Join us for the first annual Charlottesville Jazz Festival!
What’s Happening?
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, JazzFest2026 will offer audiences a chance to enjoy nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and many of Charlottesville‘s finest musicians over four days of club, concert, and featured performances.
Multiple stages in the Downtown Mall area will host special events with outstanding artists and the festival will feature a two-night/multi-venue Club Circuit with no cover charges.
The Charlottesville Jazz Festival’s mission is to bring people together through the spirit of jazz—celebrating its culture and qualities of innovation, improvisation, and collaboration.
JazzFest 2026 will foster those qualities for the benefits they offer both the art form and the community.
To view the current schedule, click here.
Learn more! Click on these topics for details…
Charlottesville native – and international sensation – vocalist, Veronica Swift, headlines the festival Saturday evening, June 6th!
Swift has established herself as one of her generation’s iconic voices in jazz.
She recorded her first album at age nine, and since then has enjoyed a career spanning two decades which saw a 2nd place win at The 2015 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, a twice-a-year residency at Birdland Jazz Club, joining [trumpeter] Chris Botti’s touring band, as well as touring with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Benny Green trio. She has appeared with Michael Feinstein, recorded with Jeff Goldblum, and traveled the globe as she leans into the leading edge of jazz and other genres that capture her energy, ingenuity, and creative essence.
Her 2021 album This Bitter Earth received a 5-star review – and the cover – of DownBeat magazine. In 2024, she was honored with a French knighthood as Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Swift was raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, as part of a family of renowned jazz artists. Her parents are singer Stephanie Nakasian, and the late jazz pianist Hod O’Brien.
Now making her home on the west coast, she is expected to feature selections from her soon-to-be-released 2026 album, titled “Home.” With songs like “I Miss the Mountains,” “Home” from “The Wiz,” and “I’m Comin’ Virginia,” Swift explores longing to return to her beloved Appalachia, her place in the country that is her home, and the complex challenges of this time as we question our roots.
“…never heard someone scat with so much vocabulary and authenticity in bebop… highest echelon of jazz vocalists”
—Trumpeter Chris Botti (recording artist, four times No. 1 on Billboard jazz albums chart)
“Veronica Swift is a woman of many voices, and she uses every one of them to refract a dizzying kaleidoscope of moods” — DownBeat
An All-Star collective of many of the region’s finest jazz artists, led by trumpeter John D’earth, opens for Swift that evening.
Young Lions of Jazz Matinee
Saturday also features a “Young Lions” Matinee at The Paramount, with a host of family friendly and fascinating activities.
Area educators will present both a multi-high school and a middle school jazz band in concert. You won’t want to miss a special performance with elementary school musicians – or a chance to hear outstanding students from the UVA jazz music program as well.
- During the spring semester, public school band directors will select and rehearse a multi-high school orchestra for the festival’s Young Lions Matinee at The Paramount, Saturday June 6.
- The Paramount event will also include trumpeter John D’earth leading a cadre of his 5th and 6th grade students from Walker Upper Elementary School, as well as a performance by the Lakeside Middle School band.
- A performance by UVA students led by faculty member Mike Rosensky is also planned for the Matinee.
- One highlight of the event is a special presentation by saxophonist and UVA professor Jeff Decker. Decker will discuss how, although it was initially used to suppress or distort blackness, the packaging required by the introduction of larger, long-playing record “albums” eventually provided an opportunity for African American artists to carve a space for the presentation of agency and identity previously denied them.
To help mark the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Navy Band Commodores jazz ensemble kicks off a FREE festival big band evening June 5, as part of Ting Pavilion’s “Fridays After Five” series. The concert also features saxophonist Charles Owens with R4nd4zzo (Randazzo) Big Band, including many of Richmond’s finest jazz artists.
“We are both thrilled and honored that The ‘Commodores’ chose a performance at the inaugural JazzFest in Charlottesville amidst extraordinary demand for appearances during America 250 celebrations nationwide.” — Steven Brecker, JazzFest organizing committee
“R4ND4ZZO BIG B4ND is not your typical jazz ensemble. This Richmond-based group brings a raw, high-octane energy to the big band tradition, mixing sharp arrangements with deep grooves and spontaneous improvisation. Rooted in jazz but unafraid to stretch into funk, soul, and experimental sounds, R4ND4ZZO BIG B4ND delivers a live experience that’s tight, bold, and full of surprises. Whether you’re a jazz head or just looking for something fresh and powerful, this band shows up swinging.” – With thanks to Ting Pavilion.
On Thursday, watch for Veronica Swift‘s mother, sensational vocalist Stephanie Nakasian.
Stephanie Nakasian is an exciting, well-seasoned vocalist and master of innovative jazz improvisation, completely authentic with a fresh and vibrant sound all her own. Bringing high energy to every performance, Stephanie enthralls listeners with her pure tones and a flawless delivery, engaging them on a personal level with a love for the music that is playful, electric and spontaneous in story and song.
Nakasian will perform with bassist Karl Kimmel. They will be joined by Australian born Jazz pianist Matt Baker.
Baker leads a powerful trio in New York City, which he has called home since 2010. He performs regularly as a sideman at jazz venues including Birdland, The Blue Note and Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel, tours both within the USA and internationally as a bandleader and sideman and has released 6 albums, his latest a DVD album “Live at Birdland.”
Don’t miss Stephanie’s guest performance with her daughter, Veronica Swift, on June 6th at The Paramount Theater (Theparamount.net).
On Friday, hear from the Robert Jospe Trio featuring pianist Daniel Clarke, bassist Paul Langosch, and “Jos” on drums.
Born in Manhattan, Robert Jospé was inspired by his Belgian parents love of music and began playing the drums at fourteen. He had his first professional performance in France at the age of sixteen. While attending the Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts, Jospé enrolled in the Berklee College of Music summer session and began formal training on drums. Upon graduating from the Cambridge School, Jospé moved to New York City to attend New York University. Over the next twelve years he became an active player in the New York jazz and rock scene as well as co-leader of the fusion band Cosmology. He studied with Tony Williams and Bob Moses. Jospé has performed with Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, John Schofield, John Abercrombie, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Cyrus Chestnut, Emily Remler, Stanley Jordan, and Joe Henderson.
Jospé is joined by pianist Daniel Clarke and bassist Paul Langosch. Daniel Clarke is a multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/producer/teacher born and raised in Richmond, VA. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Jazz Studies program, Daniel has gone on to perform and record all over the world. Langosch played with Tony Bennett for a cumulative 20 years — from 1985 to 1993, and then again from 1996 to 2008.
On Saturday, hear from guitarist Charlie Ballantine and his trio, a favorite of Charlottesville audiences.
Named as one of the top 200 living guitarists by All About Jazz Magazine and a Rising Star in the Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, Charlie Ballantine is acclaimed as one of the finest and most versatile young guitarists on the scene today. JAZZ TIMES MAGAZINE hails his playing as “teeming with intricate grooves and maniacal precision his guitar work is both beautiful and complex” and VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE described his style by stating “Jazz, rock, and folk music peacefully coexist in Charlie Ballantine’s world.”
Tickets for events at The Front Porch can be found here.
The festival welcomes key JazzFest founder, guitarist Royce Campbell –internationally acclaimed for his work with Henry Mancini, Marvin Gaye, and Quincy Jones – at a Sunday “Founder’s Brunch” at Vault Virginia. Brunch selections will be available at the adjacent Bradbury Cafe.
Sunday afternoon, a special CD Release concert at The Guild at Vault Virginia features jazz singer, storyteller and comedian Ali Webb exploring the magic and music of the human spirit with her fine ensemble.
June 4 and 5, many of Charlottesville’s most celebrated artists and bands will be featured each night in JazzFest’s Club Circuit of popular downtown restaurants and bars – no cover charge!
Miller’s
- Adi Meyerson Band
- John D’earth
- Thomas Kehoe Quartet
- Will Evans & Angelica X
Rapture
- Jeff Massanari
- Jim Howe
- The Hard Modes with Greg Weaver
Whiskey Jar (Outdoors)
- Ivan Orr
- Vibe Riot
Click here for full schedule!
Closing Jam Session
JazzFest 2026 will close with a celebratory jam session at Miller’s Downtown, Sunday evening.
Downtown Mall Events
Working with Friends of Charlottesville Downtown, as part of its 50th Anniversary celebration of the Downtown Mall, JazzFest supports the galleries, bookstores, other retailers, theaters, restaurants, and diversity of fine local businesses that bring the Mall to life.
Watch for special offerings! JazzFest welcomes art exhibits, book and record events, dance events, films, special menus, window displays, or other jazz-inspired activities.
More details coming soon!
JazzFest 2026 Press Materials: Link
We will be delighted to work with you on these opportunities – or to create a package of customized benefits that best serve your needs. Please contact Gary Funston, Charlottesville Jazz Society and WTJU: M: 434-249-6191; Josh Peltz, Cville Jazz Productions: M: 434-249-4072; jazzfest@cvillejazz.org.
As a new, non-profit venture, JazzFest2026 asks: Love jazz? Help fuel the fire with your donation! Please scroll to “General Donations” and add JazzFest on your donation form.
“First and foremost, this is a celebration of the immense pool of jazz talent that we are fortunate to foster here – and that people come from far and wide to enjoy. In fact, we’re reaching out to people from our immediate neighbors and area rural communities to audiences throughout the mid-Atlantic region.”
—Charlottesville Jazz Society President, Gary Funston
We Thank our Sponsors and Patrons
JazzFest 2026 is grateful for the generous support received from the Dave Matthews Band/Bama Works grant program through the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, from the City of Charlottesville “Vibrant Community Fund,” from The Caplin Foundation, from John and Kate Byrne, Annette Osso and David Michelson, Consignment House Gallery, Charlottesville GUIDE, The Nook, The Men’s & Boy’s Shop, and from loyal supporters of the Charlottesville Jazz Society.
