MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Announces 2023 Artists + Events for Opening Concerts
August 12 Block Party Features Endea Owens & the Cookout, DJ Brother Mister + more, leading up to the Downtown Jamboree, Sept. 9
[MONTCLAIR, NJ, August 29, 2023] The award-winning Montclair Jazz Festival returns bigger and better than ever before. Presented by BDP Holdings, LLC and produced by acclaimed nonprofit JAZZ HOUSE KiDS now celebrating its 20th anniversary, it is the largest free jazz festival in the NYC region.
Together with the County of Essex, Montclair Township, Montclair Center BID, and a host of corporate sponsors, local businesses and individual patrons, the 14th annual returns to downtown Montclair, New Jersey, kicking off with two indoor Soundcheck concerts + jam sessions, followed by a series of community events, and two marquee day-long Saturdays brimming with live music on multiple stages – 50 acts, 250 artists, family jazz activities and 200 vendors with an expected 25,000 music fans and thousands more online.
Continuing its tradition of honoring jazz legends, this year the Montclair Jazz Festival will celebrate Dexter Gordon’s centennial by featuring his music with a performance by the JAZZ HOUSE Collective and the work of visual artist Andres Chaparro as the face of the festival.
Transforming the vibrant, arts-rich urban suburb into an inclusive, family-friendly music destination hotspot, Montclair Jazz Fest officially kicks off by showcasing JAZZ HOUSE KiDS’ mission in action at the Block Party on August 12, with 10 hours of live music at Lackawanna Plaza. The festivities begin with 150 Jazz House emerging musicians performing in seven big bands and a vocal choir. The young performers are followed by a set from jazz guitarist Charlie Sigler and his band opening for one of jazz’s most vibrant artists on the scene today, Endea Owens & the Cookout.
After a day of live jazz, fans get on their feet for the return of the hottest, hippest funk & soul party of the summer, DJ Brother Mister, aka Christian McBride, Dance Party.
