The Montclair Jazz Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with Christian McBride, Joey DeFrancesco, Eddie Palmieri, and more.
Launched as a summer workshop for Jazz House Kids, one of the country’s most successful jazz education programs, the festival now includes nine big bands and a host of performers. It still features performances from Jazz House Kids students, and more than 125 of them will play during the two-week long festival in Montclair, N.J. See a schedule below.
The festival starts Friday, July 26, with artistic director Christian McBride spinning as DJ Brother Mister at the 3rd Annual DJ Brother Mister Old School Funk + Soul Dance Party. McBride’s wife, Melissa Walker, founded Jazz House Kids in 2002 with just eight students. Since then it has served more than 50,000 young musicians.
New this year, the festival will take over the Montclair Center Stage on Saturday, August 3 for Jazz on Church Street. The event will include five hours of live music with performances by the Candice Reyes Quintet featuring Nathan Eklund, the Oscar Perez Quartet, and the Jazz House Kids Alumni All-Stars. More live music can be heard at the DLV Lounge backyard patio on Sunday afternoons with the Jazz House Adult Community Band (July 28 and August 4). The festival’s community partner Montclair Film will feature a four-part curated jazz film series at its screening room on Bloomfield Avenue on July 28 and August 2, 4, and 9.
The festival ends on August 10 in Nishuane Park with headliners that include Bettye LaVette, Joey DeFrancesco, Mark Whitfield, McBride, Palmieri, Mike Lee, Jazz House Collective, and performances by the Jazz House Kids.
Buy tickets online at www.montclairjazzfestival.org.
Montclair Jazz Festival schedule
Friday, July 26: Old School Funk + Soul Dance Party
DJ Brother Mister
8 p.m. – 12 a.m.
18 Label Studios, 107 Forest St., Montclair, NJ
$30 in advance, $35 at the door
Sunday, July 28: DLV Lounge Backyard Concert
JAZZ HOUSE Adult Community Big Band
3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
300 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
Suggested donation $10
Sunday, July 28: Jazz Film Series
Presented by Montclair Film
7:30 p.m. (Friends of the Festival reception at 6 p.m., live jazz by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS musicians at 7 p.m.)
505 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
Elevator to the Gallows (1958, dir. Louis Malle, music by Miles Davis)
Tickets: montclairfilm.org
Wednesday, July 31: Montclair Social Club
Piano Stars: Emmet Cohen Trio + Isaiah Thompson Trio
7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
499 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
$25, $30 at the door
Thursday, August 1: Jazz @ Montclair Brewery
Matthew Whitaker’s B3 Organ Party
7:30 p.m.
101 Walnut St., Montclair
$15 cover, 2-drink minimum
Friday, August 2: Jazz Film Series
Presented by Montclair Film
7:30 p.m. (live music by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS musicians at 7 p.m.)
505 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
Anatomy of a Murder (1959, dir. Otto Preminger, music by Duke Ellington)
Tickets: montclairfilm.org
Saturday, August 3: Jazz on Church Street
A Night of Jazz: JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Alumni All-Stars, Candice Reyes Quintet (feat. Nathan Eklund), and the Oscar Perez Quintet
5:45 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Church Street, Montclair
Free
Sunday, August 4: DLV Lounge Blues Jam
Blues Jam House Band
4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
300 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
Suggested donation $10
Sunday, August 4: Jazz Film Series
Presented by Montclair Film
7:30 p.m. (live music by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS musicians at 7 p.m.)
505 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
Alfie (1966, dir. Lewis Gilbert, music by Sonny Rollins)
Tickets: montclairfilm.org
Monday, August 5: Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, New York, NY
JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Summer Workshop student performance
INVITE ONLY
Wednesday, August 7: Montclair Social Club
Big Band Night: The Ed Palermo Big Band
7 p.m.
499 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
$25, $30 at the door
Thursday, August 8: Jazz @ Montclair Brewery
High Notes and Hot Steps: Tap dancer Michela Marino Lerman and saxophonist Julian Lee’s “Gemini”
7:30 p.m.
101 Walnut St., Montclair
$15 cover, 2-drink minimum
Friday, August 9: Jazz Film Series
Presented by Montclair Film
7:30 p.m. (live music by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS musicians at 7 p.m.)
505 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair
Round Midnight (1986, dir. Bertrand Tavernier, music by Herbie Hancock)
Tickets: montclairfilm.org
Saturday, August 10: Jazz @ Nishuane Park
Featuring Bettye LaVette, Joey DeFrancesco, Mark Whitfield, Christian McBride, Eddie Palmieri, an Art Blakey centennial tribute with Mike Lee and a Song for All of Us + the Jazz House Collective, and performances by the Jazz House Kids
Nishuane Park, Cedar Avenue, Montclair
12 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Suggested donation $10
