More Than 32,000 Attend 17th Annual Montclair Jazz Festival

Photo Credit: Neil Grabowsky

This past Saturday, August 15, downtown Montclair was transformed into a vibrant soundscape as JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, the nationally acclaimed nonprofit, presented the 17th Annual MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Downtown Jamboree + Block Party. An estimated 32,000 music lovers filled the festival grounds at Lackawanna Station, marking the largest crowd in festival history. The day featured more than eight exhilarating hours of world-class jazz across two dynamic stages, a parading second line band, 150+ artisan vendors, and a late DJ Block Party presented by United Airlines.

The Downtown Jamboree + Block Party served as the capstone of a special collaboration between the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as part of “Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals,” a national initiative bringing together a select group of festivals to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. For this collaboration, the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL presented a summer-long journey, “JAZZ: The Sound of Freedom.” Programming curated by MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL Artistic Director Christian McBride spotlighted artists representing American jazz cities whose music has helped shape the nation’s culture and tell its story. The day celebrated legacy, community, and the enduring power of live music.

The Gotham Kings kicked off the day with their second line band down Bloomfield Avenue to the Main Stage, which was hosted by WBGO’s Angélika Beener. The star-studded Main Stage lineup featured stellar performances by Dianne Reeves, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and Take Me to the River New Orleans All-Stars featuring Cyril Neville. The evening continued with two electrifying back-to-back sets by Patrice Rushen and the Christian McBride Big Band featuring Bilal, before DJ Prince Hakim closed out the festival with the annual dance party.

The JAZZ HOUSE Stage brought the organization’s full mission to life, tracing the living lineage of jazz from students to alumni, faculty, and today’s leading artists. More than 150 young musicians from the JAZZ HOUSE Summer Workshop took the stage alongside rising alumni in the JAZZ HOUSE All Stars. The JAZZ HOUSE Collective, the organization’s premier ensemble of faculty artists and educators, presented an exhilarating centennial tribute to Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Vibraphonist Joel Ross and Good Vibes closed the stage with a stunning set featuring JAZZ HOUSE recent graduate and rising star Ben Sherman on tenor saxophone—an inspiring example of the next generation stepping forward.

"Yesterday, I got a chance to hang out with this whole beautiful organization,” said Dianne Reeves from the main stage. "I met some kids. They played so beautifully, and then they picked up their instruments and played it again. This is a new generation of wonderful singers, instrumentalists, musicians…And the festival started because they wanted to have a place for the kids to play. And now look at us here today. It just keeps growing and growing and growing and growing and feeding and showing. Humanity is everything we need to hold on to."

In a very special moment during the event, Patrice Rushen was presented onstage with the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in jazz. Several recipients of the Jazz Masters honor appeared, including jazz legends Billy Hart (2022), Terri Lyne Carrington (2021), Regina Carter (2023), and Dianne Reeves (2018), who joined Rushen onstage for the award ceremony. The award was presented by Xavier Boudreaux of the National Endowment for the Arts, who welcomed Rushen to the Jazz Masters family.

WATCH: Patrice Rushen’s NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship presentation on the JAZZ HOUSE KiDS YouTube Channel

Also in attendance this year were numerous elected officials including U.S. Representative Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), New Jersey Lt. Governor Dr. Dale Caldwell, New Jersey State Senator John McKeon, and Montclair Mayor Dr. Renee Baskerville.

“Each year for about the last 17 years here in Montclair... we stop focusing on our differences... And we focus instead on the rhythm that unites us all, and that rhythm is jazz.” Dr. Renee Baskerville said from the stage. “Born from a struggle and shaped by hope, jazz tells a story of resilience, perseverance, freedom, and possibility. And that's who we are in Montclair.”

As part of the Smithsonian’s “Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals,” the Smithsonian Folklife Festival joined the 2026 MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL with “We Hold These Truths,” a mobile oral-history project created to capture Americans’ connections to place, culture, community, and history during the nation’s 250th anniversary year. Throughout the day, festival attendees were invited to share short reflections about what makes their community meaningful, with the recordings becoming part of the Smithsonian’s Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. The activation highlighted the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL as a place where music, culture, and community come together across generations.

“I would be remiss if I did not say a very, very special thank you to Melissa Walker and to Christian McBride,” said Dr. Monique Chism, Under Secretary for Education at The Smithsonian Institution. "The legacy that they are building is profound and miraculous. And I am really, really happy to be in partnership and collaboration with them. And we're really impressed by what JAZZ HOUSE KiDS is doing. So thank you for the opportunity to be here, and greetings from your Smithsonian.”

JAZZ HOUSE KiDS extends its sincere thanks to the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Arts, United Airlines, Allied Beverage Group, the Gia Maione Prima Foundation, WBGO and Xfinity, along with all of our generous sponsors and partners, whose support made the 2026 MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL possible and helps keep this free celebration of jazz accessible to all.

From its humble beginnings in 2010 as a student summer concert in Nishuane Park with a few hundred family, friends, and neighbors in attendance, the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL has grown to become the largest free jazz festival in the region, drawing tens of thousands of attendees each year. The annual festival welcomes world class jazz musicians to Downtown Montclair, New Jersey. Past headliners have included the late NEA Jazz Master Eddie Palmieri, along with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kenny Garrett, Lisa Fischer, and John Scofield, as well as JAZZ HOUSE alums Emmet Cohen, Isaiah J. Thompson, Matthew Whitaker, and Immanuel Wilkins—celebrated artists in their own right.