First-ever Washington Jazz Festival coming up Sunday
The Washington Jazz Society has mostly been dormant since the onset of COVID-19 last year, but it will be roaring back to life Sunday with its first-ever jazz festival.
It starts at 6:30 p.m., and will be at Nineteen North, at 19 N. Main St., in downtown Washington. Marbin, a four-piece ensemble from Chicago that fuses together jazz and rock, will be headlining. Also on the bill will be the Dan Baker Group, the outfit led by the Washington guitarist, and the Pittsburgh-based Calvin Stemley Duo.
It’s officially called the First Annual Washington Jazz Fest, though Baker notes the pitfalls of putting in the “annual” designation because, as he points out, “You’re not really supposed to call it ‘annual’ until you have a second one.”
If the festival does take root, it will be one of a handful in the region, along with the Monroeville Jazz Festival, which is set for Sept. 4 in Monroeville Community Park and will feature a mix of regional artists; and the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, scheduled for Sept. 17-19 at the Benedum Center and Highmark Stadium on Pittsburgh’s South Side, and includes Chaka Khan, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis and more.
The jazz society is hoping its festival will, indeed, become an annual event.
“Hopefully this is a test run,” Baker said.
For information or tickets, visit washingtonjazzsociety.com.