The 15th annual Winter Jazzfest will take place Jan. 4-12, 2019 in New York City, according to an announcement yesterday by the organizers. In a statement, they wrote, “The response to our 2018 festival was extraordinary, and in our landmark 15th year we will stay the course, offering standalone concerts, a showcase to coincide with the annual APAP conference, and other events leading up to our epic two-night marathon—Friday, January 11 and Saturday, January 12.”
In the announcement, the Jazzfest organizers also stated, “We will also again feature an inspiring artist-in-residence: this time the great singer-songwriter, bassist, producer and genre-defying musical visionary Meshell Ndegeocello, who will appear as a leader and collaborator in various projects to be announced. Ndegeocello will also participate in at least one of our Winter Jazzfest Talks, a free afternoon series of panel discussions we launched in 2017 and look forward to continuing in 2019.”
Winter Jazzfest will “join festivals across the globe in striving for gender parity on our festival stages,” the announcement further said. “We are proud to be part of PRS Foundation’s international Keychange program, through which we’ve pledged to achieve a gender balance on our stages. We’ll be hosting a Keychange panel discussion and event as part of our conference sessions.”
Winter Jazzfest, which has “adopted a broad focus on jazz and social justice,” according to the announcement, is “putting out a call to musicians to propose projects related to social justice, furthering the great legacy of activism and consciousness-raising that has been integral to jazz for decades.”
Additionally, the press release said, “We are pleased to be partnering again for a second year with PRS Foundation and BBC Music Introducing to host a British jazz stage for emerging artists from the U.K. Once again we are thrilled to welcome BBC 6 DJ, label founder and tastemaker Gilles Peterson as master of ceremonies for that evening.”
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