The 41st Atlanta Jazz Festival, the longest-running and one of the largest free jazz festivals in the U.S., will be held in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia, over Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-27. Vocalist Dianne Reeves and reedist Anat Cohen are among the announced headliners.
The festival, renowned for highlighting new, up-and-coming artists and introducing them to the Atlanta music scene, features three main stages: the Next Gen Stage, the Contemporary Stage and the Legends Stage.
Saturday’s program will feature a special all-female lineup — a historic first for the festival — that will include the Linda May Han Oh Quintet, Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science, Jazzmeia Horn, Tia Fuller, Jane Bunnett, Reeves, Cohen and many others.
Following Saturday night’s lineup in the Park, there will be a Late Night Jazz Jam at Park Tavern at 11 p.m. featuring Russell Gunn and the Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra. Sunday’s lineup will feature Shayna Steele, The Bad Plus and Jon Batiste with the Dap-Kings, among others.
“We are very fortunate to be able to showcase the talents of so many artists year after year at the Atlanta Jazz Festival,” says Camille Russell Love, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs in a press release. “Jazz is a musical genre that can get overlooked, but at this festival, we are able to show younger generations how truly innovative jazz is and how it influences the music of today.”
In addition to giving a platform to musical artists, the Atlanta Jazz Festival spotlights visual artists by hosting an Artist Market, where attendees can find rare and collectible artwork for sale. Purchases support local artists.
For more information, visit http://atlantafestivals.com/