Here are my pre-festival picks for this years’ edition of the Jazz Fest. I’m particularly pumped about the deep lineup this year.
Friday, June 25th
- Gil Scott-Heron – Fresh off the release of his new record, the spoken word icon touches down!
- Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu – Working the angles of cuban, african and latin jazz
Saturday, June 26th
- Kid Koala, Dj Food & Spank Rock – Triple bill to celebrate the 20 years of the Ninja Tune label
- Lionel Ritchie & Cassandra Wilson – Why not shell out 100$ to hear “All Night Long” live?!!
Sunday, June 27th
- Herbie Hancock – Huge! Do not miss this chance to see of our living legends.
- Sonny Rollins – At the tender age of 80, he’s one of the very few jazz giants we have left
Monday, June 28th
- Roy Hargrove – One of the best and most creative jazz musicians of this generation
- Smokey Robinson – In his first ever Jazz Fest appearance, mr. Motown himself!
- Poirier & Kode9 – Can’t miss this “Bass summit” my good homie Poirier squares off with Kode 9
Wednesday, June 30th
- Jose James – I can’t wait for this one! This should have happened 3 years ago…
- Bobby McFerrin – One of the most original and underrated jazz artists of the 70s-80s.
Thursday, July 1st
- George Benson – Mister Jazz Guitar plays a tribute concert to Nat King Cole
- Wax Tailor and Caravan Palace – Solid double bill from France
Friday, July 2nd
- Laurie Anderson & Lou Reed – Should be a dope night full of genius and weirdness!
- Anti-Pop Consortium – APC cleanses our “hip-pop” filled ears with a dose of that real shit!
Saturday, July 3rd
- Robert Glasper & Bilal – The definition of a can’t miss show!
- Andreya Triana, Bonobo & Mr.Scruff – Three more Ninja Tune amazing acts in one night.
- Rakim – The R will be paying homage to Guru who was originally booked for this show.
Sunday, July 4th
- Allen Toussaint – The New Orleans R&B legend solo!
- Bugge Wesseltoft – One of my favorite “Nu-Jazz” artists in a solo show. Dope!
Monday, July 5th
- George Clinton & Parliament – Perfect close to the party with this absolute giant of 23rd century space funk!
5 Comments
jesus…this is going to be a terrific summer. i didn’t even know jose james was comin’. lord forgive me cause imma go straight to groupie mode. i don’t even care.
Yeahhh! So many good ones, I think this is one of the best lineups in a little while… they need to do a better job of booking up and coming peeps like Jose James, they should have booked him when “The Dreamer” came out… groupie mode for me too believe it!!
wooorrrd? you get down like that? gonne be throwin’ you’re bra on stage and everythang? but for real though i’m pissed about them putting Robert Glasper, Bilal, Andreya Triana, Bonobo, Mr.Scruff AND Rakim all on the same night. now how the f*ck am i supposed to make up my mind? but yeah agreed, best lineup in a while!
the Rakim show is at midnight. so you’re gonna have to choose between Glasper and the Bonobo / Scruff show… tough choices indeeed!… speaking of Glasper, did you check out this project by my good homie DELA? http://www.musicismysanctuary.com/dela-the-robert-glasper-beat-tape/… its dope!
niiiiiiiiiiice 2 gigs in a night, now that’s what i’m talkin’ bout! but i STILL have to choose….damn. shiiiiieeet i was probably the first person to download it as soon as u posted it and stayed on repeat for a couple o’ days. dela’s my homie, we go way back (nah not really but i wish…)