The 2023 Madison Jazz Festival: 11 Electrifying Days of Jazz June 8-18
Arts + Literature Laboratory and the Wisconsin Union Theater present the 2023 Madison Jazz Festival
11 Electrifying Days of Jazz June 8-18
Start your summer in style with the Madison Jazz Festival.
The 2023 Madison Jazz Festival has been expanded to eleven days of live jazz and special events from Thursday, June 11 through Sunday, June 18, 2023, bringing this important American art form to the forefront of our community. Offerings will be spread out across the city, including small and large music venues, parks, libraries, and other community spaces — with mostly free and low-cost events so that all community members can take part.
Now in its 36th year, this iconic summer music festival is an integral part of Madison’s music scene for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to jazz or a life-long fan, there’s something for everyone at the Madison Jazz Festival.
The Festival will kick off with a series of special concerts by artists exploring a variety of jazz styles from vocal jazz and avant-garde to straight-ahead and Latin jazz. On Thursday, June 8 at 7pm, New York’s renowned saxophonist Dayna Stephens will take the stage at Madison’s Jazz club, Cafe CODA. Friday, June 9, will feature an early trio performance led by Chicago rising star saxophonist Mai Sugimoto at 7pm (free admission), followed by the Michael Hackett Quintet at the North Street Cabaret at 8pm.
, and shades of soul with original and traditional music that is sure to get you out of your seat to dance.
Tuesday, June 13, Madison welcomes the Grammy- and Latin Grammy-nominated duo Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo. The duo will give a free presentation and Q&A at St. Joseph Church (Good Shepherd Parish) at 10:30am. A ticketed evening concert of their project “El Arte Del Bolero” will take place at Arts + Literature Laboratory at 7pm.
Another highlight of the week will be the Madison Music Collective’s DIG JAZZ concert on Wednesday, June 14 from 6 to 8:30pm at Penn Park featuring Madison favorite Rick Flowers and Amalgam X for a free outdoor performance of his popular blend of jazz, soul, pop, and funk. Flowers on keyboards and vocals will be joined by Chris Mosley on guitar, Adam Czerepinski on bass, and Kevin Cranes on drums.
Jazz Artist Rick Flowers will be performing on Wednesday, June 14 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Penn Park
On Thursday, June 15, the Madison Jazz Festival will present trumpeter Jamie Breiwick’s CD release concert for the second volume of "Awake: Volume 2 - the Music of Don Cherry,” at Arts + Literature Laboratory at 7pm (free). The album will be released on June 2 by the Minneapolis label Shifting Paradigm Records. Breiwick will be joined by Devin Drobka on drums, Tim Ipsen on bass, and Lenard Simpson on alto. This will be followed by Chicago’s Marques Carroll Quintet performing at Cafe CODA on Friday, June 16 at 8pm (ticketed). Trumpeter Carroll will perform work from his two recent albums that connect deeply with his ancestors of African lineage and the family and mentors who have been his support network throughout his life.
The culmination of the Jazz Festival will take place June 17-18 at the Memorial Union with a stylistically diverse lineup of free performances on the Memorial Union Terrace, and ticketed headlining concerts at Shannon Hall. On Saturday, June 17, the MJF High School All Stars will start things off at 1pm, followed by vocal/guitar duo Michelle DuVall/Doug Brown at 2:30pm and the Hanah Jon Taylor Artet at 4:30pm. Rising star jazz musician, emcee, singer, producer, and drummer Kassa Overall will take the stage at 6:30pm with his fusion of jazz and hip-hop. We’ll close the night dancing on the Terrace to Latin jazz by Richi y La Combi starting around 9pm.
The Saturday, June 17 headliner will be Lakecia Benjamin. Benjamin was voted 2020 Downbeat Critics Poll Rising Star Alto Saxophonist and Up and Coming Artist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. She’s performed alongside Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, The Roots, Macy Gray, and many more. You’ll have an exclusive opportunity to hear her story during a free talk at 3pm in the Memorial Union Play Circle. At 8pm, Benjamin will blend jazz, hip-hop and soul in a ticketed concert at Shannon Hall. You won’t want to miss this show. Someday you’ll look back and tell people, “I saw Lakecia Benjamin when…”
The final day of the Festival, Sunday, June 18, the Wisconsin Union Theater will present a Celebration of Black American Music on the Terrace from 2:30 to 9:30pm, featuring an array of local artists curated by Rob Dz, including Francis Medrano’s Black Power Dance, Alise Mosely, Sira Sangare, NoNo (Norman Davis), Eli Blakely, Lature Carter, R.R. Moore, Oneofmani, and Marcus Porter.
Closing out the Madison Jazz Festival and celebrating Juneteenth will be 2X Grammy Award winner Ranky Tanky in Shannon Hall with special guest vocalist Lisa Fischer from the Oscar-winning film “20 Feet from Stardom.” The Charleston-SC-based quintet will perform jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music.
The Madison Jazz Festival is organized by the Wisconsin Union Theater and Arts + Literature Laboratory, and is made possible with the support of The Capital Times, John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Dane Arts, Madison Music Collective, Madison Jazz Jam, NewBridge Madison, Audio for the Arts, High Noon Saloon, Gunderson Funeral Home, Graduate Madison, WORT FM, Summit Credit Union, and Madison Gas & Electric, and Carlson Black O'Callaghan & Battenberg LLP, with additional funds from the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, and the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Please visit MadisonJazzFestivalWI.org for full details and tickets.
