(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- The 19th OSPAC Annual West Orange Jazz Festival will take place on Saturday, September 19, 2026 from 1:00pm to 8:00pm. The festival's lineup features Dion Parson & 21st Century Band, The Antoinette Montague Experience, The Jaleel Shaw Trio, Joe Locke Songs & Stories/ Solo Vibes, The Freddie Hendrix Experience & Fellowship, and The Montclair State University Jazz Ensemble Under the Direction of Dr. Oscar Perez and NJPAC TD Jazz For Teens Under the Direction of Mark Gross.
This year's festival will be hosted by the festival's artistic director, Monifa Brown, long-time radio host of WBGO's "Saturday Evening Jazz" and "Hard Bop Café" programs. The festival will once again be held outdoors at OSPAC (Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center), a picturesque pavilion located at 4 Boland Drive conveniently located off I-280 exit 8B in West Orange, New Jersey. The festival will be the inaugural event in the newly renovated OSPAC which is celebrating their 25th Anniversary. Since its inception, the festival has presented a dazzling cross-section of local and world-renowned Jazz and Blues artists. This year's line-up aims to attract jazz enthusiasts and all-around music lovers with its star-studded lineup showcasing critically heralded musicians on the international Jazz scene as well as up and coming artists.
Tickets range from $11.20 to $21.40 and are available for purchase online.
The OSPAC Annual West Orange Jazz Festival is produced by Pleasant Valley Productions. In case of rain, the festival will take place on Saturday, September 26th.
This year's festival will honor NEA Jazz Master and founding member and long-time force behind public radio station, WBGO FM, Dorthaan Kirk. She will receive the inaugural OSPAC Jazz Fest Spirit Award for her tireless dedication to preserving, presenting and growing America's national treasure Jazz.
The 2025 edition of the festival hit a milestone last year attracting 1,000 patrons over the course of the seven-hour event. The one-day event, which has become a favorite destination for local music enthusiasts in West Orange and its neighboring communities, aspires to draw an even bigger crowd of music enthusiasts of all ages this year. OSPAC, marking its 25th anniversary, was established in 2001 and honors Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who miraculously and heroically saved over 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust and is the subject of Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film Schindler's List. Larry Pantirer of Millennium Homes, donated OSPAC in memory of his father Murray was one of the many people who were rescued.
Pleasant Valley Productions ("PVP") has been the operating organization of OSPAC since 2019 and has dedicated themselves to producing quality entertainment for West Orange residents and surrounding communities. PVP is thrilled to continue the tradition of the OSPAC Jazz Festival and hopes to bring the love of jazz to the next generation of musicians. Founded twenty-five years ago through the vision and dedication of local residents and community leaders, OSPAC has grown into one of New Jersey's premier venues of free and affordable outdoor arts programming, using music and culture to unite the community while fostering civic pride. As part of the festival, OSPAC will host a special 25th Anniversary Ceremony recognizing the many public officials, community partners, volunteers, donors, and advocates whose efforts made the recent improvements to the OSPAC campus possible.
This year's sponsors include: Township of West Orange * BNE Real Estate Group * New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) * WBGO FM * Essex County Commissioner Wayne L. Richardson * Advantage Pest Control * Columbia Bank * Drape Kings * All-Ways Advertising Company *
MEET THE ARTISTS
DION PARSON & 21ST CENTURY BAND: THE CARIBBEAN SOUND – NOW PBS exclaims, "High-energy, sophisticated Caribbean jazz," while The Latin Jazz Network declares, "The energy is propulsive, accents are unapologetic, and the music dances." The all-star septet, known for its captivating performances, is helmed by Grammy-winning drummer, composer, and educator Dion Parson. He has performed in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, has been a vital member of trumpeter Jon Faddis' band for 34 years, and has also collaborated with pianists Monty Alexander and Cyrus Chestnut, singer Dianne Reeves, trombonists Steve Turre and Wycliffe Gordon, percussionist Master Griot Babatunde Olatunji, and Jamaican guitar master Ernest Ranglin. Parson is also the Chair of the Communication and Performing Arts Department at the University of the Virgin Islands in his native St. Thomas. Rooted in tradition, refined through time, and defining today's sound, Dion Parson & 21st Century Band has been bringing its distinctive, insatiable, and ever-evolving Caribbean groove to international stages for more than three decades. Parson co-founded the ensemble with celebrated saxophonist Ron Blake, a longtime member of NBC's Saturday Night Live Band, who also grew up in St. Thomas. Their latest recording is St. Thomas. Parson and his wife, Nicole, also run the nonprofit organization United Jazz Foundation, dedicated to elevating the aspirations and economic opportunities of underserved youth in the U.S. Virgin Islands through music education, performance, and mentorship.
THE ANTOINETTE MONTAGUE EXPERIENCE Antoinette Montague is a force of nature. Her show-stopping performances and uncanny ability to make every person in the audience feel as though she is singing solely to them garners her new fans wherever she goes. JazzTimes Magazine declares, "Antoinette is as real as they come," while The New York Times applauds the riveting singer for her "warmth and communication." The Newark native, who was mentored by the late singer Etta Jones and vocalist Carrie Jackson, has worked alongside drummers Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Bobby Sanabria, and Winard Harper, pianists Mulgrew Miller and Danny Mixon, and saxophonists Frank Wess and Red Holloway, among others. Montague is passionate about utilizing music as a bridge for education, community, cultural understanding, and joy. Through performances, educational outreach, and intergenerational engagement, she strives to preserve and celebrate America's diverse and rich music traditions while inspiring new audiences. Last year, Antoinette Montague was awarded the Jazz Journalists Association Hero Award and Educator of the Year by The Newark School of the Arts. Montague has recorded six albums, including four as a leader, most recent being her appropriately titled, Jazz Woman to the Rescue.
THE JALEEL SHAW TRIO Born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, Jaleel Shaw gravitated toward jazz at an early age, immersing himself in Philadelphia's fertile jazz scene. The Berklee College of Music and Manhattan School of Music graduate has gone on to become a leading voice in jazz. The New York Times describes Shaw as being among "the stewards of a next-generation jazz mainstream that is inspired, not constrained, by timeworn traditions," while DownBeat Magazine touts, "Jaleel Shaw follows a path of his own... Master of his instrument." Shaw's firebrand, soulful, and spiritually driven sound has made him the first call for such luminaries as drummer Roy Haynes (he was a member of the iconic drummer's last working band), bassists Dave Holland and Christian McBride, pianist Robert Glasper, and trumpeter Tom Harrell, to name a few. Shaw has recorded more than 50 albums, including five as a leader, the most recent of which is the acclaimed Painter of the Invisible. Professor Shaw teaches at the Manhattan School of Music and has also taught at The New School and Temple University.
JOE LOCKE – SONGS & STORIES/SOLO VIBES JazzTimes Magazine credits vibraphonist and composer Joe Locke's allure to his "daunting virtuosity...and overflowing passion," while Jazzwise Magazine proclaims, "His live performances are vibrant, outgoing and full of character." A master storyteller with unbounded energy, an uncontainable sense of swing, subtle beauty, and deep emotional range, Joe Locke is one of the pre-eminent vibraphonists of our time. Locke fell in love with jazz as a teen and was influenced by vibraphonists Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and now holds the distinction of being an inductee into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame. He has worked with such diverse artists as the legendary bassist Ron Carter, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Paul Simon and The Beastie Boys, and venerable pianists George Cables, Kenny Barron, Eddie Palmieri, and Cecil Taylor. The celebrated vibraphonist is a six-time recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association's Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year. Locke has served as the International Vibraphone Consultant at London's Royal Academy of Music on a visiting basis since 2008, holding the title of Honorary Associate since 2013. His discography includes over thirty recordings, with his most recent being Makram.
THE FREDDIE HENDRIX EXPERIENCE & FELLOWSHIP Grammy-winning trumpeter Freddie Hendrix is one of the most sought-after trumpeters in jazz, having worked with The Roy Hargrove Big Band, The Count Basie Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as well as The Christian McBride Big Band, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, and Fred Wesley and the JB's, among many others. The Teaneck resident who has performed twice for President Barack Obama, prompted All About Jazz to rave, "Freddie Hendrix continues to flourish as one of the most exciting trumpet voices on the music scene," while Jazz Weekly declared, "Freddie Hendrix has a hard bopper's DNA...the heart of a lion." Professor Hendrix has taught at Princeton University, his alma mater William Paterson University, Montclair State University, Jazz House Kids, and the Sligo Jazz Project in Sligo, Ireland. He has appeared on over 100 recordings. The most recent to date is the Christian McBride Big Band: Without Further Ado Vol.1.
THE MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY JAZZ ENSEMBLE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF JAZZ STUDIES COORDINATOR DR. OSCAR PEREZ The Latin Jazz Network affirms, "Oscar Perez beguiles with sheer beauty" while Jazzwise Magazine heralds Perez's playing as "Post-bop Jazz of the highest order." The celebrated West Orange based pianist and composer, Dr. Oscar Perez, has studied with such piano giants as Sir Roland Hanna and Danilo Perez and has collaborated with a who's who of jazz that includes vocalists Phoebe Snow and Dianne Reeves, trombonists Curtis Fuller and Steve Turre, and saxophonists Lakecia Benjamin and Rudresh Mahanthappa. Perez is a member of the BMI Composers Workshop and has been commissioned to write compositions for Chamber Music America and ASCAP/IAJE. He has written commissioned arrangements for pianist Chick Corea, violinist Regina Carter, banjo player Béla Fleck, and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Dr. Perez has taught at Jazz House Kids, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education and is currently the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. His latest recording is Prepare a Place for Me.
The MSU Jazz Ensemble has had the privilege of performing at such esteemed venues as Dizzy's Club and the Montclair Jazz Festival. Since its inception, the ensemble has performed with an all-star lineup of guest artists, including saxophonists David Bixler, Don Braden, and Ed Palermo, vocalists The Manhattan Transfer and Jazzmeia Horn, trumpeters Wynton Marsalis, Terrell Stafford, and Ingrid Jensen, and guitarists Pat Metheny and John Pizzarelli. The MSU Jazz Ensemble has also been honored to perform alongside its distinguished faculty, including trumpeter Marcus Printup, vocalist Aubrey Johnson, guitarist Dave Stryker, saxophonists Mike Lee and Bruce Williams, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, drummers Steve Johns and NEA Jazz Master Billy Hart, and bassist Bill Moring.
NJPAC TD JAZZ FOR TEENS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF MARK GROSS The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) launched its TD Jazz for Teens program in 1998. This celebrated, comprehensive, and sequential jazz education program for instrumentalists and vocalists is dedicated to developing well-rounded, confident young performers. Students receive top-notch musical training and study with world-class, Grammy Award-winning teaching artists. In addition to gaining experience by performing in large and small ensembles, students participate in master classes, receive private instruction, and have opportunities for college and career exploration.
Two-time Grammy winner Mark Gross has served as the Director of Jazz Instruction at NJPAC since 2015. Legendary saxophonist and composer Jimmy Heath once described Mark Gross' music as "movin' and groovin' with historic elegance and euphoric relevance," while DownBeat Magazine hailed him as an "Outstanding alto saxophonist...great taste." Gross launched his career with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and had the privilege of performing alongside such iconic singers as Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Joe Williams. He has also collaborated with bassists Buster Williams and Dave Holland, pianists Mulgrew Miller and Cyrus Chestnut, trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Nat Adderley, and saxophonists James Moody and Don Braden, to name a few. A veteran Broadway musician, Gross has performed in the productions Five Guys Named Moe, Kat and the Kings, and After Midnight, among others. He has also appeared on television and in film, including the movies Annie and Spike Lee's Malcolm X, as well as the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. His newest recording, The Gospel According to Mark, is his fifth album as a leader. It adds to his catalog of more than 100 album credits and pays homage to his pastor father and his own gospel roots growing up in Baltimore.
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