The first-ever Center City Jazz Festival brings the Philly jazz sound to Chris' Jazz Cafe (1421 Sansom Street), Fergie's Pub (1214 Sansom Street ), MilkBoy Philadelphia (1100 Chestnut Street ), and Time Restaurant (1315 Sansom Street) for a full day of performances on April 28. Across five blocks over ten hours, more than 50 musicians will perform for jazz fans and new audiences alike, renewing Philadelphia's reputation as a destination for great jazz music.
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Launched by visionary trombonist Ernest Stuart and fueled by a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Center City Jazz Festival fills the void left by the recently disbanded West Oak Lane Jazz Festival and the closing of Ortlieb's Jazz Haus.
The festival taps into both the city's rich jazz legacy and its next generation of music greats with a line-up that includes icons like bassist Mike Boone and vocalist Denise King, as well as new blood like George Burton, Venissa Santi, and Jaleel Shaw. Musical styles range from hard-bop to groove, sultry songstresses to Latin jazz. At 8pm, the headlining act, trumpeter Sean Jones (former lead trumpeter of Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra), takes the stage at Chris' Jazz Cafe, closing out this historic day with his warm and passionate sound.
The full list of performers includes:
Alex Claffy
Dahi Divine
Denise King
Ernest Stuart
George Burton
The Jaleel Shaw Trio
Jessi Teich
Joe Truglio
Korey Riker
Luke Carlos O'Reilly
Maxfield Gast
Mike Boone
Sean Jones
The Sermon!
Three Blind Mice
Venissa Santi
Wade Dean
The schedule will be announced in April.
You can buy general admission tickets for $25, which will be an all-access pass good for admission to all events from 1p.m. to 8 p.m. The headlining act performs at 8 p.m. and the general admission ticket will get you in to the show on a first-come, first-served basis. You can buy tickets at ccjazzfest.com
