[FEATURED IMAGE: Live photo of Big Freedia — Photo credit: Jenna Houchin] [INSERT FESTIVAL FLYER — Full Size] Category: News Tags: Blue Note Jazz Festival, Big Freedia, Ledisi, Durand Bernarr, Arrested Development, Ozomatli, Swamp Dogg
The Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the full lineup for the 15th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, and the month long celebration spanning multiple venues across the city is shaping up to be one of the strongest editions yet.
The festival runs June 1 through July 1 at the Blue Note Jazz Club, Sony Hall and Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, with an Official Blue Note Jazz Fest Midnight Jam presented by Chris Rob closing out the main run on June 26. Blue Note Director of Programming Alex Kurland described the lineup in a statement as “a playlist of taste, focused on artists that we love. Artists who are your favorite artists’ favorite artists. Stylistically diverse, singular and soulful.”
Ledisi is one of the festival’s most anticipated bookings. A twelve time Grammy nominee and two time winner, she is among the most accomplished live vocalists working in R&B and soul today. Her voice operates on a different register than most, built for rooms where people are actually paying attention, which makes a Blue Note setting feel exactly right. She performs June 18 at the Blue Note Jazz Club.
Durand Bernarr, who shares the June 18 date at the Blue Note, has become one of the most talked about vocalists in contemporary R&B. His range is extraordinary and his command of dynamics gives his live performances an improvisational quality that aligns naturally with the festival’s jazz lineage.
Big Freedia, the New Orleans bounce legend, brings an entirely different energy to Sony Hall on June 24. Freedia has spent years bringing bounce music to audiences far outside its New Orleans origins, and a late June night at Sony Hall with her is about as reliable a guaranteed good time as the summer offers.
The festival opens June 1 at Sony Hall with Arrested Development, the Grammy winning hip hop group behind “Tennessee” and 3 Years 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of…, one of the most culturally significant rap albums of the early 1990s. Their presence as the festival’s first night act sets an intentional tone, connecting the lineage of Black American music across decades and genres.
Ozomatli, the Los Angeles collective that has spent over 25 years blending cumbia, hip hop, salsa, funk and rock into one of the most joyful live acts anywhere, performs June 22 and 23 at the Blue Note. Kokoroko, the London based Afrobeat ensemble, brings a global perspective to the festival. Swamp Dogg, the singular soul and R&B eccentric who has been making records on his own terms since the 1960s, plays Sony Hall on June 17. mxdwn previously covered his collaborative single with Jenny Lewis and the deluxe edition of his acclaimed Blackgrass album.
Take 6, the six time Grammy winning a cappella vocal group, performs June 19 and 21 at the Blue Note. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, New Orleans’ long running brass institution, rounds out the brass and funk contingent. Jose James, whose voice sits at the intersection of jazz and soul, BLK ODYSSY, one of the more exciting young acts in psychedelic soul, and Cymande, the early 1970s British funk band whose records have been sampled by everyone from The Fugees to Jay-Z, also appear across the festival’s run.
On the instrumental side, jazz drummer Brian Blade brings his Fellowship Band for four nights June 11 through 14. Bassist and composer MonoNeon, harpist Brandee Younger, saxophonist Isaiah Collier and drummer Marcus Gilmorerepresent some of the most forward thinking instrumentalists in jazz today. Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, formerly known as Christian Scott, holds down four nights June 4 through 7. House music legend Louie Vega closes out the festival’s final weekend June 27 and 28 with his Elements of Life ensemble.
Additional performers include UMI and Destin Conrad on the R&B side, Slum Village, Harlem Gospel Choir, Seedhe Maut, Anuhea, Los Amigos Invisibles, Cracker, Ibrahim Maalouf and Jon Lampley, whose July 1 album release show closes the festival.
The festival runs concurrently with the Blue Note Jazz Festival Hollywood Bowl on June 13 and 14, presented in collaboration with the LA Phil.
mxdwn previously covered the 2025 Blue Note Jazz Festival New York lineup as well as day one and day two of the 2025 Hollywood Bowl edition.
Tickets and more information are available at the Blue Note’s official website. The full schedule is below.
01/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Yuki Chiba
01/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Arrested Development
02/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — MonoNeon
03/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — MonoNeon
04/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah
04/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Seedhe Maut
05/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah
06/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — Forever Ray
06/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah
07/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — Harlem Gospel Choir
07/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah
10/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Anuhea
11/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band
11/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Cracker
12/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band
13/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — Strictly Sinatra
13/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band
13/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Los Amigos Invisibles
14/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — Harlem Gospel Choir
14/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band
15/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Brandee Younger
15/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Harlem Gospel Choir Sing Whitney + Tina
16/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Isaiah Collier
17/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Isaiah Collier
17/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Swamp Dogg
18/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Durand Bernarr
18/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Mario w/ Live Band
19/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Take 6
19/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — The Bad Plus
20/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — BLK ODYSSY
20/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — The Music Of The Buena Vista Social Club: A Tribute To The Golden Age Of Cuba
21/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — Harlem Gospel Choir
21/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Take 6
22/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Ozomatli
23/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Ozomatli
23/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — The Church
24/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Big Freedia
25/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — UMI
26/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Slum Village
26/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [LATE SHOW] — Chris Rob Presents: The Official Blue Note Jazz Fest Midnight Jam
27/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Louie Vega: Elements of Life with Special Guests
27/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Cymande
28/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club [BRUNCH] — Harlem Gospel Choir
28/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Louie Vega: Elements of Life with Special Guests
29/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Marcus Gilmore
29/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Ibrahim Maalouf
30/06/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Marcus Gilmore
30/06/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Destin Conrad
01/07/26 — New York, NY — Blue Note Jazz Club — Jon Lampley: Notes To Self Album Release
01/07/26 — New York, NY — Sony Hall — Young Gun Silver Fox
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