(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The 17th annual Montclair Jazz Festival has been selected by the Smithsonian Institution as a collaborating festival to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. For this occasion, the Smithsonian is taking its oldest and largest public event—the annual Folklife Festival—on the road to communities across the country and making a stop in New Jersey at the Montclair Jazz Festival, the region's largest outdoor summer jazz fest.
Produced by the nationally recognized jazz education and cultural performance organization JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, the Montclair Jazz Festival is one of a select number of festivals chosen for the Smithsonian's "Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals." By taking the Folklife Festival beyond Washington, DC to places like Montclair, the Smithsonian will join millions of people in their own communities to commemorate the nation's semiquincentennial, amplifying how festivals serve as enduring tools for civic engagement and cultural exchange.
"Since its inception in 2010, the Montclair Jazz Festival has beautifully demonstrated the social power of music—its fundamental ability to connect, educate, and entertain," said Sabrina Lynn Motley, Smithsonian Folklife Festival director. "As communities across the country commemorate this historic milestone, it is fitting that jazz plays an integral role in helping us reflect upon our past, consider our present, and look to our shared future. We are honored to be so warmly welcomed by the Montclair community and to collaborate with the extraordinary JAZZ HOUSE KiDS team.''
Under the direction of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Founder + President Melissa Walker and the festival's artistic director, 11-time GRAMMY winner Christian McBride, this year's 17th annual Montclair Jazz Festival will be a summer-long experience, launching a new, five- week Soundcheck Series on Tuesday evenings in June, July and August at the Wellmont Arts Plaza, leading up to the signature grand finale Downtown Jamboree + Block Party onSaturday, August 15 at the historic, eight-acre Lackawanna Plaza property in Montclair.
A collaboration with the Smithsonian is not simply additive—it is catalytic. Together, we envision a collaboration that channels the power of jazz—its artistry, its history, and its spirit of freedom—to help audiences reflect on what America has been and what it can become.
"We are deeply honored to be recognized by the Smithsonian as part of this historic national moment," said Melissa Walker, Founder + President of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS. "Jazz is America's original art form, and it has something very special to teach us at this challenging time in our nation—ensuring the next generation carries the rich legacy forward and continuing to innovate and challenging us to listen to the different voices that take the stage."
In addition to commemorating the United States semiquincentennial, the 2026 Montclair Jazz Festival will celebrate the centennials of seminal figures Miles Davis and John Coltrane, honoring their legacies with a special tribute performance, and through the festival's artwork by visual artist Andres Chaparro. Montclair Jazz Festival artistic director Christian McBride has selected performing artists to spotlight major American jazz cities that have shaped our culture and tell our national story, including New York City/Newark, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and beyond.
The Montclair Jazz Festival is excited to announce an initial group of confirmed artists and cities that will be highlighted: the Take Me to the River All-Stars, featuring Cyril Neville, Omari Neville, Ian Neville, and Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr., underwritten by the Gia Maione Prima Foundation, will honor New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. Christian McBride and his GRAMMY-winning Big Band, will pay tribute to his hometown and the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, performing repertoire showcasing the famous Philly sound and his favorite composers. The melting pot of New York City will be represented by the two-time GRAMMY-winning salsa and Latin jazz band Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Additional performers will be announced soon.
"Jazz was born in New Orleans and raised in New York City, but along the way it made many stops where it grew, and continues to grow today," said McBride. "The cities that we're spotlighting at this summer's festival are among the most important cities in the history of jazz. Places where the music didn't just develop, but helped shape the cultural identity of the cities themselves."
From its humble beginnings in 2010 as a student summer concert in Montclair's Nishuane Park with a few hundred family members, friends, and neighbors in attendance, the Montclair Jazz Festival has grown to become the most popular jazz festival in the region that's free to the public. The 2025 edition boasted the largest crowd in Montclair Jazz Festival history with more than 30,000 attendees. The annual festival welcomes world-class jazz musicians to downtown Montclair. Past headliners have included the late NEA jazz master Eddie Palmieri, Kenny Garrett, Lisa Fischer, Dee Dee Bridgewater, John Scofield and JAZZ HOUSE alums Emmet Cohen, Isaiah J. Thompson, Matthew Whitaker and Immanuel Wilkins.
Jazz is the sound of freedom finding its voice. JAZZ HOUSE KiDS harnesses the transformative power of jazz daily in its mission to provide access, learning, career development, and community building through initiatives like the Montclair Jazz Festival. While the Downtown Jamboree's Main Stage will showcase talent from America's historic jazz cities, the JAZZ HOUSE Stage will present young artists from JAZZ HOUSE KiDS' programs in New Jersey and New York City, along with the acclaimed alumni ensemble the JAZZ HOUSE All-Stars. Additionally, the JAZZ HOUSE Collective, comprising JAZZ HOUSE faculty, will celebrate the centennial birthdays of seminal artists John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
Now in its third decade, nationally recognized JAZZ HOUSE KiDS transforms lives using the power and legacy of jazz through world-class education and performances that create avenues of access, learning, career development and community building. Recently featured on CNN, NPR Morning Edition, CBS Mornings, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and celebrated by global superstar STING, the organization and students have received more than 170 awards and honors for excellence in jazz and jazz education. The JAZZ HOUSE has two locations: its headquarters in Montclair, NJ and a satellite program in Lower Manhattan in collaboration with and fully funded by Trinity Church NYC. The foundation of the JAZZ HOUSE is our tremendous faculty who are full-time practitioners and educators. Every day of the week through a series of in-school programs and out-of-school programs in New Jersey and New York City, JAZZ HOUSE helps young people gain an artistic edge, fostering community leaders and global citizens who help build thriving communities. JAZZ HOUSE produces 150+ free public concerts per year, reaching nearly 250,000 attendees. The organization's far-reaching cultural signature program is the award-winning Montclair Jazz Festival. The brainchild of Melissa Walker and Christian McBride, it is the largest free jazz festival in the region and annually attracts tens of thousands of attendees.
Since its founding in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution has been committed to inspiring generations through knowledge and discovery. It is the world's largest museum, education and research complex, consisting of 21 museums, the National Zoological Park, education centers, research facilities, cultural centers, libraries and gardens. Two of the 21 museums—the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum—are in the early planning stages. The total number of objects, works of art and specimens at the Smithsonian is about 157 million. To commemorate America's 250th anniversary, the Smithsonian is hosting a full slate of special exhibitions, festivals and public events, including the completion of the National Air and Space Museum's renovation, which opened to the public 50 years ago for the nation's bicentennial. "Of the People" received funding from the Smithsonian's "Our Shared Future: 250," an Institution-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.
