Chicago Jazz Festival Opens Thursday With Esperanza Spalding and Kermit Ruffins at Millennium Park
Free admission signals a city focus on access even as South Side festivals navigate recent NEA grant withdrawals.
Overview
- The Chicago Jazz Festival runs August 28–31 across Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center, with stages featuring headliners Esperanza Spalding, Kermit Ruffins, Monty Alexander and the Ari Brown Quintet.
- All main events are free with no pre-registration, and organizers note easy CTA access and on-site concessions with outside alcohol prohibited.
- The Englewood Jazz Festival is scheduled for September 18–20 at Hamilton Park with AACM 60th-anniversary commissions by Renée Baker, Adegoke Steve Colson and Ernest Dawkins.
- Ernest Dawkins will premiere a four-movement work titled “Great Black Music — Ancient To The Future,” performed by a large ensemble of Chicago musicians.
- Hyde Park Jazz Festival returns September 27–28 with an immersive AACM tribute at the Logan Center, a 70th-birthday celebration for percussionist Hamid Drake, and appearances by Jason Moran and Fay Victor, while festivals continue to welcome donations.