterly bassist, the singer-songwriter has won five Grammys, and was the first jazz performer to be named Best New Artist in 2010. spalding was most recently nominated for her 2025 album “Milton + esperanza,” a collaboration with Brazilian artist Milton Nascimento. She’ll close out the opening night.
Henry Johnson: A Chicago-born jazz guitarist who began playing at 12 years old became a South Side icon back in 1969, with a reputation as a must-see local artist. Johnson has worked with many names including Hank Crawford, Freddie Hubbard, Ramsey Lewis and Norman Simmons, and counts George Benson and Wes Montgomery as influences.
August 29
Monty Alexander: A Jamaican-American pianist who regularly tours and performs at jazz festivals, Alexander’s music consists of endless melody-making and a broad range of jazz and Jamaican musical expressions. He is on more than 75 recordings and cited as the fifth greatest jazz pianist ever in Hal Leonard’s “The Fifty Greatest Jazz Piano Players of All Time.”
Patricia Barber: Known for her sultry vocals and captivating songwriting, Barber blurs the line between poetry and jazz. She got her start in the 1980s in Chicago, where she played five nights a week at the Gold Star Sardine Bar. She’s toured the world ever since.
August 30
Gary Bartz & NTU Troop: Saxophonist Bartz dedicates his music to the furtherance of Black Americans’ musical heritage. Bartz formed his group the NTU Troop in 1969, with the word Ntu originating from the Bantu language. Bartz has said Ntu “stands for an alliance of bop, free, rock and African music.” He uses the saxophone and his voice to express the experience of Black Americans in today’s world.
Kermit Ruffins: Ruffins is a New Orleans American jazz trumpeter, singer and composer with influences like Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan. He has over fifteen albums and his music appears in shows and movies, including a rendition of “The Bare Necessities” for Disney’s 2016 remake of “The Jungle Book.”
August 31
Eliades Ochoa: Born in Cuba, Ochoa is considered one of the most renowned Cuban “soneros” of all time. He is part of Cuban music ensemble Buena Vista Social Club. In 2010 he released his Grammy-nominated album “Afrocubism.”
Ari Brown Quintet: From Chicago, Ari Brown is a saxophonist, flutist and pianist. He began his career in the 1960s, performing soul, rock, blues, jazz and R&B throughout the Midwest. He is also an educator, teaching students at Chicago Public Schools, Columbia College Chicago and the Chicago Conservatory of Music.
Other jazz musicians announced include Chicago’s Ernest Dawkins, Sarah Marie Young, Ava Logan, G. Thomas Allen, the Natalie Scharf Quintet featuring Paul Asaro and Silvia Manrique & Marcel Bonfim. More artists will be announced closer to the festival weekend.
For the complete schedule and more information, visit ChicagoJazzFestival.us.