The oldest of Chicago’s free lakefront music festivals boasts an incredibly diverse lineup which includes free neighborhood concerts leading up to the main show at Millennium Park and additional programming throughout the city over Labor Day weekend.
Chicago Jazz Festival has been part of the city’s free summer music festival lineup for more than 40 years. The range of artists comprising the Chicago Jazz Festival lineup runs the gamut from jazz legends to influential modern masters and crucial new voices in the genre’s continuing evolution.
Chicago Jazz Festival Lineup:
Thursday Aug 31
Chicago Cultural Center
- The Live the Spirit Residency Young Masters Presented by Live the Spirit
- Asian Improv Francis Wong’s “Legends and Legacies” Presented by Asian Improv
- Fred Jackson’s Erudition Project Presented by The Elastic Arts Foundation
- What is this thing called Jazz? Presented by the Education Committee of the Jazz Institute of Chicago
Preston Bradley Hall
- Zubin Edalji’s Four Windows Presented by The Hyde Park Jazz Society
- Zack Markstet Performing Horace Silvers’ 1966 release “The Jody Grind” Presented by The Fulton Street Collective
- The Natalie Scharf Quartet Presented by Illiana Club
- Bobbi Wilson Presented by The South Side Jazz Coalition
Millennium Park
- Chico Freeman 100
- Ron Carter and Foursight
Friday Sept 01
Millennium Park
- Eric Hochberg String Thing
- Alexis Lombre Quartet
- Anthony Bruno Quartet
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
- Juan Pastor Chinchano
- Walter Smith III Quartet
- Ari Brown Quintet
- Dianne Reeves
Saturday Sept 02
Harris Theater Rooftop – Young Lions Jazz
- Chicago High School for the Arts
- Midwest Young Artists Conservatory
- Lane Tech College Prep High School
- Whitney Young High School
- Kenwood Academy High School
Millennium Park
Von Freeman Pavilion (North Promenade)
- Alvin Cobb Jr.
- Devon Sandridge
- Theodis Rodgers Organ Trio
- Carmen Stokes
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
- Tammy McCann
- Brandee Younger
- Nduduzo Makhathini
- Makaya McCraven
Sunday Sept 03
Harris Theater Rooftop Jazz – Next Gen Jazz
- Saucedo Alumni Latin Jazz Collective
- Urban Horizons
- Charlie Reichert Powell & New River
- Neon Wilderness
- Mxmrys
Millennium Park
Von Freeman Pavilion (North Promenade)
- Herbsaint
- Tim Fitzgerald Wes Montgomery Project
- Christian Dillingham Quartet
- Petra’s Recession Seven
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
- The Pharez Whitted Quintet
- Chicago Soul Jazz Collective w/ Dee Alexander
- Billy Valentine
- Juan de Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All Stars
FAQs
1) Where is the Chicago Jazz Festival?
The Chicago Jazz Festival is held at lakefront Millennium Park. There will also be performances that take place at the Chicago Cultural Center and the Harris Theatre Rooftop.
2) Is Chicago Jazz Festival free?
The Chicago Jazz Festival is free and open to the public. All performances at Millennium Park are free to attend throughout the weekend along with and additional programming across the city over Labor Day weekend.
3) What is Chicago-style jazz?
During the Great Migration African Americans flocked to Chicago from the South bringing age-old jazz and blues traditions with them. The genre became popular in small clubs on the city’s south side — soon Chicago was attracting legendary musicians like King Oliver Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong.
Over time the city’s musicians developed their own distinct twist on the genre. Chicago-style jazz is a combo of Mississippi Delta and New Orleans “Dixieland” style but with heavy bass and guitar longer solos and fast tempos.
Event Venue
Millennium Park, Chicago, IL 60602, United States