MADISON, WI – The Madison Jazz Festival 2025 will celebrate 10 days of jazz across the city from Friday, June 6 through Sunday, June 15, 2025. The Festival is presented by Arts + Literature Laboratory and Wisconsin Union Theater, collaborating with Madison Music Collective, Madison Jazz Society, and venues UW-Madison Memorial Union Terrace, Cafe CODA, North Street Cabaret, High Noon Saloon, MYArts, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Allen Centennial Garden, Olin Park, and Warner Park.

Highlights include a special series honoring the 60th Anniversary of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), a performance by the trailblazing Original Pinettes Brass Band from New Orleans, and weekend Union Terrace headlining sets by saxophonist Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few and pianist Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble.

The festival will kick off Friday, June 6 with bassist Emma Dayhuff, who will celebrate the release of her new album, Inventions through Lineage, at the High Noon Saloon at 8:00pm (ticketed). Featured musicians joining Emma will include Isaiah Collier (tenor saxophone), Dee Alexander (vocals), and JoVia Armstrong (percussion).

The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians 60th Anniversary Series celebrates six decades of being at the forefront of redefining the landscape of music. The AACM is dedicated to creating opportunities for groundbreaking artists, amplifying voices that need to be heard, and nurturing, producing, and elevating original music that challenges the status quo. On Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Cafe CODA the series will present three distinct concerts: Ugochi and African Soul Ensemble at 5:00pm, Edwin Daugherty Fivetet at 7:00pm, and Dushun Mosley's Interdimensional Sound Ensemble at 9:00pm (all ticketed).

Ugochi Nwaogwugwu is an internationally renowned poet, singer, writer, and founder of Spirit Speaks, Inc., whose band African Soul Ensemble has been named "Best African Entertainer" by the Chicago Music Awards multiple times. Edwin Daugherty is a Chicago saxophonist and a long-time member of the AACM, who has performed globally and recorded with artists like Quincy Jones and BB King. Dushun Mosley is a drummer known for his dynamic career and performances rooted in traditional jazz, blues, and funk, while also pushing boundaries.

The Festival also welcomes The Original Pinettes Brass Band, described as the "ONLY female Brass Band in the Universe." Formed in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the band members are all female musicians, many of whom attended St. Mary's Academy High School. They have performed around the world at major venues and festivals, including Preservation Hall, the Essence Music Festival, and the 2025 Super Bowl LIX pre-game show.

The Pinettes will perform at Olin Park on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 7:00pm (free). Prior to their concert, they will participate in a conversation and Q&A session at 5:00pm as part of the Madison Jazz Society's iGnitE jAzz! camp. Bring a picnic or enjoy food from local food trucks during the concert.

Sunday, June 8 will also feature two exciting Latin jazz acts. Charlie Sepúlveda and The Turnaround will perform at Cafe CODA at 2:00pm (ticketed). Charlie Sepúlveda is a world-class trumpeter, composer, bandleader, educator, and Latin Grammy winner. Hailing from Puerto Rico, his blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and dynamic jazz improvisation has earned him international acclaim. He currently serves as musical director for Jazz at Lincoln Center in Puerto Rico. The Emy Castro Peruvian Jazz Quintet will perform from 5:00 to 6:15pm at Allen Centennial Garden as the start of the Summer Sundays Jazz in the Garden series (free). Emy Castro is known for her powerful voice in Peruvian Creole music, aiming to preserve the rich cultural heritage of her people.

Weekday events include the NewBridge Summer Concerts kickoff. Nu Jazz Journey with Kase featuring Rob Dz will perform at Warner Park on Monday, June 9 from 6:00-7:30pm (free). This all-ages interdisciplinary event will include a participatory graffiti painting demonstration. Food will be available for purchase.

Fresh off their Kennedy Center debut, poet Fabu Phillis Carter and pianist Jane Reynolds will share Remember Me: Celebrating Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Music at Arts + Literature Laboratory on Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00pm (free). Carter, who was Madison’s first African American Poet Laureate, and Reynolds, the long-time host of WORT 89.9 FM’s Strictly Jazz Sounds, will bring to life the story of this influential pianist and composer whose work spanned jazz eras and styles.

On Wednesday, June 11 at 7:00pm, the riveting Oscar-nominated documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat will be presented at MMoCA (free). Also on Wednesday, the Sweet Tooth Jazz Band will perform at North Street Cabaret at 7:00pm (ticketed). A bluesy, jazzy jukebox, the band evokes the charm of a late-night jam and the energy of a swinging speakeasy.

DC & The Love will perform at Cafe CODA on Thursday, June 12 at 7:00pm (free). This Chicago-based band is rooted in the city's jazz and blues tradition and is led by legendary bass player and songwriter Dennis Carroll. The band will be joined by NYC-based vocalist Lucy Wijnands, winner of the prestigious Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition.

Exclusively for Our Friends: An Oscar Peterson Centennial Concert will take place at Arts + Literature Laboratory on Friday, June 13 at 7:00pm (free). Presented by Madison Music Collective's DIG JAZZ series, it features pianists Johannes Wallmann, Pamela York, and Dan Cavanagh paying tribute to the jazz legend Oscar Peterson, along with Peter Dominguez (bass), Ben Dameron (guitar), and Dave Bayles (drums). The program will begin with a short film visualizing music by the Oscar Peterson Trio.

The festival culminates with two full days of jazz on the UW-Madison Memorial Union Terrace featuring free concerts throughout the day on Saturday, June 14 from 1:00pm to 10:30pm and Sunday, June 15 from 1:00pm to 8:30pm. The weekends acts include Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet, Mr. Chair featuring Jon Irabagon, La Combi, and the High School Jazz All-Stars on Saturday; and Melanie Charles with Ignabu and Paul Wilson Bae, Devin Drobka Bell Dance Songs, and the Kal Bergendahl Project on Sunday.

Headlining Saturday, June 14 at 7:00pm (free) will be saxophone virtuoso Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few. Hailed by the New York Times as "an heir apparent to both the Chicago lineage and the post-Coltrane sax tradition," Collier fuses spiritual jazz, cosmic improvisation, and social commentary. His critically acclaimed albums include Cosmic Transitions (2021) and The World Is On Fire (2024).

Concluding the free Sunday, June 15 events on the Terrace is six-time GRAMMY-winner Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble at 7:00pm. Arturo O'Farrill is a pianist, composer, and educator known for fusing the rich traditions of Afro Cuban jazz with a bold, contemporary vision. O'Farrill has won multiple GRAMMY awards, including for "Afro-Latin Jazz Suite" (2016), "Three Revolutions" (2018), and the album Four Questions (2021). He was awarded his eighth Grammy in February 2023 for the album Fandango at the Wall in New York.

Major partners providing support for the 2025 Madison Jazz Festival include Arts + Literature Laboratory, Wisconsin Union Theater, The Capital Times, Evjue Foundation, Chamber Music America, and the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, Inc. Support is also provided by Madison Arts Commission, Dane Arts, Madison Music Collective, Madison Jazz Society, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, The Madison Concourse Hotel, Gunderson Funeral and Cremation Care, Hotel Indigo, Audio for the Arts, Wisconsin Public Radio, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, NewBridge Madison, Madison Gas and Electric, High Noon Saloon and Cafe CODA. Additional funding is provided by the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.