New York's Winter Jazzfest, in its twelfth year, kicks off January 13. In its biggest year to date, Jazzfest features 120 groups and 600-plus musicians in a five day musical event stomping around Greenwich Village. Evolving from a mere one-night only gala, NYC's Winter Jazzfest is a staple in the Western music scene and features Kamasi Washington, Dave King and more.
From Jan. 13-17, listeners can experiences some of the best names in jazz including the Sun Ra Arkestra, the Vijay Iyer Trio, Roy Hargrove and more. Premiering yet another year, the festival should help pull you out of the winter blues and help bring in a warm concert series dedicated to the finest in the genre.
Speaking about his picks and the festival's approach to avant-garde performers, the gala's producer Brice Rosenbloom told amNew York:
"I see a lot of jazz festivals that really try to define or take a somewhat more narrow approach of what jazz should be, or some that are a little too broad where jazz is used as a marketing tool to attract folks to other genres. For me, I like the one drop approach, where if a performer or composer is creating music that is influenced with one drop of jazz, and I can hear that and understand what they're doing in the music and how it is relevant to jazz, it's something I'd consider including."
Taking over downtown, the lineup of artists also includes Kamasi Washington, who performed on the Kendrick Lamar album To Pimp a Butterfly, dueling violin sisters Chargeaux, Ray Angry, Camila Meza, Makaya McCraven, Shai Maestro and many more.
The artist in residence for the gala will be Dave King.
If you want to get more information about who is performing, be sure to check out NPR's top-five contenders and what they bring to the table.
Reserve your tickets now and preview the festival with a clip below.
